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!!

Ooohhh .... half-price books!

I finally went to "Half Price Books," an Austin institution, and found a treasure trove of German language books...also found a history of King Ludwig II, the King who built Neuschwanstein Castle in Bayern. I'll be bringing it with me on the trip, definitely!

Tschüß!!

Deutsches Umfrage

A few weeks ago, I was poking around www.db.de, the website for Deutsche Bahn, and somehow clicked on a survey...alles in Deutsch. I figured most of it out, using my dictionary for help.

Then, I receive an e-mail asking me to setup my profile on this Market Research company's site - so I do. I now get surveys every week or so, asking my opinion on different things...today's was quite thorough and asked about my Getränke (beverage) preferences, etc. It's actually an amazing language lesson for me! I did get tired after a while...was looking up way too many words.

Grete's spay operation went very well -- I stayed home yesterday to watch her and she's been sleeping it all off. I feel bad having to do that but know it's the right thing to do. Now we need to watch what she eats so she doesn't gain a million pounds and turn into Garfield.

Our friend, Mary, called me yesterday and asked if I would help her save a table at a bar for a game later that day -- I was so happy she called! Of course, I said, especially if drinks are involved and acceptable at 2:30 p.m.! Afterwards, we're going to Melissa and Robert's house for dinner -- should be a great night!

Last night, we were SO LOCAL I couldn't stand it -- we walked 1/2 block to the nearby Mexican Restaurant, called Sazon, and it was awesome -- listening to live music, ate queso, and both had great dishes. After, we mozied another half block to Horseshoe Lounge for a beer -- it was packed. Had a nice chat and then walked through the backdoor (like regulars) down the back alley, and across the street to our house. I love this neighborhood!

Tschüß!

TGIF and Oktoberfest Stories

TGIF -- that's all I can say. Just downed the first Vodka Gimlet (my drink du jour) and looking forward to more.

Spent some time talking with Beth at work, who went nach Deutschland for Oktoberfest. Her brother moved there a while ago, married a German, and now is a musician in a small town. How cool! She told me of her trip to München with her dad, sitting in the Spaten, Franzischkaner, and many other brewery/braüerei tents...we then talked about the different foods. She said her sister-in-law made a Zweibelkuchen (Onion Cake) and it was amazing. I have the recipe and should try it! It was great to hear her reminisce.

I'm ready for the weekend -- we are going to watch "Notes on a Scandal" which I am super excited about. Cooking Bacon-wraped Turkey Breast Filets and Saffron Rice. I need to pull a veggie out of the freezer too... :)

Tschüß!!

Post-travel blues

It's been a long week -- 4 nights away and a total of 34 hours of training. Went from really sick, to losing my voice, to better. I'm mopey today which is kind of odd but I'm chalking it up to a confused and tired body. Even working on this week's food menu is a chore; and now I'm off to go shopping.

Deutsches Beefsteak is back on the menu for this week -- we received our shipment from Germandeli.com and we have some really cool stuff!

My grandma sent me some family history in the mail -- a genealogy sheet of my ancestor Daniel Shuster, my link to Germany... specifically Baden-Baden. So, I went searching and found some webcams at the Löwenbräu we ate at (and Ryan consequently smashed is finger at). I am up to a dozen webcams, showing instant pictures of our favorite places. I noticed that in Oberammergau it snowed!

Off to try and force a pleasant day upon myself. I'm sure I'll get back into it.

Tschüß!

Das Leben Der Anderen

With our new TV, also came a renewal with NetFlix! So, the first movie was Das Leben Der Anderen (The Lives of Others), one of the best German films I've seen. It won the Oscar last year for Foreign Film and is an amazing story of the GDR, their "informants," and the fall of the wall.

I so enjoy listening to the language and trying to get past using the subtitles. Hard for me, since my vocabulary is still schlecht (bad) and sometimes the words run so fast together it's hard to pick anything up. (Which is why we just need to live there and that'll solve the problem!)

I was going to make a casserole last night, but a tree branch was literally scraping paint off the side of the house so we ran to Home Depot, bought a extended saw and trimmed it. So, instead we had pizza.

Off to another wonderful Sunday in Austin!

Tschüß!

(footnote: I totally misspelled the movie title, but have fixed it now. Oops!)

One Year Ago...

We left for Germany one year ago...I am so reminiscent. Ahhh, we will be back soon I promise!

Tschüß!

Bug on a webcam to the world

Ryan and I were commenting this morning (over our established ritual of coffee, newspapers, and computing in the living room) on a dragonfly that’s been plastered on our Lindau, Germany webcam.


I setup iGoogle a few months ago and we added a few webcams from places we visited in Germany...Munchen, Freising, Oberammergau, Triberg, Berlin, and Lindau. In Austin, we’ve had a ton of dragonflies doing their mating thing and I suppose it’s happening elsewhere.


Our apartmenthaus in Lindau

Reminds me of how, when pressured, Ryan and I can be adventurous to the extreme...some people do that with sport, we like to do it with the direction of our lives I suppose. This house thing has been a surprise, a stress, and a whole lot of fun. We went to the house last night, had a few beers, cranked our favorite songs, and sat on the empty floor and talked about everything and nothing. Lovely.

Although we’re all common dragonflies, I think I agree with our friend in Lindau -- we all have to sit down and rest sometime...why not plop down in a place with a nice view?

Tschüss!