Self-Loathing and The Barefoot Contessa

The only thing this post has to do with living in Berlin is that I made some brownies to take over to Annika's German boyfriend's house when we went there for dinner over the weekend. Basically, this will amount to a fleeting thought which is slightly too long to be expressed via Twitter or Facebook. If you love Ina Garten, you should stop reading now. If you continue on, please know that this is more a judgement of myself than of you, her true fans...though I can hardly understand how she has any of those.

Jeffrey just loves fresh tomatoes.

I was all over The Food Network in its heyday. Maybe it's still in its heyday, but I feel like there was a sweet spot before Rachael Ray and Guy Fieri were shoved at me from every direction ad nauseam...not so great when their main purpose is to get me to try to cook food like them. At any rate, I hit 30 Minute Meals, Everyday Italian, and Semi-Homemade hard. Giada and Bobby Flay were my culinary crushes. However, there was always the issue of the Barefoot Contessa. The sound of the intro of her show sent me diving for the remote faster than the "clunk-clunk" at the beginning of Law & Order. I found her incredibly condescending and her friends all seemed like jerks. One day, while I was getting a dental cleaning no less, I was forced to watch the tail end of her show all the while wavering between interest in what she was making and wanting the television to come unchained from its bracket directly overhead and end my misery (and I'm not talking about the hygienist). She was wrapping up her beauty outdoor dinner with her Outrageous Brownies. Coffee was an ingredient, and everyone at the finely adorned table in the sand seemed to be enjoying them.

They really are delicious.

When I got home, I decided to check out the recipe online. Much to my surprise, it was relatively simple (I say "relatively" because there is always the option to just add an egg and some water to a mix and call it a day). Since Neil is a chocolate-lover and he was due home from a trip in a few days, I decided to give them a try. Much to my simultaneous dismay and satisfaction, they were delicious...an instant go-to should I have to bring a dessert somewhere. Herein lies my dilemma. I make them fairly often, and, not to toot my own or Ina Garten's horn, people tend to like them and ask how I make them. I am always compelled to give her credit, and yet I also feel the need to make sure people know that I would never under any other circumstances make one of her recipes. I realize that this all seems ridiculous. That I should feel so strongly about this (probably) very nice lady who just likes to throw elaborate dinners and lunches and make it seem like they are casual meals that didn't require a team of assistants and lighting experts to pull off is insane.

Ah, but I've forgotten to tell you the worst part about the recipe...a detail that is the perfect illustration of why I feel the way that I do. The second-to-last sentence of the instructions reads, "Do not overbake!" Really? Thanks for that tip. Also, in the show, she has on-hand (because why wouldn't everyone) plain white Chinese takeout cartons so she can send everyone home with a couple of her cherished brownies.   I'm sure Jeffrey appreciates that she sends all of the extra brownies away. I'm not saying it's not a cute idea, but would people complain about a paper plate with some foil or a ziplock bag?

Also, she trademarked her favorite phrase, "How easy is that?" Trademarked. She is the worst.

Pretend It's A Little Over 3 Months Ago

When I set out to write this post, the title was "Pretend It's 2 Months Ago," and I felt terribly behind. Now it's a new year, and in keeping with my general life resolution to not make New Year's resolutions because I think they are dumb, I made 2 resolutions this year. One of those was to keep up with the blog better. I said I would do that when I started the blog, so clearly it's been going really well. My point is, taking an arbitrary day like 1 January to begin or stop doing something is as pointless as it is any other day unless you are truly motivated. I enjoy writing, but I have found it to be somewhat difficult here. There are a number of reasons for this including but not limited to:  having a toddler, trying to learn German, the fact that in trying to learn German I am losing some of my English word-smithing abilities, and I like television. I have never felt the need to apologize for that last one, and I'm not going to start now.

So as I was not saying, a little over three months ago, the Chicago Senkowskis (Neil's parents, to be specific) traveled to Germany for a visit. They were our second official overnight visitors. The first was my friend Mary's ex-boyfriend from college and his five-year-old daughter...obviously. Nevertheless, it was exciting to finally have family coming to stay for a while and to have an opportunity to show off our new digs. We decided that while Berlin has more than enough things to do to occupy a ten-day trip, we wanted to venture a bit ourselves and drag Ama and PopPop with us. We gave them a day and a half to get time-adjusted and promptly headed off to Dresden. I had been wanting to visit Dresden for a while, so I was pretty pumped. We found a nice apartment hotel with 2 bedrooms and a Kinderzimmer which was perfect. As a sidebar, we have found that these types of accommodations are relatively cheap, and the value of being able to stick Annika in a totally separate room to sleep is immeasurable. Add in a refrigerator, free wireless internet, and generally a friendly staff due to the small-business nature of most of the places, and it makes for as pleasant a traveling experience as one can have with a toddler who is somewhat sensitive to change (to be diplomatic about it). Back to the point, it was within walking distance of all of the main sights in downtown Dresden and totally perfect.

Annika and PopPop lounging in the hotel living room (yes, that's right...hotel living room)

Once we had settled in to the hotel, we headed towards downtown. We came to The Zwinger, an old palace which has been converted into a group of museums. It was getting late in the day, but given how much actual time one can spend in a museum with a sixteen-month old, we decided to give it a go. Between the Old Masters Picture Gallery, The Porcelain Museum, and The Armory, there was plenty of variety and change of scenery. The section with old scientific and mathematical tools was closed, so we might have to head back to Dresden one of these days. The Armory was particularly interesting with displays of suits of armor, old weapons, a fencing demonstration, and a "fashion show" which was supposed to feature clothing from the 14-17th centuries but resembled a cross between a renaissance fair and leather S&M costumes...good family fun either way. After we were museumed-out, we headed to a dinner of traditional German fare. It was delicious, and Annika got a cardboard crown, so everyone was happy. After dinner, we strolled back through The Zwinger grounds which were absolutely beautiful at sunset and with almost no one else around.

Annika with her crown. Thrilled as always.

Annika, Ama, and PopPop

The next day, we headed to the center of town again to check out the town square and some of the other famous landmarks. First, we headed to the Apple Store, so I could exchange my defunct iPhone for a new one that worked...for now. After that we checked out a Herbstmarkt (Autumn Market) in the town square. It was adorable and a little preview to whet our appetites for the Weihnachtsmärkte (Christmas markets) to follow in a few months...by which time this blog entry should have long since been written. Then we headed to the Frauenkirche which was the main attraction I wanted to see in Dresden. It was almost completely destroyed by the firebombing of Dresden during WWII and left as a memorial ruin until after the reunification of Germany. It is a breathtaking now as it is completely rebuilt but with intact portions of the original church included. It also has a stellar view of the city and surrounding areas from the top.

Portion of original structure.

Frauenkirche.

Looking east up the Elbe.

Looking west down the Elbe. 

Looking down on Neil, Annika, and PopPop

Later in the day, we headed to another place I had been looking forward to seeing, Pfunds Molkerei, the most beautiful dairy in the world. I heard about this via someone I follow on Twitter. I generally try to find a Twitter account for the various cities in which we live or to which we travel. There are typically some pretty good feeds, and through one you can find others and get good tips on restaurants, festivals, and things to see and do. (Social media: not just for memes, GIFs, baby pictures, weird filtered food pictures, and the Kardashians folks!) It was the the new part of town, so we hopped on the tram and headed over. I have to say, for me anyway, it did not disappoint. Apart from the super-pushy tourist group of Spanish middle-aged ladies, it really was beautiful. We sampled some buttermilk which Annika enjoyed more than any of the adults, and headed back to eat again and get a good night's sleep before heading back to Berlin.

Pretty nice place to buy cheese.

Just a wall in a dairy.

 

Pillar at the cheese store...obvs.

Mmmmmmm, buttermilk.

When we got back to Berlin, we actually did some Berlin touristy things with Ama and PopPop. We checked out the standard stuff like Checkpoint Charlie, other wall-related things, the Topography of Terror, and the Bundestag dome. Truthfully, it was just nice to have loved-ones in town and have a chance to relax and enjoy a piece of this amazing experience with them.

In the Bundestag dome.

On a bus...not actually flying.

Whew! I really feel like I'm back on track here. In upcoming posts, you may be excited to hear about the following:

• Berlin Thanksgiving 2K12
• SW German road trip 2.0 complete with a swim meet, a flight physical, and some vomit...tune in to find out whose!
• Weihnachten und zwischen den Jahren trip to Prague
• Silvester AKA New Year's Eve AKA most amazing fireworks ever

At this rate, you'll probably hear about the New Year's festivities after the birth of Annika's sibling...and I'm not even pregnant.

Seriously...no sibling on the way...I'm really enjoying European booze.