Upstairs Rooms

Here's the latest in the master. We got the curtains up, along with the new TV.


And here's the guest bedroom - we moved the bed, hung the curtains, and the pics of Luna - they're hanging on yellow ribbons.


And here are the WONDERFUL built in closets in the guest bedroom. Bas and I use these as our closets since the master doesn't have any. Everybody here uses wardrobes, so we are very lucky that we have these in here, as well as in Luna's room! Means we didn't have to buy wardrobes, which are pretty pricey!

So now there's no excuses - we need visitors... come visit!

Little Boy Blue...

We got the new car! Just in time to drive it to Garmisch, in the Alps, this weekend! Bas said he was going to take the highway to work - just for fun. Although it can't go over 170 kmh for the first 1000 km - apparently the engine needs a proper breaking in. And no - he won't be going that fast with us in the car, anyway! Based on the test drive you can easily hit 200 km per hour without batting an eyelash, and not even know it practically. Bas picked out the colors, and I must say he did a good job. The interior is oyster leather (translate - almost white) so hopefully Luna won't take to it with a sharpie or anything! I think Bas also said that the rims we ordered aren't on it yet either - I guess we have to break the tires in, too! Look out autobahn, here we come!

Horsin' around at the Hangar...

We brought Luna out to see the horses at Sheila and Roger's. She was a little overwhelmed. Guess they were a little bit bigger than they seemed in her picture books!

Our Visit to Bernkastel

Bernkastel is a wonderful little town on the river Mosel. We've driven through a couple times now on our way to visit my aunt Sheila and Uncle Roger, and so on our trip this last weekend, we all drove out on Saturday to have a closer look.

Bernkastel sits in a valley full of wine towns, but stands out as the most colorful. Half-timbered buildings dating from as early as 1608 surround the old (and TINY!) marktplatz. In the center of the square stands St. Micheal's Fountain, which flows with wine during the annual September wine festival.

Saturday also happened to be the day that they were celerating Fasching (Carnival) with a parade, lots of costume and plenty of wine! It was pretty cold, but Luna loved it!

This is a wine cellar tucked under a hill holding some of the vineyards. I found it behind the restaurant where we had lunch.

The sign in the picture below was found on the side of a house - it translates roughly to "German house in German land, protect God with strong hand."

This one was also on the side of a house. It's a little less serious... it roughly translates "Orators we are not, if the Riesling is speaking."

I love the little picket fence under the windows...

I don't think I've ever seen a fachwerk (half-timber) house so RED!

Fasching decorations...

Very famous weinstube just off the marktplatz - and an adorable little quirky building!

My Aunt Sheila mentioned that the building below becomes a sort of advent calendar at Christmas, with the front windows and panels becoming the calendar days. I love the painted carvings in the fachwerk.

More Fasching decorations...

Too cute...

Snapped these out at lunch today...

Beautiful Flowers!!

We are having some German friends over for dinner. I didn't want to go crazy with the table or anything (having two babies pulling up) but I did indulge in some beautiful flowers... 15 whole Euros for these. But they are so worth it! I like the way the arrangement turned out, too.

I'm official...

And according to this, I can even drive a tractor!

Congratulations Angela and Zach!!!

On Wednesday February 11, 2009 at 9:47 pm ....

(I love the ring!)

Baked Sea Scallops - Yum, Yum, Yum!

Rivals my other favorite scallop recipe - maybe even better. I LOVE scallops. I made it with steamed green beans (steamed with rock, sea salt). I used about half as many scallops, and just reduced everything else by eye. I would recommend mixing the bread crumbs in with the onion mix when adding over scallops. Mine didn't mix in so well, but it could be the way I reduced the recipe!


Ingredients:
2 lbs scallops (about 4 cups)
1 cup dry white wine
Salt
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, separated 3 Tbsp and 3 Tbsp
1 medium onion, chopped fine
2 1/2 Tbsp flour
1/2 cup fine bread crumbs

Method:
1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Place scallops in a medium sauté pan. Add the wine and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and simmer for 4 minutes. No longer. Remove the scallops to a 1.5 quart casserole baking dish. Pour off the cooking liquid to a separate container and reserve.

2 Heat 3 Tbsp butter in the sauté pan on medium heat. Add the onions and cook until wilted, a couple minutes.

3 Slowly sprinkle the flour and add the cooking liquid over the butter onion mixture, whisking vigorously while you do so. As soon as the sauce is thickened, add it to the scallops in the casserole baking dish. Stir to fully incorporate the scallops into the sauce.

4 Sprinkle bread crumbs over the scallops and dot with the remaining 3 Tbsp butter. Bake in the oven at 400°F until bubbly and brown, approximately 15 minutes.
Serves 6.

Little Miss Rock Star...

Little Miss Chatterbox...

I walked into the livingroom this afternoon to see this. How freaking cute is she?

Things I like about Germany...

This is where I parked in the garage today in Nuremberg. There were three spots reserved for women! Wish this would catch on in the states. At Rewe they usually have spots for "Mutter mit Kind," but these were just for any women! I guess we are pretty special creatures...

Luna had pasta for dinner...

Can't you tell? I suppose a bib would have been a good idea...