Two weekends ago we took a train to Schweinfurt to visit with a friend from Hawaii. She moved here in October, so we're all pretty new to the area. Some other friends of hers came over and we had a delicious cookout. It was very nice. She has a beautiful home. It's probably twice the size of ours. I picked some black raspberries that were in her back yard and she sent me home with a bundle of rhubarb. I haven't had rhubarb since I was back in Alaska, so that was nice to get. We really enjoy seeing other parts of Germany, but still prefer the Stuttgart area. When we finally made it home at midnight we had come to the decision that we'll probably stick with short trips on the train. The trip to Schweinfurt was 4 hours each way and got a little long and crowded at times.
We've been able to run most of our 110 appliances on a transformer and they work just fine. However, I used my Kitchen Aid mixer a couple of weeks ago and it just wasn't running right. The slow speed kept winding higher and higher. Not wanting to damage the motor, I emailed the company to see what they would say. I wasn't surprised when they suggested I buy a 220 model sold in Europe. If they didn't cost so much I probably would, but the Kitchen Aids here in Germany sell for about twice the price of those in America. I use my mixer a lot and didn't want to spend the next 3+ years doing without, so I packed mine away and we bought a Bosch at a local store. I bought a lower end Bosch, which doesn't compare to my Kitchen Aid, but it'll certainly work. (Mom, I knew you would want to see what it looks like so I attached a picture :)I've been having a hard time baking here. I don't know if it's having to convert the temperature (Celsius vs. Fahrenheit) or just the different type of oven. I will say I'm not fond of German ovens. They are extremely small (I seriously don't think a turkey will fit for Thanksgiving) and the racks fall out much easier than ours back home. I've had to replace most of my dishes and baking sheets because they don't fit in the oven here. Also, the door gets VERY hot. If we had children I'd have to block it off so they wouldn't get burned. Last night I was baking some bread rolls for dinner and the rack wouldn't stay still for me to grip the muffin pan and they all ended up at the bottom of the oven. The sides got burned a bit from laying on the oven floor, but they were edible.
Friday I ended up baking two Angel Food cakes and neither one turned out as good as they do back home. I was making Peach Trifle to take with us to Sam's cousin, Iris', birthday party on Saturday and needed the cake for that. The first one ended up getting too dark, but still wasn't done in the middle and the second one fell out of the pan when I turned it upside down to cool. By the time I found it, it was all of 2 1/2 inches thick. I was able to make the trifle, but it just took a bit more work than usual.
Saturday evening we drove to Ulm (about an hour's drive) to attend Iris' birthday party. We went a little early to visit with Sam's aunt, Margarete. Attending a German gathering is always a bit intimidating to me since I don't speak the language. I think I know what the people at the Tower of Babel must have felt like. Everyone was very nice though. The party was held at a grain mill. The owners have a room that is rented out for parties and such. It was really a beautiful property. Here are a few more pictures from that evening.
Sam and Margarete on the bridge
The creek that runs by the mill
We bought some flour and noodles from the mill.
On the topic of not speaking German - I've been having a time getting into a language class. I missed the start date for the class in June, so I was determined to get into the next one offered. Well, when I called they said they didn't have another one scheduled, but it would probably be in September or October. That would be great if we hadn't already planned a trip back home to Alaska for around that time. Our landlord suggested that I learn 10 words a day. I guess I should get Sam to help do that. Ten a day would eventually add up to quite a bit and could only help in the long run.
Well, that's about all I have for the time being. Until next time...
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