Santa Monica, California

I am sitting on a bench atop the Santa Monica Pier, basking in bright but tepid California sun, compared to the burn of Texas', The 73 degree wind is chilly; it has been a long June.

Ryan is still in class and likely soaking more epiphanies into his brain. He's had a great week and I certainly know the locale has helped.

I ate a relaxed lunch at Ye Olde King's Head, where Ryan ate twice this week. Awesome Tikka Masala, apparently the new national dish of England.

Just heard German spoken next to me. "The ride looks fun," a.young turk/german guy says to his friend.

So many cultures here. I love the unity of Texas but love this neat diversity...well, the diversity of the tourists anyway. The locals intimidate, to be honest.

Crashing waves, an iced coffee in my hand, seagulls that remind me of isaac with their hungry eyes and orange beaks, and another German couple (father with a hat announcing "Florida!") walking by me. Ahhhh...

Tchuess!!

Chicken Korma (Huhn Korma) and Potatoes in Tomato Sauce (Kartoffeln in der Tomatensauce)

Another night of Indian food -- this one turned out ok, but not as tasty as the cashew sauce. I think they made it ultra healthy and that took a lot of the really neat flavors away. I also think I've had it with Coconut Milk which makes it sweet. I did like learning how to add yogurt (we used Bulgarian Yogurt, something we get locally...it's so good) without curdling it. You add it tablespoon by tablespoon and it just melts into the mixture and props it up.



Not traveling for work can get me in an exploratory mood - it's so easy to get into a funk with work, home, work, home, work, home, that you forget how cool your city really is and all the fascinating places out there. So, we hit the local Indian food market. It actually is rather nice and situated in a new strip mall.



After walking in, two men greeted us and we started puttering around. We were the only people in there - a nice lady (probably the wife of one of the men) asked if we needed help and I explained we were looking for Curry Leaves. I had thought they would be dried like Bay Leaves, but she took us to a fridge and they are fresh beautiful leaves. She also helped me find Onion Seeds (Nigella), which are these little black seeds. We picked up a huge bag of Gram Masala, a mix of spices used in a lot of currys, for $2.50. The woman explained they get it direct from the factory, no middle person.



I really enjoyed the Potatoes in Tomato Sauce -- they were delicious. For both dishes, I used onions from the local farmer's market. These aren't your traditional bulb onions...they have a thicker stalk on it. Almost like a green onion that was allowed to grow very large. I'm not hitting up the market today, since Ryan leaves tomorrow for California, and I'll have to pick the stinkiest, most vinegary food to make. Sauerbraten anyone??



On another note, Germany did fantastic this week in the Euro 2008 - they skipped by Austria and pounded Portugal. Up next is Turkey. I'm heading to Mother Egans to watch Russia play the Netherlands. My last name is dutch so I suppose I should root for them...

OK - I have a preview for you here -- the most important part of our house has finally been finished...and no, it's not the coffee table (where we honestly eat a lot of our carefully prepared meals...especially when Dancing with the Stars is going on...terrible, huh)...here you go:



Tschüß!!

Alan Furst: The Foreign Correspondent

The Foreign Correspondent: A Novel by Alan Furst
rating: 5 of 5 stars

As my first foray into espionage thrillers, I was excited to see what was ahead -- would it be military-focused and procedural (ala Tom Clancy?) I hoped not. I wanted something more akin to Patricia Highsmith. I wanted brooding, the anti-hero, classic European sights, twisting plot, dark and light characters.

I definitely got that -- and more: history, pre-WWII, insights into the political machineries that Hollywood-produced movies self-centeredly miss.

As a fan of fantasy books, with their self-produced maps and a world built from scratch -- I found a close resonance in Furst's world, although his map is of Paris. I was tempted to pull open Google Maps and try to verify; but the descriptive writing, the way he weaved me into the surroundings authenticated the facts and I completely believed the story.

I'm off to buy my next Furst novel.

Tschüß!

Chicken in Cashew Nut Sauce (indisch essen)

Indian Food. Ahh...nothing quite like it and I know it's found throughout Germany. (Yes that was my attempt to keep the blog relevant and "on topic.") We were at Barnes and Noble and Ryan found a Indian Food cookbook in the discount area. Why not? Let's try! After buying it (along with an espionage spy novel for moi) we sat in our car and picked a dish to make. Chicken in Cashew Nut Sauce.



We rushed to Central Market and quickly bought the rest of the ingredients, cookbook planted firmly in the cart. We had a bit of confusion trying to find Gram Masala (is it a sauce? powder? ahh...blend of spices...) but finally returned home and I started cooking. The food processor was a Christmas present from Ryan and I've used it a ton -- this night was no exception and it did so well.



Yes, it tasted as good as it looks. I didn't know the Indian food has so much Cilantro -- I've always associated that with Mexican food.



It surprised me how easy the dish was - we're moving on to a Chicken Korma, one of my FAVORITE dishes. But I couldn't find Curry Leaves or Onion Seeds at the store...so maybe an Indian Foodstore might be open tonight to help me out.



Bliss. Last night we hit Ranch 616, one of my favorite restaurants in Austin; we've eaten there on my birthday for the past two years. The food was spectacular and the city was abuzz. We hit Molotov to watch the cars and bikes putter on by...it's the bike rally. Most of the time they're nice...but on my way to watch the soccer game yesterday I was crossing the street with a "WALK" sign protecting me...and some turning yuppie roadpigs told me to "Fucking go man!" as in walk faster. Eat shit -- you and your wrinkled broad are nothing but posers and next time we meet at Whole Foods and you're in your dry-cleaned white button-down picking up a Vouvray to go with your take-out pizza from Homeslice...I will still kindly put the rubber "Thank You For Shopping" stick down between your wine and mine.

Tschüß!

RUS 1 - GRE 0

I guess I would root for the Russians over the Greece...convenient, now the game is over. How fun, I am enjoying a beer and reading the paper with a busy room around me. I have a new blackberry and it is actually Blogger-friendly! Neat.

On topic, are fried chicken tenders irish? Haha, they are certainly good here.

The town is hot and abuzz with the biker rally (our 4th year seeing it!), and Pride, which isn't the sad repressive shit in Utah. We need to enjoy the city buzz. Cab ahoy! :)

Finishing my Spaten and the paper...then off to the hot afternoon.

Tchuess!

GRE vs RUS

After a sad day on Thursday (Germany lost 1-2 to Croatia) I am awaiting the next matchup on Monday.

But, to keep my appetite whet I came to Mother Egans for the Greece vs Russia game. It's going still...but being in an Irish pub, with lights down and all speakers blaring the commentary, and also the fans gathered to enjoy the game...awesome! More on this adventure later...

Tchuess!!

Summer Adventure Challenge #1: Lockhart

So, I joined Corinne's Summer Adventure Challenge because Austin TX is in the middle of Texas and has a million things to do in and outside the city. When our friends Melissa and Spencer asked if wanted to go grab some authentic BBQ in Lockhart, a "man's town" about 30 minutes southeast of Austin...we were all for it!

Now, 30 minutes southeast of most cities is still the suburbs. Maybe if you went Northwest (Leander) or Northeast (Plugerville). But head southeast on Highway 183 and you are quickly past the airport and in the middle of nowhere. A beautiful Sunday drive (it was about 99 degrees at 12:30 p.m.) and we happily chatted on our way to Lockhart.

There are a lot of random churches in Texas. Not big, beefy, granite churches like Utah or massive worship malls like Dallas...but falling down, white buildings with a cross. I noticed a number on the way down.

I really like small Texas towns...Fredericksburg is one of my favorites...Lockhart is pretty cool. It has this rockin' Courthouse that just does not fit but kind of does...almost an empirical French look in a town that didn't have a lot of french people (mostly anglos) and not even germans (they went on to New Braunfels).

The BBQ joint was a trip...you walk into Smitty's through an entrance and you are in a long, wide hallway that is painted a grey color. It was probably brown at one point, but the air is so thick with smoke (not cigarette...wood smoke) that it coats everything. Benches line the entire wall and I can imagine they are fully packed during lunch hours...on a Sunday it was rather dead and I found that ominous. Ryan and I were nervous. Spencer (the professional cool guy he is) navigates us toward the back.

Halfway down the hall we found a door and through it a bright room full of people eating -- packed to the gills! Old, young, white, brown, black, conservative, liberal (not talking politics here), they were all here chomping on meat without forks. Knifes? Yes. Required for the charred natural skin sausages. Spoons? Yes, but only to slop up the charro beans. Forks? Get out of here.

We keep walking -- at the end of the hallway is a huge guy in a grubby Chef's outfit and he's sitting chatting with some other workers. To the left seems to be storage. To the right is a pile of wood on fire, smoking next to large rectangular boxes...smoker boxes. A couple guys reach in periodically to pull out a hunk of brisket or shoulder...cut pieces off...slam them on scales from the late 1960s...and then throw the meat back in the smoker.

Better get in line. I won't lie, we acted pretty awkwardly as we stared through the smoke and tried to figure out how we ordered and what we wanted. There was no smoked turkey in these parts...beef, sausage, and ribs. I listened to someone else order to get my clue and then did it: "1/2 pound fat, 1/2 pound lean, 2 hots." I had just ordered 1/2 pound of brisket, 1/2 pound of shoulder, and two hot (not spicy, just heated) sausage. Success...with a slab of meat in some wrapped light purple paper, we moved into the main room through two doors and found a seat. I went for sides: potato salad, beans, cole slaw, some sweet pickle chips, and two Shiners.

The place had been there for almost 100 years -- but back then it was a Spoetzle Brewery (german, yes), one of the many that brewed Shiner Beer throughout Texas. In the 60s it closed and the Smittys family moved in to do BBQ...not a thing has changed on the interior since.

The food was great -- don't you dare ask for BBQ sauce though. It's not allowed, it's not around, and you best not think about it. The sauce is the juice from the meat. Seriously!

After grubbing, we took some pictures and then walked around the Courthouse -- a beautiful building that had elements of a French/Russian palace. After looking at some property listings at a local realtor office window ('come on, let's just get a trailer out here and forget about the big city!') we got back in the car and drove into the Central Texas distance...

Check out our pictures!



Tschüß!!

Euro 2008: Deutschland 2 - Poland 0

Yessss...just finished watching (a day late; more to come on yesterday at a later time) and it was a great game. Really frenetic the first half, pretty exciting the second half. I kept thinking that Poland would pull something surprising off, but the Deutsch were extremely strong and kept pushing that ball onto the Poland side of the field. Fun stuff.

Their next game is on Thursday vs. Croatia, which should be exciting. I think they'll crush them, to be honest. I think Croatia gets lucky (as seen against Austria and in the qualifiers against England). I have to laugh, though, because most of the players of non-mainstream european teams (like Croatia, Austria) actually play for the British or German league! I love it...they come home though for the big tournaments.

I wonder if we could get tickets to the L.A. Galaxy for our trip...hopefully my restraining order against Becks has expired. :)

By the way, see the Croatian side of Saturday's game at one of my favorite blogs in the world.

Tschüß!!!

Schwäbische Rühreier

I love the name of this fairly simple but rewarding dish -- "Schwäbische" points to a regionality of food, much like "Southern Biscuits" means its biscuits done like the Southerners do it. Schwaben (Swabia auf Englisch) is a regional area with quite a fascinating history and culture. Technically, my Baden Baden ancestor falls in the area of Swabia but I don't know if we have any true roots with the Schwaben people. They originally started near the Baltic Sea and migrated during the times of the Romans to settle in present-day Baden-Württemburg and Schwaben. All I can say, is I love the dishes from this region - especially the Schwäbische Spätzle.

This is an egg/breakfast dish that translates as "Swabian Scrambled Eggs with Onions and Croutons." You dice up some bread into little cubes, then fry that slowly with onions in butter. Then on ultra low, pour on the eggs (with a dash of milk) and fold it around until the eggs are done. I like them a little drippy with this dish to be honest!



The recipe calls for salt and pepper to be added before the egg cooks, but I learned from Gordon Ramsey that it may cause the egg to go gray...so add it afterwards. Makes sense to me. And the salted butter helps make sure there is plenty of salt around anyway.



My serving style, which was to just put the pan on the table, was a bit rustic but you can't see the yummy pancakes, turkey bacon, and the rest of the spread.

Last night, we watched The Science of Sleep, which was a fantastic movie - a bit trippy - I loved the fact that part of the movie was in English, Spanish, French. See it all play out does make you think about identity. While I know I'm Utahn (even though I like to proudly say I wasn't born there) I really don't have an identity from there. No regional dishes (Funeral Potatoes?) that I cling to...I know a lot of our recipes come from my Mom and her family's days in Southern California. So is that the identity? Oh boy, too much to analyze with only 1/2 a cup of coffee in me.

We are off to Lockhart this afternoon to try a hand at beautiful BBQ -- and see a stop on the Chisholm Trail. This isn't a historically "german" town but was founded by some Anglo and is the site of the Texans' victory over the Commanches. Of course, the Germans instead made a treaty which has lasted to this day. Ah, love them.

Tschüß!!!!

Euro 2008

Woohoo, I finally got to sit down and watch some serious football! Yay for the Czech's (they certainly were better looking than the Schweiz).



Tschüß!!

Tuscan Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

Taking a brief sojourn south into Italy, this was a super healthy and super yummy dish from Ellie Krieger. She is fast becoming my favorite food personality (haha) on FoodTV. Her food is healthy, smart, simple to prepare, but fabulous to eat.



What I liked about this one was the bone-in Chicken Breast. At my favorite grocer, Central Market, they easily had these with skin on; I ended up taking it off since the recipe didn't call for skin and I hadn't ever skinned a chicken breast. It's actually quite simple; I wonder if overall it's cheaper to buy chicken this way?



Certainly more flavorful, you get more bits and pieces that hide in between the bone, and I think the heat of the bone helps cook it and keep it moist.

Anyhow, try this recipe out.

We also made Quinoa for the first time (we say it "Keen-wah" but I'm not sure the proper pronunciation) which was fantastic; our dear friend Julie made Quinoa Pilaf at our last Mira Monte monthly supper and was kind to give us the recipe. I don't know if it's a family secret recipe, so comment if you want me to send it to you.



If you haven't had Quinoa before, it's a South American grain that has been cultivated for thousands of years. You soak it for about 8 hours before cooking, but it's tasty - especially with a dash of Tamari (high-end soy sauce).

Speaking of Italian, we had a great dinner last night at Siena. Our friend Steph is the GM there and Kris' hubby was in town. Great meal, fantastic wine, fun friends. We frankly hadn't eaten out all week for dinner. I strangely went to lunch twice this week -- but more for keeping myself sane in my new job and on target. But for dinner, everything was home-cooked! Ahhh fresh is fun!!

BTW, the Euro 2008 starts in a few minutes. Deutschland doesn't play until tomorrow, but I'm going to DVR it. Switzerland and the Czech Republic plays in a few minutes.

We're also going to Lockhart tomorrow with Melissa and Spencer - a little roadtrip southwest of here to the BBQ Capital of Texas! I'm looking forward to some good grub and cold beer. Mmm...

Tschüß!!

Background

I've had this background for a while -- while the blog layout is pretty standard, the background is from a picture that Ryan and I took. Any guess what it might be or where it came from? (Hint - for general direction, it's in the place referenced by my blog title.) To respond, click the comment box below. I haven't allowed comments in the past, but thought I'd try it out for a bit!

Happy Sunday - Oh, I am also super happy right now because Clueso's album came out and I love it! Woohoo!

Tschüß!