We had a good time in the Netherlands. One night, we ended up a bar that was having some mass trivia contest. It seemed like everyone in the bar was playing, mostly in teams. We bellied up to the bar, unaware of the contest, and to our left were a couple of guys that started asking us questions. We were talking back and forth when Eric noticed that one of the other teams was listening in to our answers and were using it to their benefit. So we kept it a little quieter for the remaining rounds. The main reason that anyone actually listened to us was because almost all of the questions were about American things (cartoons, movies, songs, &c.). The team next door didn’t win, but I think that they definitely placed a little better than they would have without our help.
We didn’t get to see many sites in the Netherlands as we were on a work trip, and were really just barely into the country anyway. On our way back we stopped in Köln (Cologne) for lunch. And got to see a little bit of the Cathedral there…
They are in the process of cleaning the figures; see if you can guess which ones they’ve finished…
The Cathedral, of course, has some beautiful stained glass …
It also has what is believed to be the skeletal relics of the Maggi. That’s right, the remains of all three wise men are allegedly housed here (in one box no less). Here is a picture (though admittedly a not very good one) of the relic. It is behind bars and I couldn’t get a side hot because of the Christmas trees that were nearby. I definitely will need to get back there, and will try to get a better photo then.
I don’t have much to say about Kaiserslautern. We stayed outside of town at a nice little hotel with it’s own restaurant. Across the street was an Irish Pub (the Gallaghers have infiltrated the Fatherland!). Aside from that, there was really nothing else in our area, so we really didn’t do much.
This past weekend I picked up a new toy …
The wisps of smoke you see are from the inaugural burn. I used about 10 pounds of charcoal just to burn all of the shipping oils and miscellaneous stuff out of it. I think I was partially successful. Please take notice of the fire box on the left hand side. This is for small grilling or for smoking various critters and beasts. I’ve been reading up a bit and have found that grape vines are a suitable choice for smoking almost all meats. As luck would have it the vineyards are being trimmed back right about now, so there are plenty of vines available. I will check and make sure it’s OK if I take some before I come out of the vineyards with a couple of bushels of vines. If it’s not OK, I’ll just need to do my gathering at night.
And since I realize that everyone is on the edge of their seats wondering what I’ve been eating lately, here are a couple of photos of some recent meals…
Here’s one that I made the first weekend I got back. It’s Brussels sprouts and a sausage.
“Wait a second; let’s have a closer look at that sausage. Is that … ?”
OK, you caught me. It’s Blutwurst. But Brussels sprouts ARE vegetables, so it evens out.
Next one is a mixed greens salad (don’t ask me what the mix is) which was eaten with a good dense rye bread that had walnuts in it. And don’t forget the schmaltz to spread on the bread.
On Saturday, I bought this organic chicken and was not sure whether to roast it or make soup. Roasting won. Here’s a picture of the bird. Have you ever seen a bird this lovely before?
While the bird was roasting, I cooked the liver in some butter and ate it with some Sriracha. I really don’t think life can get any better than this…
I ate the chicken with a salad of mixed greens (the same unknown ones as before).
It was about this time that I discovered that the chicken must have been a stewing hen. This bird was tough. I ate one breast and attempted to eat a wing. Tonight I pulled the meat off of the bones and made some stock with the carcass. In the next few days I’ll de-fat the stock, put the meat back in, some leeks, some cabbage, and maybe a couple of potatoes, and see what comes of it.
We are planning to go back to “The Perfect Event”, i.e. Oktoberfest, sometime between September 22nd and the 26th this year. If there are any Havenites and/or Havenettes out there who wish to get in on this deal, let me know within the next month. We plan on securing tent reservations and rooms a bit earlier this year.
5 comments:
T.
Thanks for the invitation to Oktoberfest. I don't think any Havenites or Haventtes will be able to make it though. I guess you haven't watched CNN since you got back to the Fatherland because if you had you would know that we are all queing up in the soup kithchen lines over here in Amerika. Everyone is out of work. Literally, we have 100% unemployment. And 1000% inflation. There aren't enough zeros on the plantet to even begin to tell you the heights to which the mortgage rates have skyrocketed. To top it all off, gas is nine-billion dollars per cc (we went metric since you left).
Lucky for Donna and I, we saved the box for the refridgerator we bought lasts year so we can move into that as soon as the bank forecloses on our house. That may be a while though because, as you would have learned had you watched CNN in the last month, every house in Amerika is being foreclosed on. So it may take awhile before they get to us because the banks will want to throw blacks, gays, the elderly, the handicapped, Jews, women and children into the streets before they evict two fat, rich, white, racist, sexist, bigoted, homophobes like Donna and me.
God I hate those commie bastards at CNN.
Have a nice day.
Guess who!
Wilhelm,
I was at a loss until you mentioned that both you and your wife were rich and sexy.
Cool shots of the Cathedral!!
I like your smoker, too. My uncle has a big one and every now and then he'll smoke a hog in it. Yummy.
Your food escapades remind me of a program I was watching on the food channel recently. The host was at a diner in Pennsylvania and they had him try scrapple. His response? - "That's Funkadelic" Couldn't have said it better.
-Steven.
Oh that blutwurst looks nasty!!!
I would love to come to the Oktoberfest, but I'd say the one in Louisville is about as close as we'll get this year. I am lobbying for a trip to the beach with the 6 year old. You are still my best hope of making it to Europe though, so keep the invites coming!
T.
Did you hear what our friends the Democrats are up to? Seems the good citizens of Florida decided to move their presidential primary up to earlier in the year. The Democrat Party honchos in DC told the good citizens in Florida not to do that. The good citizens in Florida asked, “Why not?” to which the Party honchos in DC replied, "Because we said so!"
The good citizens of Florida told the Democrat DC honchos to go fly a kite. So, the DC Democrat Party honchos told the good citizens of Florida, “If you move your primary up we will beat you over the head.” The good citizens of Florida went right ahead and moved their primary up to today and the DC Party honchos stripped those good citizens of Florida of their delegates for the upcoming Democrat Party Convention, which is apparently A-OK with good (yet somewhat dimwitted) citizens of Florida and everyone in the news media.
Now try to imagine if you will what the commie bastards at CNN would be doing if it were the Republican Party up to such shenanigans. They would be cleaning the goo of Wolf Blitzer's brains off the walls because his head would have exploded. Anderson Cooper (the Paris Hilton of news media) would interview every single Republican in the state of Florida and ask them how it felt to be disenfranchised. Larry King would have Barbara Streisand, Julia Roberts and Alec Baldwin on to discuss the evils of all things Republican.
This is classic liberalism and it is a classic response of the teeming masses to the tyranny of liberalism. These saps are Democrats because they believe the Democratic Party is going to do something "for" them when more often than not, the Democratic Party does something "to" them. And yet, these poor saps keep voting Democrat. The more I watch the Democrats, the more I think that pandering to the terminally stupid is a winning strategy. Of course, our friends the Republicans, who could at least try to make some political hay out this revolting situation, have lock jaw as usual.
Just trying to keep you apprized of our rocket ship ride to hell here in the states.
W.
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