Erdbeeren! at Pauls Bauernhof

My first time picking my own berries! I think the last time I had German strawberries I was pretty disappointed and figured that no one could beat California's heirloom varieties, but these proved me wrong! I ended up with about 5 lbs of berries for under 4 euro (so a little over $4)! I can't wait to get more to try out some new recipes. This time around I made strawberry crumb bars (with only one variation: I added 1/2 cup more berries and only used 1/2 cup sugar), and a strawberry balsamic salad.

For the salad, I combined two different recipes: strawberry balsamic salad and Martha Stewart's arugula salad with strawberries. I added a generous tablespoon of balsamic vinegar to the chopped strawberries and let them sit while I made the rest of the salad. For the salad dressing, I used the first recipe but cut the quantity by half because I knew we wouldn't use it all. Also, I didn't want to use up my last 1/2 cup of olive oil! It worked out well—the dressing would work on any kind of salad or even as a marinade.



So here's my recipe (for 2 servings):

Dressing:
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 tablespoon honey
1 small shallot, peeled and chopped*
1 small clove of garlic, peeled
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

*I used a green onion, which was what I had on hand. I think red onion would work also.
Combine all ingredients in a blender until oil is emulsified. 

Strawberries:
1 pint (2 cups) chopped berries
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon chopped rosemary (optional)



In a medium sized bowl, mix 1 pint (2 cups) of chopped strawberries with 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp rosemary, and let sit. (I actually had enough strawberries leftover for lunch the next day—don't skimp on it like I did, it's better with a generous helping.)

Salad:

2-3 cups of arugula
1 handful of chopped almonds
1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese

Tear or roughly chop arugula and add to salad bowls. Add a teaspoon or two of salad dressing to each bowl. Spoon strawberry mixture on top and add crumbled goat cheese. Finally, sprinkle chopped almonds on top. (It's pretty easy to chop almonds with a very sharp knife. Cup your hand over the nuts while chopping to prevent almonds from flying all over your counter.)

Mayfest! and travel plans

official Mayfest dancer

Well, so far I am really impressed with the weather here in Germany! Around this time last year I was hangin' in my Monterey home wearing at least two sweaters at the same time. (The coldest winter I ever had was the summer I spent in Monterey. Mark Twain might have said that, or something like it.) This is some consistent weather—like, weeks straight of 60-70º temps! (Not like MD-DC schizo-weather: 50º one day, 95º the next.) 

Anyway, this past weekend we went to Maifest. I don't know much about the traditions behind it, just that it's a great excuse to be outside, to drink and have fun. The festival we went to was held near Ginsheim-Gustavsburg on a little island. We had to take a ferry to get there which I thought was sort of funny since it took less than 10 minutes to get across the river. I kept wondering, why not just build a bridge? My friend replied: they don't want to put the ferry people out of business.

I tried apfelwein/ Ebbelwei (not sure of the spelling), which is popular in this area of the country. It's ok, almost like apple juice that went bad, but with lemon soda mixed in it was pretty good. Some people call it 'cider' but it's not quite fizzy enough, and doesn't have the same bite to it.

We observed Germans in a relaxed environment which was much more interesting than the Fasching people-watching, where they just say "hallo" over and over again. We also listened to a German rock band play American songs, mostly from the 80s in English. I guess I expected something more German, like some traditional drinking songs. If I closed my eyes I could have been at any crappy state fair. Ok, it wasn't so bad really, they were good singers and musicians. The food was pretty good, standard bratwurst and whatever they call french fries.

Travel plans: 
This weekend we're taking our bicycle tour of Amsterdam—so excited! I am pretty sure I remember how to ride a bike. Frank actually got a super cool one last weekend. We've been talking about getting them to ride around town, since there are some nice bike trails here and we're in a pretty bike-friendly city. Luckily for me our trip on Saturday includes a bike rental, because I haven't really been shopping for one… at all. I wanted to see how I did with this tour first. (Like, if I don't fall off and break my head, I will be up for buying a bike.)

I was also informed today that we're going to Greece in November. I cannot wait!! I had mixed feelings about this trip because of the reason we were going: Frank signed up for the Athens marathon. I recall hearing that the first guy to run a "marathon" (from the city Marathon to Athens?) dropped dead right after. Of course he didn't have Power Gel, and Gatorade, and probably didn't know about 'carb loading' either. Also, after the Marine Corps Marathon Frank ran in a few years ago, he swore he would never do it again. Now he says after this one he won't ever do it again. This one is a pretty big deal, and will be cool to talk about, but when people swear to things I tend to take it seriously. Mostly I like to remind them about it later. (And I will!)

Spring is here!

Here are some photos I took from the terrace and roof from March to April.