Holland

09 Sept 2010 13:10
When the wake up call came in at 4:30 this morning I thought it was the smoke alarm. Loud and sharp, it made us all jump. Lily was out of bed first. She was ready to leave Paris. I was ready for more sleep. In 45 minutes we were all out the door on our way to the Metro station 4 blocks away. The streets were deserted as were the trains. Three station changes later we were at the airport. We got Lily’s ticket printed, kissed her good bye and got her in the security line. Scott and I went on to the ticket counter to change our ticket home to a day later than originally scheduled. I work in Heidelberg until 6 pm on the 26th and there are no night trains to Paris. I am not complaining about an extra day of vacation! Before heading back to the hotel we stopped for coffee, a breakfast quiche and one more macaron. When we returned to the hotel I shot off an e-mail to our Netherlands connection to let him know when we would be arriving at the train station and we packed our backpacks. We exited the hotel for the second trip of the day to the Metro. We arrived at the train station at noon and our train was scheduled to leave at 12:25. The line to get our ticket validated was a half mile long and after I stood there for 10 minutes without it moving, I blew it off and went to a machine in front of the boarding platform to validate it there. It wouldn’t work. It validated other passenger’s tickets, but mine refused to work. The RailEurope website stressed over and over how important it was to get your EuRail Pass and your tickets validated. Dire consequences were predicted if you failed to perform this task. Tough…we’ll just get on the train anyway, I mean, what are they going to do? Throw us off? I stopped a conductor as we boarded and showed him my ticket, “It wouldn’t validate in the machine…”I told him. “No problem, just get on the train.” Okay…I was certain that since I hadn’t validated our ticket to Amsterdam OR our EuRail Pass we were in big trouble. The train was crowded…it seemed every twenty something in Europe was traveling to Amsterdam on this particular day. We finally found our seats, stashed our backpacks and other bags, took off our coats and settled in when an announcement came over the intercom. Everyone had to evacuate the train. Get your bags and exit. I figured they were probably waiting for us outside the train with hand cuffs, ready to take us away for trying to sneak on the train with invalidated tickets. But no, it was a technical problem and they had another train ready for us to board. So after 20 minutes we were on a new train and it was heading out of Paris to Holland. And you know what? The conductor came by to check our tickets and simply punched the hole in them without a word…no questions and certainly no handcuffs.

The train trip to Rotterdam was uneventful except for some really bad sandwiches from the dining car because we had neglected to pack a lunch beforehand. An announcement came over the intercom as we approached Brussels. “We are arriving in the Brussels station. Please watch for pickpockets on the station platform and on the train. Keep track of your belongings.” Interesting…

When we reached Rotterdam I was determined to get our EuRail pass validated, so I left Scott below by the platform and headed upstairs to the ticket office. When I asked to have my ticket validated, the clerk hesitated and I was sure he was going to question how I got to Rotterdam. But he took my ticket and told me he had to show it to another clerk. After a short discussion he came back to his desk, stamped my Pass and that was that. We were legal and on our way.

We arrived in Leiden an hour late due to our train evacuation in Paris. At Rotterdam station we tried to call Cor to let him know of our delay, but we couldn’t reach him on his cell. After a few tries, Scott called his home and spoke to his son, Aris. Cor was at the Lieden station, but if we hadn’t arrived on that train he would have gone home. Thank goodness we caught the correct train out of Rotterdam. We first met Cor Dees three years ago at Mid-Ohio Vintage Motorcycle Days. He had come to the States with Piero Laverda for the Laverda Rally at Mid-Ohio. That had been a great trip for Scott and I with stops on the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky on the way up to Ohio. We spent time with Cor again last year Laverda’s 60th Anniversary Celebration in Breganze, Italy where we also got to meet his two sons, Mels and Aris and his wife, Angeline. I have always enjoyed spending time with Cor as he is a very energetic and enthusiastic man. He also has a vast knowledge of Laverda’s and was one of the main reasons we were heading to Holland as he has the Laverda Museum in Lisse. Holland is incredibly lovely-green and fresh and clean. The air smells wonderful and while we visited it was moist (not humid though because of the mild temps) with canals running through the Eastern part we were visiting. Cor’s home sits on the banks of a small lake and I mean this literally. The water line is a few feet from the edge of his driveway. But one side of the lake is only inches deep. I saw a flock of water birds land on the lake...and then walk around on the surface.  It was funny to see.  His property is, if I remember correctly, about 2 meters below sea level (about 6 feet). This concept concerned me and I questioned Cor about it. He explained that much of Holland is below sea level and an intricate system of canals and pumps keep the water level low and constantly pump water out into the North Sea. The canals are all fresh water, which seems amazing to me considering that they are lower than the salt water North Sea. Engineers (and city fathers) from New Orleans have traveled to The Netherlands to study how the system works. The part of Holland where Cor & his family live is a prime flower growing area. We did not arrive in the midst of the growing season, but there were still fields of flowers everywhere.

Gladiolas were just finishing, larkspur fields were in full flower, dahlias were just beginning. Walking around his neighborhood was like being in a Disney movie.

Neatly mowed green fields, long rows of flowers, bard rock chickens milling around a chicken yard, people on bicycles everywhere. And crisscrossing it all were canals and tall trees. It seemed idyllic. Cor and Angeline’s home is lovely. Spacious with beautiful views, it was warm and inviting. We had a great dinner with Cor, Angeline and their son Aris, who is 17 and very handsome with a head of curly blonde hair and smiling eyes. Angeline had prepared a shepherds pie of sorts with a delicious base of meat, vegetables and apples topped with mashed potatoes. Along with this was served a fresh salad loaded with chopped vegetables. It was a wonderful meal. After dinner I tagged along on a long walk with Angeline and her friend.  Both spoke almost perfect English and we chatted the entire way.  Once back to the house Cor, Scott and I headed out to the Museum behind Cor’s home for the first view of the collection we’d heard about for years. From the outside the building looks fairly unassuming, but once inside it was huge and full of motorcycles, photos and memorabilia. The Laverda name was first associated with agricultural equipment. They manufactured threshing machines and combines. They made wine presses. Motorcycles came into the picture in 1949 and the rest, as they say, is history and Cor’s museum was full of it. He had an early threshing machine and 2 wine presses, but from there, Laverda’s full motorbike history was represented. I walked around the museum, but was so tired that I finally sat on a stool and put my head down on the bar and dozed. I don’t know how long it was before Scott and Cor made it to my side of the room, but soon after we were in the van and heading to our room at the Hotel de Duif. We settled into our beds (yes, plural beds as Europeans seem to think twin beds are the norm for couples-I am always very grateful when we discover a hotel room with a double bed) very ready for some rest as our day had started at 4:30 putting Lily on a plane to the States. At 6:30 the next morning we were started out of bed by the fire alarm. Scott jumped about 3 feet, I just rolled over and pulled the quilt further over my shoulders. We could hear movement in the hallway-peoples voices and doors opening and closing-and at one point Scott parted the curtains and told me there was a fire truck beside the hotel. I stayed in bed. Scott walked down to reception and was told a man had been smoking in his room (strictly forbidden) and there was no danger. By the time he made it back to the room, I had reluctantly gotten out of bed and was getting dressed for breakfast. The lobby and breakfast room of the hotel was sumptuous and elegant. Plush couches faced the fireplace and dark wood paneling covered the walls. The dining room had comfortable upholstered chairs and an extensive buffet of breakfast foods that ranged from meats and cheeses to assorted breads and jams; yogurts and cereals to puddings and trays of fresh fruit. We headed to the coffee bar and made 2 café au laits and found a table. A number of coffees and some breakfast later, we returned to our room to gather clothes and head to the laundry before Cor came to pick us up so we could start our day. On the schedule: a trip to the Louwman Automobile Museum. I have to say here that by this time I was sick of cars and bikes(!). Our last afternoon in Paris I had chastised Scott rather bluntly about his constant obsession preoccupation with all things vehicular-or at least his need to involve me in his “ramblings”. I’m afraid I wasn’t as nice as I probably should have been and I will explain it away here as not enough sleep and being in Paris (perhaps I was becoming annoyed by osmosis). But in truth I will confess that sometimes (but, in my defense, infrequently) I am not as nice and tolerant of my husband as I should be. He is a wonderful man and treats me very sweetly and I should be a better wife. Okay, that’s over with (whew), now back to the Louwman Automobile Museum. It is a new museum, just opened in July and Cor had been once already and was duly impressed. As someone who mere days before complained about the proliferation of cars in our life, I was blown away. We spent almost 3 hours at the museum and I could have spent twice that. It was magnificent. Not only significant cars due to ownership (and really because they were cool cars overall)-cars that belonged to everyone from Winston Churchill to Elvis, Steve McQueen to Kaiser Wilhelm; but also unusual cars, motorized vehicles that I had never seen before. Humor me here...these are really cool...

A Fiat from the mid 70's with the interior done entirely in wicker!!

The very first motorized bus.  I thought it was interesting that, after we were told to watch for pickpockets on the train outside Brussels, we saw this sign inside this bus from 1910:

I guess some things never change!

Winston Churchill's car.  The ashtray in the back seat was huge to accomodate his fat cigars!

The ceiling of the ground floor entrance!  Stunning!

Cor Dees of Lisse, Holland.

I am so sorry I didn't get a picture of the whole family!

Paris

7 Sept 2010 15:02 Enroute to Paris on EuroStar
Our plans this morning to pack, deposit our belongings at the train station and take an open top bus to Abbey Road fell apart rather quickly after arriving at the train station. No sooner had we walked inside than the heavens opened up. There went the idea of an open top bus…but still…After discovering that it cost 8 Pounds PER BAG to check our bags early, we totally abandon our plan. In reality, it was finally abandoned when Lily said, “I will see Abbey Road NEXT TIME I am in London…” Oh  yes, I was glad to hear that she was making plans to return. So we sat at a café and ate lunch, sandwiches and crisps, and wandered around the station. Bought some postcards and stamps at a bookstore and sat at another café drinking coffee while writing them out. I discovered I had free internet at the station, so posted to the blog and checked mail. Now, the train is hurtling through the French countryside toward Paris. My seatmate is a lovely lady on her way to Paris for a holiday to see her daughter and grandchildren (and new puppy!).

We are already through the “Chunnel”-the Channel Tunnel- and should be in Paris in a bit over an hour twenty. I think we are all a bit worn out…we’ve been keeping late hours and, Scott and I at least, wake early. The meal last night at The Alcocks was probably the healthiest we’ve eaten thus far and I am not expecting Paris to be healthier…I am looking forward to crepes and macarones, good cheese and wine. I explain this food away with all the walking we are doing. It feels good.

Paris Tuesday 22:48
There is a metro strike going on in London. Luckily, most lines heading north were in operation as we headed for the main train station this morning. When we arrived in Paris we were told that not only were the Metro workers on strike, but also bus and rail workers. We stood in the train station wondering how we would get to the hotel on the other side of Paris. We took turns staying with the bags and going downstairs to the bathroom. The metro lines were downstairs also and Scott noticed that there was quite a bit of activity going on even though some parts were blocked. The Metro was indeed operating at a lesser capacity, but enough for us to get where we needed to be. What we didn’t expect was that the lines that were open were so packed as to be almost unusable. After taking one train to a station a few stops down, we waited to get on another. The platform grew busier and more crowded as the time for the train drew nearer and when it came time to board, the train doors opened and the crowd surged forward. The passengers trying to get OFF the train had to push through the crowd to exit and by the time we got to the doors there was no where to go…we watched the doors close in front of our faces and the train pull away. No bother as there was another train in 8 minutes. We settled in, this time right in front. When the next train arrived, the platform was once again a pulsing mass of people. We were glad to be in the front of the crowd. The train arrived, the doors opened and the crowd surged. I pushed in as passengers departed. Lily barely squeezed in behind me and then the crowd pushed again and Scott, with his large backpack tried to get on, but his backpack wouldn’t clear the doors. As the doors began to close, I saw him at the edge of the platform looking in at us. He stepped over to the open train window and called in, “I’ll meet you at our stop…and I have the wine!”
The subway train was so tight we couldn't move-and it was that way through most of the next 10 stops. Lily and I finally got off at our stop and sat on a bench waiting for Scott's train. It came along shortly and we were glad to all be together again.  Just one more train to get on which would take us close to our hotel. After checking in we headed out for dinner across the street. Lily and I had  duck and Scott had veal. For dessert we shared a creme brulee and a tarte tatin.  Huge servings of dessert and luscious. Lily was wiped out and wanted to stay in for the evening (it was already after 9), so Scott and I headed out. Our hotel has a lovely view of the Eiffel Tower so we headed in that direction.  It was a lovely walk, the streets were mostly empty and the evening cool and overcast. The Eiffel Tower is across the Seine River from our hotel and we just walked to the bridge and I took a pic of Scott with the Tower in the background.

As we were walking back it began to rain and it just seemed appropriate somehow.  We strolled hand in hand through the dim streets happy to be here.
Wednesday
For some reason we slept late this morning.  The first time that has happened. So by the time we showered and got out of the hotel it was almost 10. First order-COFFEE!  We went to a cafe a few steps from our hotel and had coffee (Lily, tea) and then sat and sat. We would have had breakfast had the waiter showed back up or at least another latte, but we never saw him again. Scott walked into the cafe to pay somebody-ANYBODY- for our coffee while Lily and I went back to the hotel to grab jackets as it was chilly.  We caught back up to Scott and found another shop to grab breakfast and headed back to the Eiffel Tower so Lily could get pics.  The sky was getting darker and darker and just as we were getting a photo of us with the Tower behind, it began to pour.

We walked across the Seine and stood beneath the tower. Pretty impressive feat of engineering.

We headed east to the Champs Elysees. A picturesque walk with so much greenspace (and lots of traffic!). Passed this interesting building that was covered entirely with living plants of an amazing variety.

We dropped Lily back at the hotel to tend her blisters and begin her packing as she heads home in the morning. Scott and I ventured back out to see more of the city.  The difference between London and Paris is striking...London was surprisingly clean, Paris seems tattered. The people here do not smile or engage really in any way.  In London everyone wants to tell you a story.  Scott and I finally encountered a sweet, happy woman in a bakery when we bought lunch/dinner to bring back to the hotel.  She was helpful and she seemed thrilled that we were so enthralled with the goods on the shelves. Our time last year in the south of France was wonderful, the people warm and content.  I can't help but think it must be Paris that makes these folks so annoyed with everyone and everything. A terrible blanket statement, I know and there are probably many wonderful people living in Paris, but all 3 of us noticed how few smiles we've seen.  So many thanks to the lady in the bakery with the sweet smile. The quiche was wonderful, and the desserts really shined! But your smile warmed us on this wet, chilly day in Paris.

London Images: A Pub Crawl, The Tube and Rugby

3 Sept 2010 London, UK 14:51


As is always the case when we first tumble into Europe on less than 2 hours sleep, we feel insane. The feeling is compounded this time by the frenetic energy that is London and the fact that there are THREE of us this time instead of simply Scott and I trying to keep each other together. Lily wants to go to bed. It is 3 in the afternoon here but her body is telling her that it is 8 a.m. and she has had little to no sleep in the last 24 hours. Clem picked us up at Heathrow and drove us through the streets of London to our hotel. It was a wild 40 minute ride with Lily and I in the back seat, wide eyed and breaking out in nervous laughter from time to time. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out the traffic rules here. Sometimes all the cars would go through the intersection when the light was clearly red and other times they’d stop. The lanes are impossibly narrow and cars merge randomly, almost like they are magnets repelling each other. They come within inches until someone pulls ahead or falls behind and life goes on. When we finally got to the hotel and squeezed ourselves out of the (very tiny) car, Scott and Clem stayed outside to talk and Lily and I went to check in. When Scott and Clem finally joined us, I asked Clem what the deal was with red lights-do you stop at them or what? He looked at me and smiled his sweet smile and said, “Oh that…well you can tell what everyone else is doing…” and he stopped his explanation when I began laughing hysterically.

Lily and I went up to the room to drop our bags and clean up. Clem of the sweet smile is lending us one of his cars for 4 days while we are in London. I told Scott I thought we should decline the offer. I honestly can not see us going anywhere in this traffic, but Scott pshawd me and took Clem to the nearest train station so he could catch a train home. I thought I would never see Scott again and I kept the cell phone beside me in case he called. He took the GPS with him and not 10 minutes later knocked at the hotel room door. The train station was up by Buckingham Palace, maybe 10 blocks away and he made it there and back with the car and his body intact. A miracle.

London is very eco conscious. There is an egg timer in the shower…one of those small hourglass types (although it attaches to the shower wall!) that you turn when you take a shower so you limit yourself to 5 minute showers. Lights turn on and off as you walk through the hallway and lights are halogen or CFL types.

We went to an amazing Farmers Market yesterday in Hackney (East London) called Broadway Market. Ever since I found out we’d be in London, this is the only thing I knew I wanted to do. For almost two years I have been following a blog-http://www.cocoandme.com/  of a young Japanese mom who sells lovely tarts, cakes and other luscious baked goods at Broadway Market and I really wanted to meet her. Tamami's booth was beautiful and the two tarts we ate-one lemon and one raspberry-were so good! The raspberry tart was topped with fresh berries and powdered sugar and was not overly sweet. The pure flavor of the fresh fruit was what came through and as soon as the last bite was consumed, I wished for another.  Her cheesecakes were beautiful and the recipe for them is on her website. 

She was so sweet and kind and seemed surprised that I keep up with her blog and that I sought her out while in London! The remainder of the market was a sight to see! I was happy to see the prices were so reasonable and we shopped with lunch in mind for we knew Jill and Gabe would be waiting for us when we returned to the hotel. We bought a beautiful loaf of sourdough bread and I had a great talk with the baker. We bought long skinny links of hazelnut sausages and spicy sausages, 3-200 gram wedges of cheese-an impossibly creamy Roquefort, a Spanish manchego and one more that I can’t recall the name of; a small container of anchovy stuffed green olives (I wish we’d bought a LARGE container, because these went fast); some marinated artichoke hearts; some beautifully fragrant apples and a vast assortment of baklava. Scott stepped into a shop and picked out a lovely Chilean Malbec wine. I also bought a burlap Broadway Market bag to haul it all in. We were about to leave the Market when someone shouted out that the school next door was holding a market also, so we walked the 20 yards to the gate and wandered through. A band was playing just inside the gate and a woman was cooking an enormous pan of paella just opposite.

 It bubbled and sent off the most amazing smell! We strolled the Market and spoke with folks and stopped at the booth of tee shirts that had really unusual designs. The company, Organik Rocka,(organikrocka.com) made soft bamboo tees and Scott and Lily both bought one. The guys running the booth were enthusiastic and fun and we visited for quite awhile.

As we headed back to the Tube to catch a ride back to the hotel, I thanked Scott and Lily for indulging me. It had been a long, convoluted ride getting to the market and, as the guy who sold us our Tube tickets asked, “Why do you want to go all the way to Hackney to a Market? There are Markets right up the street…” but I wanted to meet a fellow blogger and baker although I didn’t explain that to him- I just thought he wouldn’t understand. But Lily and Scott were quite happy I had dragged them through countless underground and aboveground train changes and walking many city blocks. The people watching was wonderful and we were all amazed by how…individualistic…everyone was/is. This place makes Austin look like a retirement home.

Back at the hotel, we woke up Jill and Gabe and spread out the feast we had accumulated at the Market. It wasn’t long before it was all gone. We decided to go out in search of a pub and, after a few funny delays, made it to the Tube and got off at Angel Station. On the way home from Market earlier in the day, as we stepped off a train, a line of cops funneled us out the door instead of onto another platform. There was a “fire emergency” at that station and they were temporarily shutting it down. As we stood outside looking at the map trying to figure out where to find a new station, a local came up beside us and said, “Follow me…Angel Station is a short 20 minute walk right down that road…”. So Lily and I tagged behind Scott and this gentleman as we speed walked down this really cool part of town. Lily and I both felt that we would have liked to stop and window shop, but this man was on a mission and was dragging us along with him. We got to Angel Station in record time and thanked him, bid him good bye and made our way home. And now we were back on this street with time to walk it leisurely. Jill and Gabe have been in London for over a week and had the local customs down, so we took a side street into a…well, more “interesting” row of shops and, when Jill spied a pub that had a rugby game on the big screen TV, that was where we settled in. A sign in the window said “Under New Management” and it did seem like a work in progress. Old wooden tables with mismatched chairs filled the room. Most were empty as the few (maybe 8) customers were at the bar. Music blared and as we sat down Jill went up to the bar to order for us.

 A young boy, maybe 6 or 7 was holding court in the center of the room dancing to the loud techno/disco music and he was really good. Jill came back to the table with 5 ciders. Now the beer here is pretty low alcohol (maybe 3%?), but cider (which is exactly what you would think-fermented apple cider) is 6-8%. It is VERY tasty, much more so than the beer to me and when you order the proverbial pint, that is what you get-a PINT-meaning half a quart. That’s a lot of cider and it goes down remarkably easy. After 2 pints we were all getting loud and laughing and telling stories. The young boy had left the bar and I was beginning to think WE had become the entertainment for the patrons. When we finally decided to head back to the station, we were a wobbly bunch indeed. We stopped at a street side fruit stand and when Gabe remarked she’d never had a fig, Scott went inside and bought us each one. We continued our walk munching on the huge figs almost as big as our fists.

We made it back to the hotel at about 10:30 and after a snack decided to go a block down the road to another small club. It was closed as we walked by so we went a block further and there were 2 restaurant/bars side by side. One was packed and the other had only a few folks in it so we chose the quieter one. We sat, had a beer and talked for about 45 minutes, visiting with the other patrons. We got directions to a place that made authentic fish and chips and then headed home. We were all less than perky this morning, even after breakfast and multiple cups of coffee at the Portuguese Market on the corner, so it’s been a rather sedate day. Got laundry done, Scott fixed our cell which has not worked since we arrived and, as Jill and Gabe are at a rugby match and we’re supposed to meet later (maybe for fish and chips?), I decided to catch up on the blog while Lily and Scott nap. As I lay in bed this morning listening to the assorted snores around the room, I found it hard to believe we are only 2 days into this vacation. I feel like we’ve been gone weeks!
Caught up with Jill and Gabe at the World Cup Final Rugby Match in Twickingham.  There were about 14,000 people in attendance and it was wild!  People with their faces painted with the British Flag, folks in costume and even a STREAKER during half time!! I actually thought the streaker was a woman until he did a somersault mid field. New Zealand won the World Cup 10-13, but to me, the most amazing thing was the attitude of the English fans.  Nothing ugly, no disparaging remarks and when the New Zealand team took to the field after the match, the Brits stood up and clapped.  It was an amazing show of exceptionally good sportsmanship and made the game that much more fun.

7 Sept 2010  St. Pankras Station  Bound for Paris
We toured Oxford yesterday with a dear man, Nick Alcock. Beautiful buildings, gardens and shops. We climbed 2 sets of spiral staircases to the top of a tower in Oxford. What an incredible view we had of the entire town! Wonderful tile roofs, tall spires and cobbled streets.

 

Nick then took us to his home and we had dinner with his beautiful red haired wife, Lorraine and 2 of his 3 daughters-Elizabeth, 15 years and Jenny, 19.  The entire family is vegan (the children since birth) and they all are so beautiful with amazing skin (I don't tknow why I was struck by this, but I couldn't stop looking at how beautiful their skin was!). The meal was the best we've had in London and we've eaten well here. We stuffed ourselves (ESPECIALLY SCOTT!) and laughed all through dinner and dessert.  Nick the Dear Hearted, as I have "knighted" him, drove all the way into London with Lily, talking politics and playing Beatles on the CD player, while Scott and I followed in our car (Clem's car) nervously.  It was dark and rainy and driving on the other side of the road was completely unnerving.  I didn't stop clenching my teeth until I was back in bed.
Lily is bugging me to check her mail, so I will end now until later today.  Lots more pics to post...our London hotel had no WiFi so I was kinda' stuck...

A Funny Remembrance

As I was driving home from the Farmers Market today I began thinking about Martin Luther King.  Today is the anniversary of his, "I Have a Dream" speech, which he gave in 1963. I remembered driving through Austin with Marta, back in...ohh, maybe 1990 or so, meaning she was about 3 or 4 years old.  It was Martin Luther King Day-which is celebrated the third Monday of January-and there was a big march in Austin.  Traffic was held up for awhile as the "parade" crossed the thoroughfare and Marta asked me why.  I told her about MLK, who he was and what he did, and she was actually pretty interested.  In fact, she was real quiet the remainder of the trip...I could see her thinking.  About an hour later, she piped up, "Hey Mom, I want to change my name."  "Really?" I replied. "To what?"  She cocked her head to one side, took a deep breath and proclaimed, "Marta Luther King".  What a kid!

Marta at about 3 years old.

Almost Vacation Time

Lots of time lately has been devoted to our upcoming vacation. Either making money to afford it, doing research online to figure out how to make it all work or tying up all the loose ends around here so we can actually leave the ranch for a month. I didn't plant a Fall garden because no one will be here to tend it.  The most I can ask of our neighbor who will come daily to tend animals is to push the button on the automatic waterer every two days if it doesn't rain.  This will keep the cukes, squash and cantaloupes alive and maybe, just maybe, when we come home there will still be SOMETHING producing.
Scott and I had cardiac screenings last week. We had an appointment to get our lab results in the afternoon and that morning I spent hours trying to work out the particulars of our Eurail Pass.  You buy the pass for however many days and countries you think you need -in our case 8 days of train travel between 5 countries.  However, and this is a big however, you still have to buy tickets on some trains.  You pay a reduced rate, but there is a fee none-the-less and these tickets need to be reserved in advance.  For example, a trip from Paris to Amsterdam might cost $318 for the 2 of us, but with the pass and a reservation it was only $104.  Even better, many trips require no reservations-you simply show your Eurail Pass and board the train. So logically, that means planning the entire trip beforehand, not a quick or easy feat.  So I was deep into the trip, maps and train routes swirling around my head, when we left for town and our appointment.  First order of business was taking our blood pressure.  I have chronically low blood pressure, which I try to keep under control by drinking lots of espresso every morning.  When I expressed surprise that my blood pressure was higher than usual (although still well within normal range), the nurse asked me if I was stressed about anything.  At this point all those maps and train routes filled my head and I knew I had to relax a bit about this particular aspect of the trip.  Scott's pressure on the other hand, really alarmed me and I nudged him a few times to make sure he hadn't expired after we sat down.  I am well aware that Scott is really laid back, but this was extreme.  The nurse wasn't concerned, but I kept pinching him just to keep him breathing.  All in all, the results were great with both of us at a really low risk for heart disease.  The next evening I sat down and in just a few hours mapped out our entire trip, reserved the pertinent tickets and paid for it all.  A big hurdle taken care of and I am certain my blood pressure is back to normal.  As usual, I will post musings on our travels here complete with pics.  Lily is accompanying us for the first 6 days and we will see Jill in London.  It will be great to have 2 of the kids with us. Although Jill will not be playing in the World Cup (she was co-captain of the team), she will attend. Three weeks ago we weren't so sure. She is recovering miraculously well from her injury and subsequent neck/back surgery. A true testament to being in top shape. It will be fun to hang out with Jill and catch the last rugby match of the Cup.  I'm looking forward to her play by play commentary so we can understand what the hell is going on!

Summer Pastimes

It is hot and sticky here in Central Texas.  Mid 90's with about 90% humidity makes for early morning activity and mid day lethargy.  We survive without air conditioning and therefore, around 2 in the afternoon (after lunch) we retire to the cooler bedroom (what a difference rock floors make!) and turn on the fan to nap or read or write.  Our dear grand daughter, Natalie has been with us since yesterday, so today the TV is on and she is watching a cartoon while Scott naps beside her.  This hot spell is supposed to break tomorrow with temps the next week in the upper 80's.  Nice!

After working away from home the majority of the last 6 weeks, it is nice to be back and catch up a bit.  The garden is so overgrown that parts of it are unaccessible unless I want to be chigger bait, but I am still picking tomatoes, green beans, spaghetti squash and a pepper here and there.  The arugula is up- having reseeded in the late spring -and I should be able to start picking it in a week or so...especially if we get some rain.  Cucumbers are just now coming on and the cantaloupe aren't far behind as well as some Italian squash.  Thank goodness for the Farmer's Market every week as it has kept me in cukes until mine come in!  We ate the first peaches from our trees this week and they are so very good.  I pick whatever is ripe every day and we eat them immediately, sometimes 2 or 3 a piece. I am saving all the pits from the peaches we eat as the tree was a volunteer, so I don't know the variety.  All I know is they are some of the best peaches I've ever eaten and we want the orchard filled with these trees.

We butchered our chickens this week.  Scott was worried they'd be the size of turkeys if we didn't get on it.  It took us 3 hours to butcher 10 chickens and by the last 2 I was ready for it to be over.  It was much more fun last year (although fun is a relative term here) with Bernadette's help (see http://a-half-fast-life.blogspot.com/2009/06/butchering.html for the complete post on last years massacre butchering), but maybe it was also the novelty of it being our first time.  Anyway, I am glad it is over and the freezer is stocked with chicken for the next year. We are planning to raise a hog this fall after we return from vacation the end of September.  We've never raised a hog before, but it has to be more fun (there's that word again...) than the chickens and we can bring it into town to be butchered. 

After Market yesterday, I picked up Natalie and we drove out to the ranch where I work frequently. They have some new animals so we drove the entire ranch, taking time to wade in the creeks and take pictures of animals. The camel came right over and let us pet it.

The zebras are Nat's favorites and they let us get pretty close.

It took us over an hour and a half to drive the entire ranch and by the time we got to the main road heading home Nat was snoring in the back seat.  Seeing things through her eyes is such a joy!  Everything is a marvel to her and she says the funniest things. She told me yesterday that "This was the absolutely most funnest trip to the ranch ever!"

Eating this time of year is a bit of a challenge.  Not because of a lack of variety that's for sure, but because of the heat I don't feel like cooking or eating hot meals.  We generally have sandwiches or salads for lunch and smoothies for dinner.  I pressure cooked some garbanzo beans this week and made a big batch of hummous.  It doesn't last long around here and is SO easy to make.  You can make it with canned garbanzo beans, just don't add any salt until you've tasted it as canned beans usually have plenty.

I don't really have an established recipe, I just eyeball things in the food processor.  Hommous consists of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), tahini (sesame seed butter), garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and salt.  Sometimes I add cilantro or chipotle, but plain is really good.  So I would guess my proportions for this last batch were as follows: 

4-5 cups cooked chickpeas

2 Tablespoons tahini

8-10 medium peeled garlic cloves

1/4-1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Just dump everything into the food processor and turn it on.  Let it run until it gets smooth. If it seems too thick I thin it with the liquid from cooking the chickpeas (or the liquid from the can) instead of adding more olive oil.  It adds nutrients and no additional fat.  I taste it and add whatever I feel it needs-usually more lemon juice.  I tend to use LOTS of raw garlic, as that flavor seems to fade the most with refrigeration.  We eat it on crackers, but more often with veggies-celery, sliced peppers, cucumbers.  Since I am not a mayonnaise lover, I use it as a sandwiche spread.  This was my lunch this afternoon:

I get these terrific wheat pita breads from Ali Baba on Wurzbach (1 block west of I10) in San Antonio.  They make them fresh daily and they are really inexpensive, so I buy 4 or 5 packages and freeze them.

You can cut them in half and stuff them or cut around the edges and use them like a wrap.  I like them better than wraps as they are not as thick. The sandwich above is smeared with hommous, then a bit of tapenade (olive paste), then some feta. I top it with whatever veggies I have at the time, but most always tomatoes, cukes and red onion.  I had gone out to the garden right before lunch and picked a few handfuls of green beans and cooked them briefly.  They were a great addition to the sandwich! I also picked some banana peppers, but forgot to include them-good thing as I could hardly get the wrap around this sandwich as it was!

It was a perfect lunch for a hot summer afternoon!

A Birthday and a Few New Recipes

Lily celebrated her 22nd birthday on July 1st.  Wow, hard to believe the baby is 22!  We had a family dinner here with her favorite meal, my Special Spaghetti also known as Spaghetti with Anchovy-Caper Sauce (recipe at http://www.theteachingkitchen.com/) and an amazing Hazelnut Tiramisu I've been making for special occasions.  It's not difficult and can be made ahead, which makes it high on my list for party desserts! Five days later, Scott finished off the last of it and really, it was as good as the day it was made. The last serving:

Don't be intimidated by the 3 sections of instructions.  The Espresso Syrup can be made days in advance and refrigerated.  The Hazelnut Filling can be made a day in advance and then it can be put together the day (or the day before) you plan to serve it.  Toast the hazelnuts on a pan in a 300 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes and then place them on a kitchen towel and rub the skins off the nuts with the towel.  Some bits of skin may stay on the nuts and that's fine, just try to get the majority off. Warning: this is a RICH and CALORIC dessert.

Hazelnut Tiramisu
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts, toasted and skins removed
1/4 cup all purpose flour
5 eggs, separated
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
1 tsp vanilla
1 recipe Espresso Syrup
1 recipe Hazelnut Filling
2 cups heavy whipping cream
Garnish: unsweetened cocoa
Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease a 11 3/4 x 16 3/4 x 1 inch rimmed cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Line with parchment paper and spray parchment paper with nonstick spray also. In the work bowl of a food processor, combine hazelnuts and flour. Process until hazelnuts are finely ground. In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks at medium speed with an electric mixer for 1 minute. Add ground hazelnut mixture, 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla. Beat until well combined. Set aside. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites at medium high speed with an electric mixer until foamy. Gradually add 1/4 cup of sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Fold egg white mixture into egg yolk mixture. Spread batter onto prepared sheet pan. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes of until cake springs back when lightly touched in center. Immediately loosen from sides of pan and turn out onto parchment paper. Remove parchment paper from bottom of cake. Cool cake completely. To assemble, cut 1 9x9 piece of cake. Place cake in the bottom of a 9 inch square  pan. With a pastry brush, brush cake with half of Espresso Syrup. Spread half of Hazelnut Filling on top of cake. Cut remaining cake to fit pan. Place cake on top of Hazelnut Filling, brush with remaining Espresso Syrup and spread remaining Hazelnut Filling on top of cake. In a medium bowl, beat cream at high speed with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/2 cup sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Spread whipped cream on top of Hazelnut Filling. Cover. Refrigerate for 4 hours to overnight. Garnish with cocoa dusted over top.

Espresso Syrup
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp instant espresso powder
1/4 cup coffee flavored liqueur (Kahlua)

In a small saucepan over medium high heat, bring sugar, water and espresso powder to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in liqueur. Cool completely

Hazelnut Filling
16 oz. (2 8oz containers) mascarpone cheese, softened
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup heavy whipping cream

In a medium bowl, combine mascarpone cheese, confectioner's sugar, chocolate hazelnut spread, and vanilla. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add cream, beat until smooth.

So, after THAT dessert, I needed something light, tasty and summery to get me back on track.  This is my favorite new salad.  I've made it for clients and frequently for us and it is always a hit. I love Summer Rolls and make them a few times every summer, but they are a bit of a hassle.  This salad is all the best ingredients of a Summer Roll and the Dipping Sauce for the Rolls is the dressing for the salad.  I could eat this salad 3 times a week and be a happy girl.  It comes together pretty quick and the ingredients for the salad can vary according to what you have that's abundant.

Summer Roll Salad
adapted from a recipe in Fine Cooking
For the dressing:
1/4 c. fresh lime juice
2 Tbs. rice vinegar
2 Tbs. fish sauce
1 Tbs. granulated sugar
2 tsp. minced fresh jalapeño or serrano
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. finely minced fresh ginger
In a small bowl, mix the dressing ingredients. Taste and add more of any of the ingredients to get a tasty balance of flavors.
For the salad:
6 oz. medium-width rice noodles
3 cup shredded romaine lettuce
1/4 cup roughly chopped or small whole fresh cilantro leaves
1 cup peeled, seeded and diced cucumbers
1/3 cup coarse grated carrots (1 large)
1 cup coarse chopped sugar snap or snow peas
3 Tbs. chopped peanuts
Make the salad:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the rice noodles and stir to disperse them. Cook until strands are opaque white and fully tender, but still resilient, 3 to 6 minutes (check the noodles often as different brands cook at different rates). Drain the noodles in a colander and rinse them under cold water until noodles are cool. Let the noodles drain in the colander for 10 minutes, fluffing every now and then to make sure they stay loose.
When ready to serve, put the rice noodles in a large bowl with the lettuce, cilantro, cucumbers, peas and carrots. Add the dressing to taste and toss well. Sprinkle with peanuts before serving.

I didn't even think to get a picture until I was halfway through eating it, but here it is.  I look at this picture and think it doesn't look half as good as it tastes!

And now a few of my favorite pics of Dear Lily.  Hope your 22nd year is full of adventures and LOVE!

This was at about 2 years old:

This is one of my favorite pics of her.  She was about 10 years old. We call it the Harry Potter picture, 'cuz she looks like she's right out of that series! 

And this last one is pretty much present day.  A lovely picture even though she looks so pensive.

Love you Lils!!!

Tired but Happy

I have been working out of town real often lately and am now on a cooking job about an hour from home. Truth be told, I am having a blast feeding 9 incredible folks who REALLY love to eat!  Because the hours are so long -12 to 13 hours a day- and the drive is so far, I have been spending every other night on site.  It allows me to actually get some sleep! I roll out of bed in the morning, jump in the shower and then walk across the driveway (and more often than not encountering a camel or an elk on the way), put on the coffee and start breakfast.  It is creative and exhilarating work and I am so grateful to be able to work at this ranch.
I do miss home though and my everyday stuff: the garden, the chickens (it's almost chicken butchering time again!) and MY HUSBAND!  On the nights I drive home, it is a quick, "Hi! How was your day? Gotta' get some sleep...see you in the morning..."
But I stayed up tonite to check my mail and catch up on a few things.  I read this article online and thought it was a brilliant idea...maybe it will become the new trend in wedding food (or really ANY party). Enjoy and GOOD NIGHT!
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1996593,00.html?xid=newsletter-weekly

50 Healthy Foods...

Found this article the other day and was duly impressed with the info it contained:
http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/blogs/save-money/cheap-healthy-food-460610#comments

Jeff Yeager is a very funny and pragmatic man that writes the column The Green Cheapskate for The Daily Green, an e-zine also called, The Consumer's Guide to the Green Revolution. The article linked here is called 50 Healthy Foods for Under $1 a Pound.  There are so many great recommendations in Jeff's article such as buying produce when it is on sale, blanching it and freezing it.  Food in season tends to be cheaper (think of this when you buy green beans in January at $2.89 a pound!) and sometimes, when you buy an entire case, you can get a REALLY good deal. Every Autumn a local farmer sells his crop of sweet potatoes out of his garage. It is the only product he grows to sell and we wait every year for his sign to go up saying that his potatoes are available. He sells the exceptionally large ones or exceptionally small ones or the gnarly ones for 50 cents a pound and we buy about 85-100 pounds.  They keep all year with no special effort (we keep them in a bus tub in the bottom of the pantry) and we usually finish the last ones a month or so before they are available again.  And you can read my previous post on picking strawberries at Marburger's Orchard to see how we do pretty much the same thing with fruit.  We are picking peaches this week at Marburger's and will freeze most of them after we eat our fill of fresh ones.
Yogurt made his list at 2/$1 for the individual cups, but I think making your own is a BETTER, CHEAPER and GREENER alternative. You can go to my website, http://www.theteachingkitchen.com/ for complete instructions, plus step by step pics. I have a batch of milk heating on the stove this very minute which will be yogurt by this evening.  I mean, it's taking care of itself while I am in the office blogging.  Easy and CHEAP! 
The point of all this being that eating well-and healthy-doesn't have to be expensive. Yeah, the learning curve may be steep at first and you may have to adopt new habits, but after the initial work it becomes second nature.
Some of Jeff's recent articles on The Green Cheapskate were:
How to Compost Almost Anything    
8 Great Perennial Vegetables Almost Anyone Can Grow                             
10 Things I Learned While Living Without Running Water
Having lived for many years without running water, I especially appreciated this one!
Check out his blog for lots of great ideas on how to save money and live a better life while doing your part to help our planet.

Strawberries, Blackberries and Peaches, Oh My...

Last week, Lily and I took a morning trip to Marburger Orchard just outside Fredericksburg to pick strawberries.  I had planned on picking weeks before (the season usually starts in March) but before I knew it, the end of April was here and I still hadn't made it out there. A frantic evening call to Lily and the plans were made.  The next morning, the car packed with baskets and empty beer flats, I picked her up and off we went. The crop this year is prolific and the picking was really easy.  In less than 2 1/2 hours we picked almost 65 pounds of beautiful strawberries!!! Marburger Orchard is a lovely, flower laden 41 acre ranch with 25 acres of that in fruit production.  The peach trees are neatly arranged in rows according to variety-and they have 13 varieties planted.  As one variety plays out another steps up, so they have continuous production from mid-May through August. And right in the middle of the peach trees are the strawberry fields-long, lush rows of plants full of jewel like fruit.  It's a sight to see!

Armed with our baskets and cardboard flats, we settled in a back row and began picking.  We kneeled on the sandy soil between the rows and after about 20 minutes, Lily enviously pointed out a man in a row in front of us wearing kneepads. What a great idea!

But we kneeled and picked and talked about all kinds of things.  It was a pleasantly cool morning with a slight breeze and before we knew it, our first baskets were full to overflowing. Right about that time a small tractor came down the row to pick up our full baskets and transport them back to the front table at the top of the hill. In no time our second baskets were full and, after the tractor picked up this load, we walked back with our last empty flat, filling it as we walked back to the top of the hill.  Lily commented how addicting the picking was-the berries are so beautiful that you keep thinking, "just one more..."

I usually pick about 30 pounds, but with Lily's help I unknowingly upped it this year.  I have to admit I was quite surprised (and really pleased!) when Gary Marburger added it all up and said, "Just over 64 pounds..."

Wow!

Strawberries are almost done for this year.  There will probably only be pickable fruit for another week or two.  Weather's getting quite warm now with days in the upper 80's, so there are no new blooms.  If you would like to pick, plan it soon and check their website for fruit availability.  Gary Marburger updates the site every few days and there are some great pics of the ranch. 

Next fruit coming in will be blackberries.  Mr. Marburger has built trellis type uprights for the blackberry canes that keep them off the ground and make picking quite easy.  You can just walk down the row with your basket over your arm and pick to your heart's content (and, ultimately, your belly's content, too!).

He has a few different varieties of blackberries, but be aware that most are NOT thornless, so wear long sleeves.  They are large berries and VERY tasty.  Perfect for pies and cobblers and they freeze like a dream.  Blackberry season should start in 2 weeks or so, but it will take 7-10 days after that before production is at its peak. The blackberries finish toward the end of June.  If you time it right you can pick blackberries and peaches in the same morning!  The first variety of peaches ready to pick are called Regal and they should be ready mid May or so.  From that point on, there will be two to three different varieties available at any one time until August.  I find peach picking to be the easiest of them all.  You place your box on the ground and walk around picking.  The trees are not tall so everything is within reach.  You might notice small cement "cups" hanging in the peach trees.  These are hung off certain branches to keep them growing laterally instead of upright so picking is easier. I've always thought it was an ingenious idea and when you are picking you will see that it obviously works!  The peaches are phenomenal! Sweet and juicy and they also freeze well. It's best to get to the Orchard in the morning-they open at 9-because it is hot later in the day.  Wear a hat and bring cash or a check as they don't take plastic.
I'll take this opportunity to post my VERY FAVORITE fruit dessert recipe.  It is equally good with strawberries, blackberries and peaches.

Fruit Crisp

3 cups old fashioned oats (not quick oats)

1 cup all purpose or whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

½ t. nutmeg or cinnamon

2 sticks cold butter (1/2#), cut in small pieces

1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped (optional)

Mix oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon or nutmeg and pecans if using, in a bowl. Mix in cut up butter. Mix well and store in a ziplock or a freezer container. This makes LOTS! You can use this over any fresh or frozen fruit.
For fresh fruit: toss the fruit with about 1 tablespoon of flour and about 1/4-1/3 cup of sweetener of your choice (honey, brown sugar, maple syrup) per 3 cups of fruit. You can use less sweetener for peaches and strawberries and more for blackberries which tend to be more tart. Place the fruit in a greased casserole dish and cover the fruit completely with the crisp mix. Bake about 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees or until the top is golden brown and the fruit is bubbly. If the fruit is frozen, you will have to bake it longer-about 45-50 minutes. Great topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  It's nice to have the oat mixture in the freezer for a quick, fairly healthy dessert!

We are lucky to have resources for fresh fruit like this in our area.  In addition to it being a great educational environment for kids, it's a wonderful opportunity to pick enough fruit to can or freeze so you have quality fruit year round.  A big "Thanks" to Gary Marburger and his staff for making the Orchard such a welcoming place and for working so hard to grow quality fruit.  And thanks to Lily for some great pictures! I had a terrific time with you kiddo and look forward to mornings spent picking blackberries and peaches! Yum!