How to make sun-dried tomatoes

1. Grow a variety of tomatoes on your balcony. Be amazed and impressed (and afraid) when they all turn red at the same time.

2. Choose a few very red ones. Cut cherry or roma tomatoes in half, cut larger ones into quarters.

3. Take advantage of the limited sunny days in NRW, Germany and put them into your personal solar dehydrator (the car) first thing in the morning when you arrive at work. Place them on the dashboard on foil or a tray, sprinkle with dried herbs (optional). Park so that the tomatoes will get full afternoon sun. Make sure all windows are up.

4. Take a peek at the end of the day. These are the yellow and red cherry tomatoes. Looks like they'll need to be flipped over, and to enjoy a second full day of sun, to reach the desired dryness. They should be like a fresh raisen upon completion, with a little flexability, but dry.

5. Watch carefully and remember to bring the tomatoes in at night so that you don't attact unwelcome creatures into your car. Then bring them out the next morning to repeat the above. I'm not sure whose cat this is, as I'm not usually seeing it under my car. Could be a coincidence, or it was the drying tomato smell? We'll see if he comes back again the next time I do this...

Once tomato drying is complete, store them in ziploc bags in the freezer (if you have space in your tiny Germany freezer), or in glass jars in the cupboard. Then use tomatoes as a boost of flavor to pasta and sauces in the winter months.

How my Saturday was made

This morning, while I was picking tomatoes (will explain that project tomorrow), the postman arrived. Normally I miss seeing him because I'm in the office during the week when he delivers mail, and on Saturdays service is either early in the morning before I wake up, or late in the afternoon when I'm out shopping (thereby avoiding the Sat morning crowds).

Mail in the tiny town of B is mainly delivered by a small fleet of postal workers using these:

(Expect for the Post Frau who has the 1 postal vehicle in the tiny town of B, as she goes to the companies who have big mail deliveries.)

The postman noticed me puttering around and we were chatting about tomatoes. And he mentions 'Always it looks nice up there.' Oh, you flatter me so, and it's not even 10 AM, pre-coffee, my ego is not yet awake. ;-)

In particular, I feel my balcony looks 'functional' and 'utilitarian'; 'like a healthy garden allotment' was the backhanded compliment I once received. The one next to me with it's perfectly placed and tended flowers looks 'nice' in my book, like it could easily grace the cover of Better homes and balconys. So I especially appreciated his comment as it was completely unexpected and most certainly undeserved.

In case you're wondering, here's what it looks like these days from that angle. Be sure to notice the mightly gherkin hanging down over the ledge between the middle two silver posts. ;-)

And how will Heather be celebrating 5 years in DE?

If the weather cooperates (rain showers predicted for Sat afternoon, but we all know that forecast can change 10 more times before then), D and I will be grilling next to the Rhine in Deutz.

If the weather doesn't cooperate/after the grilling? We'll be going to my favorite local bar in Koeln Deutz, a ten minute walk away. They are having a DJ that night, something special--schlager music. No cover charge, the people are always quite friendly, and the Koelsch is 1.20 EUR. It's a real hole in the wall with an older crowd, absolute genuine and divine.

Want to join us at either or both of the above? Send me an email: phillygirl06 AT notcoldmail.com or leave me a comment here and I'll send you the exact coordinates. Both places are a 12 min walk from Koeln Deutz train station. And I'll even bring along an extra tofu dog for you.

happy 5 year anniversary,

of living in germany, to me.

Dinner from the balcony - tomatoes

I enjoyed the chilly, rainy weather by sleeping in late and then eating a large lunch. So by dinner time I was more in the need for a little snack than a meal and had not so much energy to cook. Good thing my downstairs neighbor pointed out to me that my tomatoes are 'ganz rot' today. ;-) I responded that I would definitely be eating them tonight, which was an acceptable response. (I love my flat and my neighbors. I could never have a stalker, because there are eagle eyes around the building, and they miss not a single thing.)

Here are the before photos. The green clump in the bottom right corner of the pot is basil. The yellow in the right of the photo are the yellow tomatos.

And here is the after photo. The basil went into olive oil with a sprinkle of garlic herb Mrs. Dash (which I brought from America for such culinary laziness) and fresh black pepper. The red at 12 o'clock is Nasturtium.

Tuesday's balcony lunch and Nasturtium

Right now it's tomato season on the balcony in the tiny town of B. We have our usual culprits:
-lettuce
-the never-failing cucumber
-cherry tomatos in excess (there's one yellow, and a tiny undersized red one hidden there)
-nasturtium (the red flower petals mixed in)
-olive oil (not from the balcony)

So what's with the Nasturtium, h? My Polish teacher knows I'm into gardening and gave me a few seeds two months back. For kicks I threw each in an empty spot. And boy did the suckers sprout up:

I researched online, the whole thing is edible. (OK, not that buggy leaf in the bottom right). The leaves and/or the flowers may be used raw in salads, or in a myriad of recipes. I was reading online that it's close to watercress in taste when raw, and when dried the leaves can be used as a substitute for black pepper.

Wowie does it have a sharp taste. I researched further, the younger leaves are less sharp, so I gave them a spin, no dice. I've resigned myself to only eating the red blossoms, as it's the only thing I can reasonably tolerate; as well as they look so lively in the salad with the bright red color. But in the meantime, because I'm not chopping off leaves, it's gaining steam. This was three days ago, and and since then I have 3 more blossoms.

One day I may wake up to a giant red flowered plant knocking on my closed balconey door (demanding I don't know what?) if I don't find an alternate use soon...

Weekend plans - Speyer

Scroll down a bit on this page, we're going to a 'Pretzel Party'. I think I would have translated it as 'Pretzel Festival', but ok.

Or you can go to this page in German to see photos or read all about it.

I think they're missing a market here, by not going after the non-German speakers. Granted, we're going to Speyer primarily to see Philly's greatest rock band, but I would have been tempted to go only for the Pretzel Party alone.

But then again, I'm from Philly, land of the soft preztel. I may just spend the entire weekend eating pretzels down there in Speyer. ;-)

Summer in Europe - August

As summer is currently grinding most offices to a halt here, I'm making the jump this year from a 2 week summer holiday to a 3 week summer holiday in August. I was busy with a large work project earlier in the year, so I have not taken any holiday yet this year.

Last summer was camping in the Faroes, the summer before was Iceland. This year, I'm going a bit domestic--I'm taking an intensive summer German course at a VHS in Germany, with a goal to perhaps take one of the Goethe tests in the fall. To make it a 'real' holiday, though, I chose a VHS over an hour away, and I'll be camping near it. However, I'll still be able to pop home once or twice a week to water the garden and pick the tomatoes, and do laundry.

So class 3.5 hours each morning, then the afternoon to relax at the outdoor lake, or to be a tourist in the larger cities nearby.

And after 3 weeks away from the office? I'll be taking one more week off, but not losing vacation time. The state of NRW graciously grants five days of Bildungsurlaub per year. I'll be taking a 5 full day course (in German, at B1 level) at my local VHS, 'German for the workplace'. It includes topics such as writing business letters, health and safety, and the rights of workers. I expect it to be quite interesting in subject matter, as company J is an American company, I suspect much of work life here is filtered through an American view, so I'm interested to hear how it is presented from a German perspective.

So if you're keeping track at home--I will be working one day during the entire month of August (Friday the first). And I'll still have 3 weeks of vacation to use yet this year. :-)

Language week Friday - German 2

das Letzte von der Sprachwoche/el último de la semana de la lengua/the last of language week from me :-)

Ok, ist ein bisschen teuer, aber, sehr toll--ein 'Blumenkasten' Grill. Vielleicht naechstes Jahr oder? Aber schwer zu aendern, von Blumen zu Grillen und zurueck?

Ok, it's a little expensive, but very cool--A flower box grill. Perhaps next year. But would it be difficult to change, from flowers to grill and back again?

(The text in the above link is German, but the photos are worth a look to see this nifty item. I'm sure the top right photo is tofu dogs. ;-))

Language week Thursday - Spanish 2

Ayer no tuve mucho tiempo para blog, entonces, yo pruebo español una vez más.

Yesterday I didn´t have much time to blog, so I try Spanish again.

Pero no tengo mucho tiempo esta noche tampoco. Fue a la piscina con mi colega de trabajo (de la oficina de Francia) después la oficina, y entonces fuimos a cenar. Siempre es interesante, con esta persona de Francia, pq hablamos de las noticias y culturas. Por ejemplo, ahora en las noticias en Francia, ella ha oido algo que Hilary dijo a Obama, que las periodistas de Francia piensan es importante...pero ella quiere saber...es algo importante en America o una cuenta de las periodistas franceses?

But I don´t have much time today either. I went to the pool with my work colleague (from the French office) after work, and then we went to dinner. Always it is interesting, with this person from France, because we talk about the news and cultures. For example, now in the French news, she had heard that Hilary said something to Obama, that the French journalists think is important...but she wanted to know...is it something important in America or a story from the French journalists?

Y le pregunté, ¿es las noticias sobre Angelina en Nice importante a la gente en Francia? Sí, es muy interesante a la Fraceses que una persona famosa como Angelina con mucho dinero, ella puede escoger cualquier lugar en el mundo para el nacimiento, y ella escoja Francia.

And I asked, is the news about Angelina in Nice important to the people in France? Yes, it´s interesting to the French, that a famous person with a lot of money, she can choose anywhere in the world to give birth, and she chooses France.

Tal vez necesito vivir en Francia después Alemania. O sea, apprender la lengua Francés sería un principio interestante...entonces no necisito para repetir en language week. :-)

Perhaps I need to live in France after Germany. Or maybe to learn French would be an interesting start...then I don´t need to "repeat" in language week. :-)

Language week Wednesday - Spanish

Estoy cansada y mi duele la cabeza.

Language week Tuesday - German

Letztes Wochenende haben wir Buchenwald besucht. 'Jedem das Seine' und nicht 'Arbeit macht frei' ist hier.
Last weekend we visited Buchenwald. 'To each his own' and not 'work makes one free' is here.



So so gross.
So so big.

Hier ist das Denkmal für die jüdischen Steinbrucharbeitskräfte.
Here is the memorial for Jewish quarry workers.

Von 1954-1958 wurde das Manmahl gebaut
From 1954-1958 the memorial was built.

Dieses Denkmal ist sehr Ostdeutsch
This memorial is very East German.