Cold Today... Hot Tamale

Yes, I just typed that.  Wow.  I'll blame it on South of the Border withdrawal (oh, Pedro, your billboards would look so nice here in Deutschland!)

So Zeke's been in Missouri since this past Friday and I've been sick ever since.  Lovesick, of course, but also yucky-sore-throat-dry-cough-can't-talk-in-the-morning sick.  But I've got some tasks to accomplish, one of which is to make hot pepper oil, as requested by my dear, sweet hubby.  We had some chili peppers in the fridge with about a week left on the shelf and I knew there was no way I'd burn through them with poor little Liam.  So I set out to make hot pepper oil, armed with some tips from Zeke and an all-too-vivid memory of what happened to me the last time I dealt with a large number of peppers (cue flashback music and Wayne and Garth doing that silly waterfall-hands thing)...

***

Back in November 2006, Zeke and I offered to cater and sing at our friends' wedding (Jory and Jennifer).  Zeke would sing and I would cook.  Just kidding.  But Zeke was my sounding board for the song I wrote for the newlyweds and I was his right-hand chica in the kitchen.  He came up with this delicious idea -- stuffing jalapenos with a red-pepper cream cheese filling, wrapping them in pancetta, and baking them.  I volunteered to gut the jalapenos for him.  Five pounds of jalapenos.  That's like a million peppers or something.

I had never worked that intimately with peppers before and didn't realize there are certain precautions one should take.  I didn't ask and Zeke didn't say -- I went about my business, jamming my thumbs through the pith and periodically brushing stray hairs from my face.  The next day, I woke up and noticed my hands and face felt sunburned.  As the morning progressed, it only got worse; I could barely feel any sensations in my fingertips (which is just perfect for someone who will be playing the guitar at a wedding later that day).

Long story short:  The food was a hit, my song went well (thank goodness muscle memory isn't a joke), and one week later, my hands and face felt normal again.

***

I learned my lesson.  This time, I was well-prepared for my date with the peppers.

Custom-made gloves. My middle name is Classy.

The reason for the gloves?  These guys:

While making the oil, I knew my safety measures were a good idea -- I could barely breathe or see when standing near the stovetop.  Pretty awesome stuff.  And amazing results, too!  I can't wait until Zeke comes home and tries it.  Let's hope Mama makes him proud.

And although Zeke and I wish we could throttle Giada De Laurentiis for wasting pages of her cookbook on recipes that we think are way too simple to put into writing, I'm going to share with you how I made the oil.  It's not difficult at all, but this way if you're wondering, you don't have to ask!

Hot Pepper Oil

Ingredients

Peppers of your choosing

Oil of your choosing (I used a canola/olive oil blend to keep the oil usage versatile)

MOP

1.  PUT ON YOUR PROTECTION.

2.  Grab a nice, large skillet and put it (empty) over high heat.

3.  Slice tops off peppers; slice peppers lengthwise.  Don't throw away any of the guts.

4.  Once the pan is hot, put the heat down to medium and carefully put only the peppers in the dry, hot pan; shake pan periodically (or stir peppers) to keep peppers moving around.

5.  Find the container you'll use to store the oil and figure out how much oil you want to use; measure out determined oil amount.

6.  After the peppers begin to darken (but before the seeds burn), turn heat completely off but leave skillet on the burner; add the oil carefully.  Stir peppers and oil gently to allow the heat to disperse without popping or burning.  NB:  your oil should not be bubbling -- not even a slight simmer.

7.  Leave the peppers in the oil as long as needed to achieve the level of heat you seek.  I kept the peppers in there for almost two hours, turning the heat on and off periodically to keep a nice, warm temperature for the peppers to do their thing.

8.  If you want a clean oil, get a strainer and funnel and use those to transfer your oil to the container.  I put one small pepper in the bottom of the container so I wouldn't mistake the oil for any garden variety cooking oil.

A Reflection on the German Advent Season

We've had a few of you ask us how Germans celebrate Christmas -- whether certain foods are considered good luck, what traditions they have, and whether Santa Claus does actually live here and play the accordion.

Yes, he most certainly does.

As to the first two questions:

Foods.  Walking through a German supermarkt (I need not translate that one, I hope), you can quickly see Germans value two food groups: pork... and fruitcake (is that actually a group?).  Various regions of Germans put on their own fancies to each of the groups, but ultimately, every table likely has some beautiful slab of salty meat and a Christstollen (fruitcake specific to Christmas).

Here in Southern Germany, the more common pork presentation is a Schäufele, or a corned, smoked ham.  The preparation in Franconia is a bit different from other areas: here, they take the pork shoulder meat, cut the bone and rind criss-cross, season it with S&P and caraway, and roast it with veggies and (you guessed it) beer.  It's crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside, and full of fabulous porkness (that is a word, right? No? Well it is now).  Families serve this dish with either Kartoffelklöße (these goofy potato jelly balls, which we euphemistically think of as the German dumpling) or Kartoffelsalat (potato salad) -- and here, the potato salad is like the perfect blend of yellow and white potato salads you encounter in the States, with a nice tangy bite, a touch of dill, and just enough creaminess to keep it from tasting a little too bitter.

See? Isn't that a goofy dumpling?

As for the fruitcake, we failed ever to buy one, but we even saw the Bamberg Commissary on post embracing the Christstollen, with fruitcakes peppering the end of almost every aisle.  Instead of our U.S. cakes, which are typically in that contrived tiny rectangular packaging, leaving little room for flavorful bread and instead focusing heavily on unidentifiable jellied candies and old, stale nuts, the spiced loaf of the Christstollen brims with plump raisins, candied fruit, walnuts, and almonds.  Even better:  The Germans coat these suckers in powdered sugar. Oh, wait, it gets better:  Some of the Christstollen are filled with marzipan (a paste consisting of almonds, powdered sugar, and egg).

Don Christstollen, the godfather of all fruitcakes

Traditions.  This one is a tradition we're tempted to teach to Liam.  First, a clarification:  Germans recognize not one, and not two, but three important figures during the Advent season.  They acknowledge the Weihnachstmann (Father Christmas), who is the chubby, jolly old soul we each picture when we think of the commercial Santa Claus.  This guy visits homes on the afternoon of Christmas Eve, but primarily to share the joy of Christmas.

The children receive presents from Nikolaus, who actually does dress a lot like Santa.  He wears a long, red cloak, totes a Gandalf-esque white beard, and carries a bishop's staff.  Nikolaus is the Germans' interpretation of Nicholas of Myra, the Greek Christian bishop who died on 6 December A.D. 346.  During his life, he was believed to make miracles and was suspected of giving children and the needy secret gifts.  Now the patron saint of little children, sailors, merchants, and students, St. Nick comes around Germany and either rewards or scolds the children by way of the gifts he leaves for them.  On the evening of 5 December, German children take their best pair of boots, and shine one of them to its most brilliant to leave out on the stoop for Nikolaus (only greedy little buggers put out both boots, and they would be wise not to, for fear of getting two boots full of bad gifts).  The good German children awaken on 6 December to run out and find candies, little toys, coins, and thoughtful trinkets from Nikolaus.  The children who did not behave quite so well may find coal... or even a switch.  Yes, Nikolaus has been known to leave a needy parent a little whip to use on a trouble-making bottom.  Some parents even enlist a personal appearance, sending Nikolaus to the children's school to inquire them directly about their misbehavior in front of their peers.

This separation of celebrated figures means that, in the traditional German home, Christmas day is about Christ -- talking about his birth, the gift He has given to the world, and the love He has provided each child who can then share it with the world throughout the year.

Pretty nice tradition.

Reflecting on the Advent season, I can't help but share these additional tidbits with you.

This is how Germany rocks Advent calendars:

The Adult Edition

Yes, that is a BEER

The Kids' Edition (given to us for free from the people at OBI - the Deutschland Home Depot. Text says,  essentially, "We wish you a bright festival")

Don't worry, it's solid chocolate for the bairns

On our ride back from Edelweiss, we also got a chance to see how the Benz dealer in Munich displays the Advent calendar.  It took us until we got home and saw the video to realize it, but watch closely and you'll see the windows display a different car for each day (with a few yet to be filled, being it was not yet Christmas... I wonder what models we missed?):

And this is how Liam enjoyed his Advent season, nativity set-style:

Liam must have heard about the wicked sandstorms they get in Bethlehem.

Christmas 2011

Christmas certainly crept up on us this year.  I (Zeke here) have been pretty busy at work and Jess and Liam have spent the last couple of months getting everything perfect at home.  In between Liam becoming bilingual and him studying for the MCATs (he wants to be a rocket surgeon--we're so proud), time just flew by.  Can't believe we've been here almost three months.  We also managed to go on some cool trips as you have probably already seen in previous blog entries.  It was a fantastic Christmas though; good times, good food and good friends all throughout the Holiday season.  Hope you all had a great Christmas / Holiday season and we pray that 2012 brings you all the happiness you deserve (hey real estate/stock market...this is your cue to shape up).  By the way, I'm officially announcing my candidacy for the 2028 presidential election so if anyone has any dirt on me, let's hear it now.  I figure 16 years is enough time to put a positive spin on it.     

Liam is soooo excited for Christmas, we had to give him a helmet to protect him from his holiday shenanigans

"Twas the night before Christmas..."
Thank you for my story Grammy and Pappy

"Santa, you don't weigh more than a buck-fifty...you're suspect.  By the way, that's a real nice hat..."

"...yeah I took his hat, so what?!?"

So last year Jess and I decided that since we could never guarantee where we would be for Christmas, it would be a holiday that we always celebrate at home, wherever that may be.  We also began our Christmas tradition of making homemade pasta.  This year we made two types of ravioli.  Jess did a roasted butternut squash and sunflower seed filling with a white wine and sage butter sauce; I made a pulled duck filling with a roasted red pepper sauce.  They both turned out great and Jess is going to post the full recipes along with some of her other creations in the coming days.

Christmas morning.  Mommy got some "Chef's Companion" cards.  Now we can figure out how to use our crazy Celsius oven.

This is actually an old toy from Steve and Myra's house, but Liam loves it so much that they gave it to us.  We decided to wrap it up.  Yeah we got off cheap this year.  Not sure if he's gonna fall for the re-gifted stuff much longer.

Puzzle from Grandpa Marty and Grandma Bobbey

Just what I needed -- MORE CARS!!

Liam and his girlfriend Myra

Uncle Steve teaching Liam about El Caminos and VW Buses 

Edelweiss Lodge and Resort

You know a picture is worth a thousand words...well that sure makes this an easy blog post.  See ya next time.  Just kidding.  If I start slacking Jess is going to revoke my blogging privileges and then I'll have to return to my old form of stress relief -- bullfighting on acid.  That's not a healthy lifestyle for any family man; so without further ado I present to the world, the Kelly family vacation (or ba-cation if you are a Mendez or Liam) to the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Garmisch, Germany.

Just minutes before we left Bamberg, the snow started falling...

...and it didn't stop the entire time we were there

Tombstone is one of Liam's favorite movies so it's been hard keeping him away from the poker tables lately.  After he took most of my money on our first night at Edelweiss, he challenged me to a spelling contest, won the rest of my money and talked trash repeatedly to me saying, "You're no daisy at all."  Unbelievable.   If you don't understand the preceding context then follow these steps:  

step #1. Be ashamed of yourself for not knowing the best Western movie ever made;

step #2.  If you're thinking that it's the movie Wyatt Earp with Kevin Costner, go ahead and slap yourself twice; and

step #3. Rent (or buy, if you're not a communist) Tombstone and watch repeatedly and enjoy.

Mommy and Liam take time for a pic during their sledding escapade

I know all the Grandparents are wondering how Liam is adapting.  Can't you tell that he just hates it here...?

He decided to be a gentleman and use some of his poker winnings to buy his mommy and daddy dinner on the last night.  

Weihnachten in Nürnberg

You don't necessarily have to be a criminal justice major or a  die-hard John Grisham fan to know that there were some pretty important trials that went on here in the latter part of the 1940's, but Nürnberg (or Nuremberg) is a big time city with all sorts of history and entertainment to offer.  It is the home of such famous folks as Ernst von Bibra, Johann Phillip von Wurzelbaher, Hartmann Schedel and of course the renowned Kaspar Hauser.  Okay, I don't have a clue who any of those guys are but Wikipedia mentions them so how can you argue with the the world's most reliable research resource.  The Nürnberger Bratwurst is a tasty little snack that is pretty much a breakfast sausage link.  I guess this is the first place that decided to downscale the large Bratwurst as we know it, but I'm not impressed with their ingenuity.  Sorry Europe -- American Waffle Houses and little crappy local diners have these delicious treats too.

Anyway, the whole point of this post is to show our experience in Nürnberg during their Christmas Market.  Germany as a whole is a pretty big Christmas fan, and we had been told that Nürnberg is the place to go to get in the spirit. The Rairidons (Steve, Myra, Killian and Liam) have become very good friends of ours and the kids like getting together to play with each other's toys so we all packed in the car and headed out for a day in Nürnberg.

We stopped for lunch at a place called S'Baggers.  I'm not sure what the name means or refers to, but it was an awesome kid-friendly place that kind of reminded me of Fuddruckers mixed with a Benihana (or insert your favorite Hibachi restaurant here.  Jess just told me that she never heard of Benihana).  Pretty weird combo I know but watch the video and you'll see.  

That is actually the "other" Liam on my shoulders.  He hasn't changed that much.

Ahhh, there's our Liam, enjoying the bustling town.

"To the Christmas Market"

We don't know this person but we just wanted to show you a typical Glühwein stand.  

This...is...Awesome!  Fröhe Weihnachten everyone!

Klein-Venedig

Without further ado, here is a tour of our beautiful city, Bamberg.  We are already proud of what we've learned about our new home, especially with the vibrant history and rich culture surrounding us everywhere we turn.

To begin the tour, we need to explain the post's title:  Klein-Venedig.  German for "Little Venice," Klein-Venedig is a term used to describe Bamberg (primarily this little stretch in the downtown area).  A few journalists back in the 1800s believed the Bamberg area reminded them of a little taste of Venice, Italy.  Based on my time in Venice, I can agree with the analogy... except, thankfully, Bamberg doesn't smell like a saltwater lagoon. But with the two flowing waterways, rows of houses peppering the river, and buildings nestled on and around the river that give the area an appearance of a floating city of canals, parts of downtown Bamberg do make it feel more like a low-lying waterbound town than a city boasting a rolling landscape of "seven hills" (more on that tidbit later).

In the following pictures, you can see our view as we drive downtown.  In the first picture, the sign in the foreground introduces Bamberg and lets you know that, thank God, there is a Burger King just ahead.  Beyond that sign, you can see a billboard listing the various Partnerstädte, or sister cities, that Bamberg has throughout the world.  One of those cities?  Esztergom, Hungary, the city after which our humble little street is named.

Letting Liam tear up the streets

One of the main drags downtown.
The store on the right, Karstadt, is much like a Macy's

The historical buildings here are wonderfully maintained.  The buildings are some of the oldest in Germany, as this city was one of the few to remain untouched by the battles of World War II.  Bamberg appears in records as early as A.D. 902, and the city cites A.D. 973 as the year of its founding, making it almost 1,040 years old.  The roads are a mix of modern pavement and uneven cobblestone, and the city maintains the expected European pedestrian-friendly atmosphere in balance with the hustle and bustle of a large city.  For comparison's sake, Raleigh, N.C., has approximately 400,000 residents -- Bamberg has around 70,000.  But while Raleigh's population density is at 2,800 people per square mile, our city holds more than 3,300 people in that same amount of space.  Though it is on the small side, the population gives you the feeling of a busy, ambitious place.

The Altes Rathaus, Bamberg's original city hall, was built in 1386 and renovated in the 1400s.  It looks essentially the same now as it did 600 years ago post-renovation.  The Altes Rathaus was strategically positioned where the Obere and Untere Brücke (Upper and Lower Bridges) cross over the Regnitz downtown.  The location and building were intended to symbolize the union of the middle class and the episcopal counterparts in Bamberg.  Today, the 44-member city council meets elsewhere, but the building remains one of the most important historical and architectural pieces of eye candy in the city.

The Altes Rathaus

On another bridge down the way from the Altes Rathaus, you can see evidence of an interesting romantic tradition the city has embraced for years.  Locals and visitors alike have participated:  lovers purchase a basic padlock, write their names/initials on it, attach it to the cables of the bridge, and throw the key in the Regnitz. The intended symbolism is obvious. 

However, a genuine concern has arisen regarding the bridge cables -- these sweet little padlocks are rubbing against the cables, corroding them and weakening them slowly but surely.  Logically but tragically, the city has voted to cut off all the padlocks.

As I mentioned before, Bamberg has seven hills enriching the landscape.  While its lower downtown area demands a comparison to Venice, the rolling hills call to mind Rome and its seven hills.  Some people even call Bamberg "Franconian Rome" (and, of course, proud locals call Rome "Italian Bamberg").  The seven hills of Bamberg include Cathedral Hill, Michaelsberg, Kaulberg/Obere Pfarre, Stefansberg, Jakobsberg, Altenburg, and Abtsberg.

Cathedral Hill is in the heart of downtown Bamberg, and it sneaks up on you like any good hill should do.  You turn a sharp right, and BAM!

You see the beautiful Bamberg Cathedral.  The Cathedral is home to the tombs of Emperor Henry II (who founded the Cathderal in 1004) and Pope Clement II.  We have yet to go inside the Cathedral, but it's kind of a no-brainer -- the place is guaranteed to be gorgeous.  The original Cathedral, consecrated in 1012, was partially destroyed by a fire towards the end of the 11th century and was rebuilt in its current late-Romanesque style in 1237.

Atop Michaelsberg Hill sits the Michaelsberg Abbey, a fantastic historic site (built in the 12th century).  The Abbey is no longer an active monastery, but the church on site is still used as an ancillary church to the Cathedral.

Another view of the Regnitz.  In the distance, you can see Michaelsberg Abbey

The city's highest hill, Altenburg, is just outside of our neighborhood and boasts an amazing castle.  I still can't get over the fact that we have a castle within view of our home.  Ridiculous.

Our very own castle!

Bamberg is brimming with beauty and excitement, and during the Christmas season, everything is amped up a notch.  The streets are full of costumed entertainers as the Christmas market attracts local performers and visitors of all kinds.

Some dude brought his Shetland pony downtown...
Totally commonplace

Bamberg's city band, rocking out some Christmas tunes.  Liam especially loved the "crumpets" (trumpets)

Not sure if you knew, but Santa plays the accordion

Enjoying lunch at one of our new favorite haunts, the Casa Italia

Liam sipping on some Heiße Schokolade (hot chocolate)

And what would a good 21st-century tour be without a video?

So there you go, a tour of Bamberg, Germany.  But we didn't do it justice -- you need to come out here and see it for yourself!  And if you make it out to our side of the pond, we happen to know a few good tour guides, wink wink.

Yes, that's a 1-liter flask of wine right there. And no, I didn't hog it all.

Kreuzberg Monastery and Braurei

After my return from France, I really have a new appreciation for my unit of assignment, the 173rd Special Troops Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.  I am very fortunate to have outstanding senior officer leadership that provides unique opportunities and experiences aside from the typical "icebreakers" and "leader development" crap that you get from most units.

Again, the officers of the 173rd STB got together for some team and morale building (ok...beer drinking) activities.  Early on the morning of 16DEC, we reported to work in civilian hiking attire as directed.  We boarded a bus and traveled to the Rhön Valley where we dismounted in the falling snow to trek to the mountaintop village of Klosterkreuzberg.  This is an historic site that houses an age-old brewery that was completely operated by monks until 1985.  To make a long story short, it's a hell of a hike up to this place and the reward is a nice meat and cheese plate along with some world famous Weihnachts-Bock (Christmas Beer).

Yet another good time in Deutschland.  Airborne!