Cold in Warm out

Soon, I tell myself, we will be warm soon!

Meanwhile, we will keep the house warm, and the kitchen even warmer!

Snow!

A finch, seen from our office window

As I write, our children are enjoying the snow outside. They have been out there about an hour now, and I don't think we will see them until their stomachs grumble with hunger for mid-day food needs.



It was raining when we woke up, and as the morning grew, and the sun lit up more of the cloudy sky, the rain slowly turned into snow. And just like that, we are now having our first real winter snowfall.



Just in time for us to have a little fun before heading to the tropics! Thank goodness for the magic of international flights!



I can't say I will miss this white stuff, but the kids might! Or maybe they will be so happy to be living in their swimsuits for three weeks they will forget about it for a while...

Outdoor Tree

If you know me, you would know that I am not much of a holiday person, especially when it comes to decorating, especially the outdoors.

But I am liking these 'outdoor christmas trees', decorated with large, festive ornaments. When the season is over, all you need to do is take down the ornaments...and voila, you have your regular tree back!

We are planning a festive weekend starting tomorrow, so stay tuned for more festive-ness.

Bierberg Bakery

You can see this same post here.

I might have found another favorite spot in the city.



It's been such a cold stretch, and I have had a sick child home with me the last few days. Now that he is back in school, I had a bunch of errands I needed to do out and about.



Before I headed out the door, I made a note to myself that a stop at this (infamous) little hidden gem had to be on my itinerary.



The secret about this tiny German bakery is no longer, especially if you have seen the article in the new Winter issue of Edible Columbus. Surprisingly, however, many people still don't know about it. Take the two people I asked for directions at Katzinger's who looked at me like I had three heads.

No matter, I put in the address into my GPS and a few minutes later, I was parked in front of a well signed and decorated, yet unassuming, store front: Bierberg Bakery.

An older German lady greeted me. She had a thick accent still, even though she and her husband moved here since the 60s. As I entered and regained my senses from the freezing cold temperatures (really Columbus, why so cold?!), I started to take in all the scents and smells of all the cookies that laid before me.

I did not count, but there must have been a few dozen different kinds of cookies. These special German cookies are only made here, in this tiny house, 3 months out of every year. Johanna, owner and baker, told me how busy they had been and will continue to be until the end of the year when she will again close up shop and retreat to her much deserved rest.

After I purchased some good-looking cookies, as well as a stollen, I asked if I could slip into the kitchen and watched them work a little.

Another lady in the kitchen, Cathy, is a family-friend. She helps out each year at the bakery. While Johanna and Cathy cut up more cookies to be baked, they recited to me their stories of how they ended up in Columbus (because you know, as a transplant myself, I am always interested!).

As it turns out, they were both sponsored to move to the States from Europe, Johanna from Germany and Cathy from Hungary. I listened with curiosity as Cathy told me the story about her family living in a castle in Germany where several other immigrant families took refuge.  Their hands never stopped working, but they seemed to enjoy reliving their past with me as their audience.

As I turned around to say goodbye, they wished me well in discovering my new home city. I told them that I was happy to have met people like them because that is what matters the most. Johanna agreed with me, and then she added: It's also what you give back, too. That's also very important. Don't forget to give back."

She is absolutely right.

Bierberg Bakery
729 S 5th St.
Columbus, OH

They will be open until the end of the year.

Sick or Snow Day

This little man is staying home with me today, due to...snow...no, actually, he is not feeling his best. But you would not know looking at him here, loving the new dusting on the ground.

Not to worry, I will keep him inside, warm and snug for the rest of the day.

Red Gold

A few weeks ago, I got an unusual email in my inbox.

A lady was offering me some tomatoes. A tomato kit, she said, for me to try. Apparently, she found this blog (or maybe another one?), and thought that her products suit my interests (and maybe my readers) very well.

I was not sure what to think, so I emailed her back, thinking I was going to get a kit to plant tomatoes with. If that was the case, I was all over it. She asked for a shipping address, which I gave to her after a few correspondents.

And I forgot about it.

So guess what showed up at my door today? A kit! A tomato kit! It's not at all what I expected, but wow, how sweet is it to get 4 cans of diced tomatoes, a big thing of ketchup, a recipe book, a shopping bag...and a few other tomato-related things.

I thank Red Gold for their products and I promise to try them out soon. It's a day like today that I marvel at the power of cyber space. I know there are people out there who do read and enjoy my photographs and prose. I didn't quite expect to get anything back really, except for the space it fills in my creative sphere. So to get tomatoes out of it! Pretty awesome, I'd say!

First Snow

Isn't it amazing? The calendar turned to December, and boom!, just like that, it started snowing.

The kids were ecstatic, jumping around, sticking out their tongues to taste the first flakes.

Who needs Christmas when this white stuff makes them this happy?!

Holly Season

We actually have a holly bush in the front of our house. When we first arrived, the berries had just developed, still green and young. The kids noticed them, but did not think too much about them. After all, those prickly leaves will keep anybody away!



But now, oh boy, they are among the few green leaves left alive. To celebrate the beginning of the new season, we brought some of the branches inside for the holiday spirit that these holly berries bring.

Happy December to all!

The winning Chocolate Cake Recipe

Before the cake bake-off, I tried a few recipes for chocolate cake. I am not a natural baker, partly because I have a hard time following a recipe! I have a tendency to tweak it, substituting ingredients if I don't have exactly what the recipe asks for.

For this particular event, I wanted to make a flourless chocolate cake at first, which I tried to make, but it did not quite turn out as planned (I don't have an electric mixer, which may be part of the problem). So I started playing around with the three recipes, ending up with this one!

In all honestly, my husband's cake was really quite good. I can see if he can share his secrets (I think he made up his as well). For now, here goes:

Preheat oven 350F, and set out a 9" spring form baking pan.


Cake Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

4 eggs, separated

3/4 cup sifted self-rising flour (with salt already added)

8 oz semi-sweet dark chocolate, broken into small pieces

1 stick butter (1/2 cup)

½ cup coffee

Melt chocolate  and butter in a double boiler until all melted together.

Beat egg whites until firm, set aside.

Combine egg yolks, sugar and coffee. Mix well. Add the chocolate mixture, and then the flour.

Slowly and gently mix in the egg whites. Fold this into the batter until all mixed.

Line a 9" springform pan with parchment paper, and butter the pan well. Pour the cake batter into the pan. 

Bake at 350 F about 30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Lather with chocolate frosting and decorate with fresh raspberries. Serve with homemade whipped cream or a little vanilla ice cream.

Ginny's Chocolate Frosting

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons coca cola or pepsi

1 cup confectioners sugar

Melt the butter with the cocoa powder, add sugar and coca cola. Bring to boil, and take it off the heat. Add confectioners sugar and whisk until smooth. Poor and spread over your chocolate cake,

Icicles

We saw these icicles the other day.

Just kidding.

This was taken a few years ago, when we went back to live in Boston for a year! I came across it recently and thought that I would share it with you...because I think that we are going to be seeing a lot of these pretty soon...

After our trip to Thailand, of course!

Happy new week to you all.

Seventh Birthday

Hard to believe: our children are now seven years old! They wished each other a Happy Birthday upon awakening.  It's called being twins!

This pair of twins has changed life as we knew it, in the best ways possible.



In celebration, Jim and I each made them a cake.

Better yet, we had a cake-bake off!

The competition was fierce (not really), and fun.  We had several judges who tasted each cake and voted. I came out the winner (really?!), even though I really, honestly, think that my husband's cake was far superior. Anybody interested in the winning cake recipe? I made it up myself, you know.

I wonder if this is going to be come a new tradition? It could very well be, but what was more fun was to have our children be surrounded by loved ones on their special day. How appropriate that it is one day after Thanksgiving.

Needless to say, we are all thankful to have them in our family. Happy seventh birthday, Claire and Momo! We love you so.

Thanksgiving Pies

A Nantucket Cranberry Pie and a traditional Pumpkin Pie. Michigan, we are ready for you!
Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate this day. More on being thankful in a bit, as you know, the big (most thankful of all) day is almost here!

Pomegranate

Pomegranate. Jewels. No wonder us Thais call it "Tuptim" which literally translates as "Ruby".



It is not native here in Ohio. In fact, when the kids asked where the first pomegranate tree came from, I was a bit speechless.  Must be China, I said. A lot of fruits originated there!

We then went on to more existential questions such as who was the first human? Did we come from monkey?

All I wanted to do was make a salad with a bit of pomegranate sprinkled about. And I wanted the kids to help me take the beautiful seeds out of the partitions found inside the fruit. I was not expecting to have a philosophical discussion about the origin of life!

At any rate, we did a quick search and found out that these ancient fruits originated in the Iranian Plateau, and in the Himalayas (I was in the ball park). Now they are cultivated in the tropics and temperate parts of the world.

This answer seemed to be just enough for the time being, for our soon-to-be seven year olds. Next time I think I have to use more tools than Google... I hope I have a bit of time to prepare for that!

ABC Gum Wall

California has Yosemite, and the Golden Gate bridge... What about Ohio? We have an ABC Gum Wall. Well, at least that is what we call it. It stands for, ready...: Already Been Chewed Gum Wall (if you are a parent, and are familiar with Ivy and Bean books, you know the lingo). We made that up ourselves.

I had to take a picture of them in front of it, after they each had contributed a piece of their own ABC gum to the wall. I know... free entertainment!

The wall is part of the Maid Rite building where we visited last weekend, after seeing the beautiful Bear's Mill (which completely ranks in a different calibre from this building, I am sure you would agree).

They look quite proud, don't they? They might not be so happy with me years from now. I do consider it part of my job as a mother to document all memories, including goofy ones such as this!

Maple-Syrup Cranberry Relish

Three ingredients together can bring your Thanksgiving Turkey dinner to a whole different level.

I love cranberries. I love maple syrup. A little sprinkle of orange zest, and you are done!




Maple-syrup Cranberry Relish

3 cups fresh whole cranberries
1 cup grade B maple syrup
Grated zest from one whole navel orange

Rinse the cranberries well. Put in a sauce pan, and add the two other ingredients. Bring to boil, and simmer for 10-15 minutes until all the cranberries have popped. The relish will start to look jam-like. Have a taste, add more syrup if you would like it to be sweeter. Otherwise, enjoy with your turkey, and stuffing!

Broken Record

Am I going to sound like a broken record if I told you that we are (yet again) having beautiful warm fall days over here?



It feels like a Santa Cruz November day: cool nights, warm days.



Look at this tiny zinnia that has made it through many frosty mornings.



And these lucky children who still get to wear shorts and T-shirts and play in the backyard. Backyard! And tree! That is the big difference between our life here and our life back in California, isn't it?

I know. Talk to me again when we are in the middle of an ice storm... Although I do look forward to taking photos of icicles. Just think! Lovely frozen icicles hanging from the roof. I can picture them already...

But how much happier I am (we all are) on a day like today!

The Mill

Here is it, the mill today. So much history, and so much to learn. Best of all, however, is the master miller himself who showed us around, and treated us like old friends. He's a treasure as much as Bear's mill is to Greenville, Ohio.

Bear's Mill

West of Columbus, not too far from Indiana, sits an old mill. It still uses water like the old days, and there is a miller who taught himself how to operate the mill when he and wife bought the place a couple of decades ago.

We are heading back there today to watch the miller at work, and be transported back in time.

So, I am kinda back in the present...although apparently I quite enjoy living in the past (way past) just as much.

Will be back in the real present soon. I promise. In the mean time, I hope you enjoy these images I took from my last visit there, not too long ago!

Two year ago...

Since I am on a path called Memory Lane, I might as well share this photo again, of us three, on Natural Bridges State Beach, on November 15, 2008.

I promise to be back living in the present moment again soon!

A bit homesick...

"Home" sick. I am not sure where home is anymore. Maybe I should just call it "California Sick" for now.

I think I am allowed to miss California every so often right?

Today just happens to be one of those days.

So here you go, an image of one of our favorite beaches: Greyhound Rock. It's also the site of our wedding, and many lovely lounging days in the sun, not to mention all the sea creatures we found in the tide pools and sea glasses on the beach.

Sigh....

I know we will get to walk on it again some day. The question is just when.