walking and eating

Venice is not one of those places I always wanted to visit. I knew very little about it except that it is Historically Important, you can get the itty bitty clams from the Adriatic that are unlike any other clams anywhere (thank you, Marcella Hazan) and, well, canals. So while I was excited to visit I really didn't know what to expect.


Despite warnings, I didn't prepare myself for giant crowds of tourists in teeny tiny alleyways. I also didn't prepare for getting utterly lost on the way from the bus station to my hotel, which was about as much of a straight shot as one gets in Venice. I blame the tour group in front of me. I was heading the same way as they were, but everyone said "Don't follow the tourists! Get lost!" So I did exactly that, to the nth degree. I went the exact opposite way that I should have, was off of my map for the first half an hour and only very, very belatedly realized what I had done. On the upside, I got a rather nice tour of some of the outer neighborhoods of Venice before coming to the monster crowds at the Rialto Bridge. And at least I only had a backpack for luggage.


Despite that rather rocky navigational start, walking around the city was mostly really pleasant. Our hotel was in San Polo, very close to the Frari church and within easy walking distance of just about everything. And we did what we generally do on vacation - ate, walked, saw some art (the Biennalle, actually, which was fun), walked some more and then ate. To the walking and eating we added vaporettos and traghettos (1 euro ferry gondolas, my favorite) and some high-quality people watching.


Much of our time was spent figuring out where we would have our next meal. Normally when we go on vacation we have a PLAN, both in terms of restaurants and specific things to eat. For whatever reason that wasn't as much the case this time and we did a fair amount of random restaurant seeking that devolved into being hungry and crabby. Basically, we are indecisive. We keep walking and looking and then we don't eat lunch because we never find a place that looks just right. And then we get cranky. It's not pretty.


But despite all of that, Venice was...fabulous. We found fantastic gelato, a few lovely restaurants and even some unfiltered Prosecco for an afternoon drink. (I also found the most vicious and enormous mosquitoes I have ever encountered.) Mostly though we just relaxed and enjoyed being in the same place.


And now I would love to go back. I would plan it differently this time (stay in an apartment instead of a hotel, make time to swim, bathe in DEET before sitting beside a canal to eat an espresso granita con panna) but there was so much we did not get to see, and so many foods we weren't able to try. Next time.

Let's start in New York

I was having a hard time writing about my recent trip - maybe because it was so long, or it had so many parts. Or maybe because I became immediately busy and sick after getting home. But I actually think it was that I had to wait to get my film developed to see most of the photos I took. Zoli took the digital camera with him to Taiwan and Italy and I had my manual SLR, so while I took a few digital photos, most of the photos that I really thought about and wanted to see were on the four rolls of film sitting on the dining room table waiting to be developed.


Since that is finally done and the negatives were scanned by the lovely people at the photo lab we will start where I started, in New York. I visited my sister for a few days before my conference and aside from some good eating we also did some exploring on the weekend. We took the subway (obligingly rerouted over the river instead of under) to visit the Brooklyn Flea in Fort Greene. I haven't been to many neighborhoods in Brooklyn, but I liked Fort Greene - the Flea, the farmer's market, the park - it was more peaceful than New York normally is, and really, how can you not like a neighborhood with tomatoes like this?


We also visited the Highline, along with every other person visiting New York that day*, despite the rain. And it was lovely - the weather was too hässlich for any burlesque shows or exhibitionism, but it was fun to see the old railroad tracks in some places, and the views of Jersey City in others.


From New York I bussed to Boston and then to Woods Hole, which is a lovely place any time to have a conference.

Conference summary: Parasites are bad but really interesting, and we're trying to do shit to stop them. Also, lobster is tasty.


On to Medford to see the baby, hang with my other sister, see my mom and practice being a good aunt. I learned two lessons. 1. Nephews are fascinating. I spent most of my time staring at him and I wish I was still there doing the same thing. 2. Babies are a lot of work. My sister and her husband are doing a fabulous job and basically taking it all in stride, it's quite impressive. And it was nice to be able to just hang out, go for walks, observe the Medford wildlife and help out, if only for a few days.


It's funny, despite living on the other side of the country from most of my family for many years, somehow since we've been living in Germany the distance feels larger. I was always sad to leave them when I was living in Seattle, but I guess I didn't feel like I was missing anything. But now I know I'm missing a lot and photos, adorable as they are, don't make up for it.

Up next: Venice

*I was somewhat overwhelmed by all the people in New York - or rather, all the conversations I was unable to block out because they were in English. Though I can understand many German conversations now, it is still quite easy to disengage and not listen since it requires extra concentration and effort to understand. I am out of practice blocking out English conversations, however, and I was listening to EVERYTHING.

Year 2, Day 12

If this summer was a whirlwind, September was a tornado. But a generous tornado, the kind that knocks you around a little but doesn't actually cause much damage except some jet lag and one suitcase casualty. And one that takes you to Venice on vacation.

We both spent most of September traveling for conferences in different hemispheres and then for vacation together in Italy. Zoli had the more exotic conference locations (Taiwan then Venice) - my conference in Woods Hole wasn't quite as sexy, except that I got to spend a week in Boston cuddling my nephew. (I'd take him over Taiwan any day.) We were gone for over three weeks - the conferences were interesting and exhausting the way conferences are and our vacation in Italy was lovely, but man is it nice to be home! (We both had conferences close to Hamburg last week as well - who made September and October conference season?)

All that conferencing and traveling is finally finished, just in time for Zoli to leave for five weeks for his annual RAPID cruise. I can't say I'm really prepared, but compared to this time last year this cruise will be a piece of cake. We've been in Hamburg for over a year, rather than just weeks; I have a job and more than enough to keep me busy; I can speak and understand so much more than at this time last year; and I've made friends so I won't be quite as lonely. His boat is supposed to have internet this year, so we may actually be able to Skype while he's gone instead of just email for five weeks (fingers crossed).

While we were on vacation we started our second year living in Hamburg, which is somehow unbelievable . So much has happened and yet it went so fast. We forgot on the actual moving anniversary, but the following evening we had a fantastic meal to end our vacation and somehow remembered that we were on Year 2, Day 2. Appropriately enough we sat next to some Germans and talked with them auf Deutsch until late into the evening. Year 2, I think I'm ready.

Summer so fickle

Remember how at the beginning of July it was hot? And I had to go to the pool after work to cool off because the lab was a toasty 32° C? Ah, those were the days. Since then it's been nothing but rainy with some cold and extra-rainy thrown in. I tend to think of July as my favorite month - it's warm, the days are long, it has my birthday (it now also has the birthday of my new nephew (!)), all the good summer produce is starting to come in and it just feels like quintessential summer. This year however, not so much with the quintessential summer part. In that first mini-burst of heat I was able to make what is possibly my favorite summer meal ever, and it's a sign of how miserable it's been that I have only made this dish twice this summer, total. Normally while the heat lasts it makes an appearance about once a week. It's one of those dishes that requires good tomatoes and basil, which means you're not likely to be able to make it before July, but then you can savor it through the end of August and beginning of September, before the last of the tomatoes disappear.


It's a ridiculously easy dinner, fast to make and not much clean-up. Basically you chop some tomatoes and combine them (juices and seeds and all) with small cubes of mozerella, shredded basil, a wee bit of garlic, and then enough olive oil to let all the ingredients mix and mingle. While the mingling is happening, you heat the pasta water and then boil capellini until it's just barely cooked, and toss it with the sauce so the heat from the pasta melts the cheese. The oil and tomato juice become the sauce, the cheese gets a bit oozy, the shards of basil cut the richness of the oil and oh man I'd really like to eat some right now, despite the fact that it's 10:30 pm and I should really go to bed.

This recipe came to me via my mom, via my aunt and uncle, and I don't know where they first encountered it. It's one of my favorites though, and for me it tastes like summer. And despite being rather fickle so far, the weather is looking up a bit - last week was beautiful, it was sunny this past weekend, and today I don't think it rained at all! I may even need to go to the pool after work tomorrow. Perhaps August will be the month for warm days that demand tomatoes and basil for dinner. July, I forgive you - we'll try again next year.


Basil Spaghetti

In my family there were two methods for serving this dish, and each method had its faction: one in favor of mixing all the pasta with the sauce at once, for optimal cheese melting; the other in favor of letting each person mix their sauce and pasta separately, which was better for leftovers. (Bonus - snacking on leftover sauce on toasted bread the next day.) Though I grew up in the mix-your-own camp and was a steadfast devotee for years, I defected at some point to mixing it all together at once. It's true that it's not as good for leftovers, but I live with Zoli. Do you really think we have leftovers? But feel free to let each person mix their own, the cheese doesn't melt as well but it's still mighty tasty. Also, I generally peel the tomatoes, but I have made it many times without peeling them and it's fine if you're feeling lazy or it's just too hot. One last thing - fresh or normal packaged mozzerella are both fine. If you use fresh (it's all I can find here) cut the ball into slices and dry them off a bit with paper towels before cubing it, otherwise the sauce can get too watery.


Basil Spaghetti
Serves 2-3 (can be doubled, tripled, you name it)

3 ripe plum tomatoes
1 ball fresh mozzerella (or 5 oz regular mozzerella)
1 branch fresh basil (20-ish leaves)
1 small clove garlic, pressed through a garlic press
1/4-1/2 c extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
3/4 lb capellini (De Cecco is my favorite) or other skinny long pasta

Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Spear a tomato on a fork through it's stem end and submerge in the boiling water for 10-15 seconds. Using a paring knife, peel the tomato, take it off the fork and core it. Repeat with the remaining tomatoes. Chop the tomatoes into pieces between 1/2-1" and add to a large bowl big enough for tossing the pasta. Cube the mozzerella (1/2 " pieces or smaller for optimal melting) and add to the tomatoes. Tear the basil into the bowl (or use kitchen shears), and add the garlic. Mix it all around and add a glug or two of oil. Add the salt and pepper (be generous with both), add a little more oil and stir again. Basically you want there to be a bit of oil/tomato liquid in the bowl but the ingredients don't want to be swimming. Taste, adjust the seasonings and let sit while preparing the pasta. (I like to let it sit at least 20 minutes before tossing with the pasta.)

Heat a large pot of water for the pasta. When it boils, add salt, then the pasta and cook the pasta until just barely al dente (this will only take 2 or 3 minutes). Drain well, then dump into the bowl with the sauce, tossing immediately to distribute the sauce and melt the cheese. Serve.

July, July

I was contemplating a post complaining about the crappy pseudo-fall weather we've been having, but apparently the weather read my mind and now it's hot. It actually is quite pleasant outside and in our apartment, but my lab faces south. And west. On the river, with nothing blocking the sun, and no fans or air conditioning. The thermometers say it's about 30 degress centigrade inside the lab - it's only 27 or 28 outside. Blech. So that's it, I'm going to the pool, no more bench work for me today! (I will get back to regular postings soon hopefully, we're still trying to figure out our internet at home. Once that's done I will post photos of our semi-furnished apartment.)

Moved and hiding

Moving stinks. Even when you know you're moving someplace better, that the new place will have all kinds of things the old one didn't, it still stinks. Even when you're moving on Midsummer and you have no idea it's 9pm because it seems light enough to be only 6 and you see a double rainbow after dropping off the heaviest load it still stinks. But all of our belongings are now in our new apartment, including a new bed frame, used furniture and adopted plants. Actually, not everything is in the new place - after dropping off the last load at 11 pm last night (they sky was still light), we returned the rental van and then retreated back to our old apartment to sleep and pretend that the chaos of the new place doesn't exist. We have enough clothing for a few days, and the old apartment has a bed with a mattress (something missing from our new apartment) so for the moment we're hiding. We'll deal with the piles of boxes and disassembled Ikea furniture in a few days.

Household appliance #1

I can now say that I have bought a refrigerator. A tiny, adorable, A++ energy efficient European refrigerator. See that empty space down there under the counter? This baby will go there, along with a washing machine. A clothes washing machine. A clothes washing machine that means no more trips to the sketchy laundromat. Woohoo!

How does it feel? It feels like we're moving in five days and we don't have any furniture.* Not to worry, we are going to Ikea tomorrow (and you know how I feel about Ikea), both for some buying and for some pre-buying scouting. Our first piece of furniture is already in the apartment (more on that another time); on Sunday we're picking up furniture we bought from acquaintances who are moving to the US for a few years to do postdocs. (I wish they were moving to Seattle, it would be so nicely symmetric.) Our new apartment will be full soon enough, so at the moment I am enjoying its gorgeously empty state.


I imagine blog posts will be a bit scarce in the coming weeks (I know, as if they haven't been scarce before this - hey, this is two posts in one month!). We will be without phone (whatever) and internet (uh-oh) for a little while, but it will just give us time to find some furniture.

* For the record, this is not a complaint. Moving is a whole hell of a lot easier with no furniture. It's just confusing, and then after the move there's nowhere to sit but the random desk chair you bought and the exercise ball that you refused to deflate for the move because it took so damn long to pump it up after the last move. But still, not complaining.

Birthdays come and gone

Though I've been quiet over here, we've been busy. Between birthday celebrations, apartment hunts and a visit to Paris, May was quite the bustling month. But let's start with the birthdays. This is the year of turning 30, and lucky Zoli got to do it first of the two of us. It seems like quite the milestone, until you think about the birthday of the Hamburg harbor. This year Zoli shared his birthday with the Hafengeburtstag, and when you consider that the harbor celebrated its 820th birthday 30 doesn't seem so bad. It seems downright young, in fact. Which, really, I guess it is.

We celebrated with asparagus (Spargel in German - oh baby is it Spargel season), a nice bottle of wine - and for the first time in ages, I made Zoli a birthday cake. The cake was Zoli's request and, as I like to call it, "Butter Masquerading as Cake." Don't get me wrong, it was quite good, but it was a Lot. Of. Butter. Thankfully we were able to pawn off - ahem - I mean bring the leftovers to our German class.


We also visited the Hafengeburtstag, which not only provided me ample entertainment at work with all the ships coming into the port, but also had the Swiss air force as a special guest this year. Apparently the fighter jets flying so low caused some consternation amongst the citizens of Hamburg, but the day we saw them they were quite fun.


Aside from celebrating, we spent the first two weeks of May going to look at apartments, trying to find a place to live when our lease ends in July. I know I'm out of practice, but this was intense - one open house Zoli went to had over 100 people. We were going to at least one Besichtigung per day (literally an inspection or perambulation), so that was essentially all we were doing. We saw some fabulous apartments, but for most landlords two Americans who won't be here for more than a few years are not the ideal candidates. However, we were ultimately successful and were offered an apartment in a cool old building with an ideal location. Bonus - we were offered it the day before we left for Paris to continue the birthday celebrations, making the trip that much nicer.


So, Paris. Paris was...Paris. Beautiful, grey, sunny...and holy crap there were lots of Americans. It was amazing, really, how much American English we heard in four days. I never really thought about how little English we hear here, American or otherwise, but it was the exact opposite in Paris. In practically every restaurant we visited there was at least one other group of Americans, including two American scientists in the café at the Maison Européenne de la photographie - and yes, I was eavesdropping on their conversation. Basically our trip consisted of lots of walking, visiting with our friend Joseph, some museum-going and of course a good amount of eating (including amazing handmade noodles).

It was relaxing and lovely and I think a pretty good way to celebrate turning 30. Though really, you'd have to ask Zoli.

April in Hamburg

(I know, it's May. Sorry for the accidental hiatus in posts - I blame the weather. It's been nice!)


After what felt like a very, very long winter, spring arrived here with a solid 2+ weeks of sun, including the four-day weekend over Easter, a vacation for almost everyone. People who have lived here for a while were amazed by the weather, and there were many jokes about how this is our summer so we should enjoy it while it's here. (That's alarming, but reinforced by what I remember of my three-week trip to Düsseldorf when I was 16 - it was the end of June and cold and rainy every day.) It was warm enough to go around in a skirt and a t-shirt and not be cold, which was oh so nice.


We did all kinds of things to enjoy the warm weather - rented bicycles and explored new parts of the city, happened upon a street festival and an awesome South Asian grocery store, and on Easter weekend had a lovely picnic in a park on the Außenalster.

We also explored what is apparently a northern German tradition - fires on the night before Easter. I heard two main explanations for the fires - the first is that it's the time to burn all the trimmings from cleaning up the garden; the second was that the fires are lit to burn away the winter ghosts and welcome in the spring ghosts. Either way it's a nice idea, and apparently in smaller communities it's quite fun, but we went to the beach on the Elbe. While it was definitely a cultural experience it wasn't one that I'm itching to repeat. There was a crush of people (mostly teenagers with beer bottles) trying to get down to the beach, and once we were there it was hard to walk without stepping on someone or a fire. It was quite nice looking at all the fires up and down the beach, but the charm was somewhat lost when a flying beer bottle almost hit me in the head. I'm not sure we'll visit the Elbe Osterfeuern again next year.


I ended April with a trip to New York and got to spend some much-needed time with my sisters and mom. And now it's May - I officially start my fellowship tomorrow and we're starting to seriously look for a new apartment, but hopefully I will get back on track with the blogging. In the mean time, I hope you've had at least a bit of nice weather wherever you are.

Pillows and pans

When deciding whether to move to Hamburg or Paris we took into consideration all the things one should think about when deciding to switch continents for a few years - which city we thought we'd be happier in, which would provide a higher quality of life, the relative merits of the job offers (or -ahem- theoretical job offers), and the quality of pastries in both cities. We chose Hamburg because it made the most sense in all respects and it just felt right, though it also felt a bit off-kilter to turn down Paris. (We made the right decision, but seriously - how do you turn down Paris?) Regardless, once we decided on Hamburg for all the right reasons, I checked just to make sure it had an Ikea.

I know, what city doesn't have Ikea? But I have an unnatural affection for Ikea, in all its blue and yellow silly Swedish glory. I think it may be because my first-ever non-hand-me-down bed came from there, bunk beds with pink sheets that were the best thing ever when I was seven. I know for many people Ikea is torture - from the giant windowless store with the labyrinthine layout to the cryptic instructions for putting together the furniture once you get home. I love it, all of it, but especially assembling the furniture. (Just ask Zoli, who falls pretty firmly into the torture camp in all respects. He'd rather just make the furniture himself.)


When I investigated the Ikea situation in Hamburg I got two pleasant surprises. First, there are two Ikeas; second, one of the S-bahn lines goes directly to one of them! If there's one thing I love more than Ikea it's public transit. To combine the two, in the process eliminating my least favorite parts of going to Ikea (driving and parking)...be still my heart. As if that weren't enough, it just so happens that our apartment is right on the S-bahn line that goes to Ikea. One of the first weeks we were here I was passed on the sidewalk at the train station by a woman riding her bicycle with a kitchen sink from Ikea under her arm. It's fate, I tell you.

So then why, exactly, did it take me until this week, six months to the day after we arrived in Hamburg, to make it to Ikea? Well, we're renting a furnished apartment; we've been on one income so we have been trying to not spend so much; and we just didn't really need enough to justify a full-on Ikea trip. But finally this past week we reached a critical mass of things we were unable to find elsewhere and decided to go to Ikea.


Aside from being able to take the train there, excessive Ikea ads in the train station and everything being in German, it was much like any other Ikea trip. It seems that here the thing to eat in the cafe is the hot dog rather than the meatballs - I tried to talk Zoli into getting one but he was dead set on getting out of there as quickly as possible. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole trip. Zoli not so much - but he made it out intact, and now (after cooking with our new cast iron pan, sleeping on his new pillow and admiring his fabric for a tool kit) agrees that it was quite successful.


The only things missing were furniture to assemble, a sink and a bicycle on which to carry it. Maybe next time.

More exciting than expected

This week I had the best Monday I think I will ever have. I found out that my postdoctoral fellowship application was funded. I was not expecting this in the least. In fact, I was fully expecting to get the standard letter saying that the foundation had received an exceptional number of qualified applicants and they were terribly sorry to not be able to fund my proposal. The opposite happened - and though I was asked to please be patient (not my strong suit) and refrain from contacting them with questions until I receive my official documents sometime in the next 4 (gah!) weeks, a celebration was definitely in order.


It turns out 3 were actually in order. Zoli took me out to a tapas restaurant in our neighborhood on Monday night to celebrate. Then I went out for beers with people from my lab on Tuesday, including my first-ever games of Kicker (Americans call it fussball - totally backwards, but I guess Kicker is easier to say than Tischfußball), a local obsession at which I am terrible. Awful. Embarassingly inept. (But I got my fellowship!)

On Wednesday I went out with my boss and another postdoc for drinks in a building with an amazing view of our institute and the harbor, not to mention an impressive bar, followed by pool (much better than Kicker). By this point I was thoroughly done with celebrating and just wanted to come home and sit on the couch for goodness sake, which I think officially makes me old.

But still - it's exciting! I will be gainfully employed! The foundation supposedly will pay for German classes! (Not that I can verify this by asking them or anything.) I will get my own special ID card from the foundation! I now know for sure what I'll be doing for the next two years, which is both more exciting and more relieving than I expected. I am very, very pleased that these red brick buildings will be my workplace for the next two years.

Maybe by the end of it I will even be able to play Kicker.

Laufzetteln in the springtime

I can tell it's been a long time since I posted - I found a photo from mid-February today and it was of our street covered in snow. Since my last post it's started to be spring here - it's still tentative, but I saw my first crocuses (croci?) today, the trees outside our balcony are slowly, slowly coming to life and there's a little leftover pot of tulips on our balcony trying their best to grow. So, it's about time I got back to writing! As you can probably tell, life here has been busy. I'm definitely finding it a bit difficult to balance working and all the other fun things I was doing before I started working, like -ahem- writing blog posts and cooking.


I think that things are starting to come back into balance. Last weekend I made cupcakes, which was a good start. This weekend I made cheese and an apple cake, and Zoli finished two cutting boards. So - we're getting back to normal, slowly but surely.


Now that I'm an actual employee at my institute, I have had the joy of experiencing German bureaucracy. Zoli had to go through all of this when we first got here, which was even more overwhelming considering everything else. This past month it was my turn, under less frenzied circumstances and at a workplace where non-Germans are a rarity. (I think there are five of us, total.) When I started doing bench work in the lab one of the first things I had to do was get my Laufzettel signed by various people in the institute, from the guy in the mail room to the librarian to the director of the institute. In some ways it's a nice concept since then people actually see your face and know who you are (theoretically) but it's also a huge pain. It involves wandering all over the building to find everyone, not the easiest task when you're new and don't know where anything is. (If you ever have to do this don't try to find people between 10 and 10:30, that's coffee break time.)

Becoming official required many documents in addition to the Laufzettel, including our seriously unofficial-looking marriage certificate and my doctoral certificate (very important so I'm glad I brought it with me). The most entertaining thing they required was a Polizeiliches Führungszeugnis, essentially a certificate of good conduct from the police, that I had to request from the Einwhonermeldeamt along with my Lohnsteuerkarte (tax card) so I could be paid. Thankfully the woman who waited on us was patient - I even practiced how to say Führungszeugnis before we went and it was still only somewhat comprehensible. But I ultimately got what I needed. I think I might even be in the right tax class.

Aside from the bureaucracy it's always fun starting work in a new lab. Though many techniques are the same, the particulars of how labs do things are quite different. It reminds me a lot of cooking, actually - though different cookbooks will tell you the "right" way to do something, there are many right ways and ultimately how you do something is up to personal experience and preference. At first I find it easiest to do things the way others do in the lab - at least until I get my bearings and am able to decide whether I like my "right" way better. I'm also learning totally new things, which is the most exciting part - I learned how to dissect mosquitoes to get malaria parasites out of their salivary glands, and to look at a blood smear to determine whether red blood cells are infected with malaria parasites. I'm really enjoying working on something infectious-disease related where I still get to take pretty pictures of cells.

This past Monday was the last day in lab for the postdoc I'm replacing before the start of her Mutterschutz. Maternity leave here is pretty impressive, it starts six weeks before your due date, and then you can take up to a year of paid leave with your job guaranteed at the end of it. She was a great person to work with and I'm already missing her in the lab, but we gave her a fun send-off for which I baked sehr amerikanishe cupcakes.


The cupcake craze has not made it to Germany and I don't know that it ever will, but I was able to find cupcake pans and liners so there may yet be hope. After living within walking distance of two fabulous cupcake places in Seattle I've gone through a bit of cupcake withdrawal here. Thankfully I have some good cupcake recipes and this is my go-to for chocolate cupcakes.

My mom got this recipe from a cookbook put out by the Ivyland Fire Company sometime in the 1970s, and it's both easy and fabulous. She always fills them with whipped cream - the filling is optional but highly recommended. This time I added diced, sugared strawberries to the whipped cream - not the usual never-fail chocolate cupcakes but not half bad. And definitely not a failure.


Never-Fail Chocolate Cupcakes
24 cupcakes

2 eggs
2/3 cup cocoa
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cup flour
2/3 cup sour milk
1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup hot water

Optional filling:
1 pint heavy cream
1/2-1 tsp vanilla extract
granulated sugar
powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Line 24 cupcake tins with paper liners, or grease well.

Put ingredients in bowl in order listed. (I usually sift the cocoa in because it's clumpy - you may want to do the same for the baking soda for the same reason, but they're fine if you don't - see recipe title.) Do not beat until the last item has been added. Then beat well. (I do this with an electric mixer, but I'd bet it would work by hand, too.) Divide batter between cupcake tins. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool briefly in the pan, then remove and cool on a wire rack (or a plate, or in the pans, they're not that picky - see recipe title).

The cupcakes are great straight-up, but if you're going to fill them, let them cool completely. With a small, sharp knife cut a cone-shaped piece out of the top of each cupcake. Whip the cream for a minute or two, add the sugar and vanilla, then continue whipping until the cream holds fairly firm peaks but doesn't start to clump. (You don't want the cream to be too droopy unless you're serving these immediately.) Fill each cupcake with a large dollop of cream, then put the top back on each cupcake, pressing down slightly so the cream squidges out a bit. Dust the tops with powdered sugar immediately before serving.

(To add strawberries to the filling, I diced maybe a 1/2 pint of strawberries and added 2-3 tsp. sugar and let them sit for about 30 minutes. Instead of adding sugar to the whipped cream, I folded in the strawberries after the cream was whipped and then filled the cupcakes.)

Good Germans

Where did January go? I feel sort of silly asking that when we're already hip-deep in February. It seems like we were just traveling, leaving cold and snowy Boston and arriving back in cold and snowy Germany. But no, we've been back from the US for many weeks and are half-way through our fifth month of living in Hamburg.

I've started to categorize our months here with some sort of descriptor, in an attempt to keep track of the time. For example, October was the month of Confusion, what with not understanding anything and getting settled. November was the month of Email due to Zoli being on the boat. Now, looking back, I think January was our month of being Good Germans.

Living here it seems like there's a greater collective consciousness than there is in the US about when one should do certain things. Recycling, for example. We walk our recycling to large metal bins around the corner, which are the recycling facilities for our part of the neighborhood. Good Germans recycle on Saturday and Sunday, such that even though the bins are emptied on Saturday mornings they're chock full by Sunday night. Full to the extent that you have to actively shove your recyclables into the available nooks and crannies and you're guaranteed to have at least two or three other people doing the same thing at the same time.

Bottles for beer, water and soda are redeemable at a machine that's in the back of most grocery stores. Good Germans redeem on Saturday afternoon - the queues in all the grocery stores are enormous with people redeeming shopping carts full of soda, water and beer bottles. It's tedious to stand in line with just the five or six bottles we accumulate at one time, but it can be worth it for the people-watching. One Saturday I was behind a man who redeemed a cart full of beer bottles - I was behind him in line at the register as well, and all he was buying was beer.

Not all Good German activities have to do with the disposal of recyclables. Saturday is shopping day, starting with food shopping and ending with shopping for things - the stores are packed and good luck if you actually want to try something on in a dressing room. On Sundays, Good Germans go for leisurely walks, and then in the late afternoon to a café for Kaffee und Kuchen. If you're an exceptionally Good German you'll go walking in a Fußgängerzone (pedestrian zone) and Schaufensterbummel machen (window shop). My favorite part of being Good Germans is that I learned about many of these activities in my high school German class and thought they were the craziest things ever. It makes sense actually living here (especially since most shops are closed on Sundays), but it doesn't make it any less amusing.

But Being Good Germans is tiring. It's exhausting shopping all day Saturday. Sometimes on Sundays you just want to sit on the couch in comfy pants and watch the snow, rather than walking through it on ice-covered sidewalks, even if your reward is cake. So far February is shaping up to be the month of being Bad Germans - not only did we put our recycling in the (blissfully empty) bins on a Wednesday night, I also redeemed bottles in the grocery store on a Tuesday. Watch out, you never know what we'll do next.

Schnee

We woke up to surprise snow on Wednesday morning. It wasn't much - no more than five centimeters - but it was enough to make everything more beautiful. Schönes Wochenende!