German Puff Pancake Recipe

The day after my arrival Lynne Marie made this delicious pancake. The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons butter
6 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest, optional
1 cup flour

Directions:

Melt the butter in a baking pan. Mix other ingredients and pour on top of the butter. Bake 20 minutes in 425. You can serve it with syrup on top, or sauteed apples, fresh fruit, apple sauce, etc.

I thought that next time I make it I could add some nutmeg or cinnamon, to make it more Christmassy.

Roadtrip

Jackson Hole, here I come! Well, after over 16 hours driving through various conditions, let's review my trip.

Try not to drive through North Dakota alone. There's only so much singing you can do. Finally you get bored and start talking to yourself. Not that it happened to me.

Idaho's Island Park. The moment you pass the sign, the roads magically become white and slippery.

Pretty sky!


Finally...

The map

During my trip to an antique store with Lacey, I discovered this wonderful map of Europe, printed in Danish, where Poland has different country borders than it has nowadays. Google came in handy when establishing the time line and Poland had similar borders between WWI and WWII. The map looks pretty old and it may have been actually printed also around that time! It is now hanging in the dining room.

Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

Package from mom!

The package has arrived! And in it were our gifts, chocolates and other goodies! Yum!

Sushi pro I am!

My talents deserve to be flaunted in front of my friends, so for the White Elephant party at Erin and George's I whipped out some sushi really quick ;) and also made traditional Polish cookies, all from scratch. I used the pear jam I made this summer as filling - yes, I am the new Martha Steward.
To keep things steady, I had miso soup for lunch. Fishy, smelly, delicious soup!

Antique Store

What an appropriate sign for my kitchen!

This chest may become Kate's coffee table.

Elizabeth is serving "nalewka" at the bar.

Another day and another two-hour trip to the antique store!

Passage to Goodness

Any day that I get a chance to visit my favorite restaurant, Passage to India in Fargo, is a good day. J and I have been trying to come in more frequently now, because the owner, who personally knows us from visiting so often, keeps asking us when we're coming again... How can you say "no" to this?

Personal favorites:

• Palak paneer, a spinach curry with paneer cheese;
• Chicken Tikka Masala, a creamy tomato sauce;
• Masala Chai tea, which was actually adopted into the cuisine under the British influence;
• Naan bread; the best!

Pre-Thanksgiving Feast

Italian-themed dinner seemed perfect as a pre-Thanksgiving feast at the F's, and Jeffrey and I competed with each other in garlic break making abilities. Jeffrey's mozzarella topped garlic bread beat my blue cheese bread, but I think the real winner was G with the delicious tiramisu! However, M's specially saved for this occasion French wine I think beat all of our goodies!

Pumpkin Pie and good company

Thanksgiving finally is here and I am enjoying stories and laughs at the table while eating delicious pies after the dinner. Afterward, Gomer kept me company...

The Giant

My trip to Bemidji also resulted in meeting the Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. Apparently, the legend originated from Quebecois loggers fighting the British soldiers. Amongst the loggers was Paul Bonjean, who turned out to be quite the fighter! Later on the story was modified for advertising purposes.

Minnesota Nice

I was visiting Bemidji, MN last week, and encouraged by a friend who is familiar with the area, we had lunch at a little cafe named Minnesota Nice. She kept explaining the wonderful meals they offer, but I was sold on the name right away! I googled the term, and Wikipedia informs us that "Minnesota nice is a stereotypical behavior of long-time Minnesota residents as being hospitable, curteous and well-mannered." I just had to visit the cafe! The potato pancakes were delicious and my friend's E.'s blueberry pancakes were so tastey I ate half of it, too!

Halloween

Jeffrey "the Panda" from a certain cartoon and Anna the Swine Flu. Don't get close!

Howie Mandel and one of his girlfriends.

Hermione is putting a spell on Swine Flu.

Mario and Luigi crashed the party.

Sushi Pro

Tonight my friends and I attended a Sushi making class at the UND Wellness Center. We learned how to make delicious Miso soup, which I know Jeffrey loves, so I will need to put my knowledge to practice! I now also know how to make a caterpillar roll and a hand roll. They were all so delicious and pretty easy to make, although this was the first time I have seen sushi rolled up this way.

Taters

Tonight was the annual French Fry Feed in GF, which claims to be the largest french fry giveaway in the world. Is this true? Perhaps it is, as over 4,000 pounds of french fries were given away. although apparently this number was lower than last year. A friend of mine, K., and I took advantage of his very healthy dinner choice and made our way to the University Park, right when the feed opened. It was pretty cold and there were not too many people around, so we ate our fries and went home. Yay for Potato Bowl! Go Sioux!