Culinary Adventures in Europe: Saturday in Clausen

Saturday was another grey day but it didn't dampen our spirits. Margit insisted we come to breakfast in their lovely sun room. Helmut had gone on a ski trip with a friend so Mac and I lingered over a long German breakfast with Margit catching us up on all the news. For instance, we learned that Amy's friend Timo from Clausen is in New York on Broadway. We also found that our friend's Hedda and Werner's son (He was just ahead of our Amy in school) has his own TV program on Sat 1 in Germany. It is called Planetopia.

The best news of all though is that Melanie ( Margit and Helmut's daughter) is having a baby. It's a girl, due at the beginning of August. They have waited so long to become grandparents and as you can imagine they are "over the moon" excited. Sorry folks, Margit managed to evade our pictures.

The hard boiled eggs weren't on the table yet, but this gives you an idea of a typical German breakfast.

Breakfast in German is called "Fruhstuck".

View of Clausen from Margit and Helmut's patio. Mac and I took our time on the patio and reminisced over our time in Clausen. Then it was off to visit our former next door neighbor's.

Here they are.

Oma, Ruth and Mac. Oma is almost 89 years old. It was a surprise visit and it made their day. We were happy that Ruth's daughter Fabienne was there for the weekend. Fabi and our daughter's are like sisters.

Fabienne with her Boxer dog, Teesha.
Our deep and abiding love for this family began the second week we lived in Clausen. I had driven to the base to pick up groceries right after the girls went to school. To my horror, a bomb threat was made just as I got to the gate. The entire base shut down and the bomb dogs were brought out. There I sat for the next 6 hours. It started to rain. I mean rain, sheets of rain, bitter cold and when the realization that my girls were getting off the bus and had no key to get in the house (because we didn't speak a word of German and didn't know how to get keys made for the girls) I was inconsolable. FINALLY, they let me off the base and I raced home expecting to find the girls sitting in the rain on the steps. I was 2 hours late and my girls weren't sitting on the steps. Panic-stricken I started to cry and then a little white head popped out of the next door window. I couldn't understand a thing she said, but she gestured for me to come in. When I walked in the door and saw my girls socializing with Fabienne I was so relieved! The girls were sitting with their feet propped up on a German "warming oven" drinking hot chocolate.
It turns out that Oma (German for Grandmother) had noticed Amy and Kaitlyn sitting in the rain and had Fabienne come bring the girls to their house.
At that moment the foundation for a deep love and friendship was born out of my undying gratitude. This family became members of our family. It was Oma who taught me German cooking words with infinite patience. She'd hold up kitchen items such as food items, a whisk or a cooking pan and made me repeat the German word until she was satisfied I could say it properly. To this day Amy and Kaitlyn who are fluent in German say I know more words for spices, odd vegetables and cooking then they do. As we learned to speak German, we found that Oma had always lived there and that Helmut had grown up in the house we rented next door. Oma had often looked after our landlord Helmut when his mother was working when he was a boy. Oma is one of the finest examples of "Love your neighbor as yourself".

On Saturday evening we took Margit out to eat at Zum Bold in Rodalben. It had changed management since we had been there 10 years ago. The food was very good.

Mac had the shrimp (prawn) starter.

I had the shrimp and salmon puff pastry salad for a starter.

Margit had the fresh fish catch of the day.

Mac had steak with a creamy mushroom sauce.

I had a piece of pork pounded thin. It was covered with a slice of smoked ham and cheese. A slice of pineapple was laid over that with cheese. It was put under the grill until the cheese was brown and topped with a dollop of plum jelly (jam).

All three of us shared the desert. A scoop of ice cream with nuts, homemade chocolate and stawberries with a jigger of Bailey's Irish Creme poured over the top. Our little minx Margit managed to escape our pictures at dinner too!