Sunday Dinner Spaetzle

     Apparently I am German. Yes! It's still there! Lately I have been really sentimental about Germany, really missing the food and culture. I think it's the reality of the realization that my children are not going to have the multi-cultural childhood experiences that I did growing up, that is making my upbringing suddenly that much more precious and dear to me. One of the quintessentially German dishes that I have been craving is spaetzle (Pronounced Shpetsleh)--and it means "little sparrows!" how cute is that! Anyhow, it's home made egg noodles, basically, but it is a soft batter-style dough that is pressed through holes into boiling water. and it is SO! GOOD! My Oma used to make it in her blessed kitchen, usually with beef and a really hearty brown beef sauce to go with it, and it is probably one of my top 4 favorite meals of all time. Food. Heaven. Now mind you, it is super dense and has basically no nutritional value, but anytime you are craving a huge amount of extra delicious white flour in your tummy (like on a Sunday, when you've been really good all week), well, this is the thing for you.
     The thing about this meal is, you have to have a special gadget to be able to achieve the noodles: a spaetzle press (aka potato ricer), which looks something like the hugest garlic press you have ever seen. Or the ones my mom and grandma had did, anyway.

     The one I have now, I got from a woman in California who owned a European deli shop. It looks more like a flat cheese grater except the holes are not knife-like and it has a slider-cup to go back and forth over the top.

     This version makes not long noodles so much as tiny rounded mini-dumplings, but the taste is the same, and after tragically losing my mother's spaetzle press in one of our many moves, I was certainly glad to have something. The point is, if you have any German in your family, rediscover it, and for the love of your heritage, get a spaetzle press. If you don't have any German, pretend like you do, because this is one meal that is WORTH having a whole extra gadget in your kitchen to make! Do it.

Basic recipe and method:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
dash nutmeg (Germans love adding nutmeg to stuff)
4 eggs
1 cup cold water
2 TBSP butter

Mix the flour, salt, and nutmeg in a bowl. Break up the eggs with a fork, then add them and the water to the flour mixture. Stir vigorously until you have a smooth batter/dough (I used my Kitchenaid mixer). Meanwhile, boil a bunch of water in a big pot with some salt. when it is boiling, press the dough through your spaetzle maker into the hot water. Cook 2 or 3 minutes and remove with a slotted spoon. Toss with butter.

(Now, if you reeeeeeaaaaally can't buy a spaetzle press and you reeeeeeaaaaally want to make this, I did find a recipe online that allows you to make the dough stiffer and roll it out/cut strips off of it to make the noodles, but I can't promise that it will be the real mccoy. To do this, use 5 eggs and only 1/2 cup water, mixing that together with the salt and nutmeg first, then adding the flour in small amounts til you get the consistency you need. Roll flat and cut 2-or 3-inch strips off, dropping them into the water. Good luck with that.)

So usually, where I come from, Spaetzle is served with jaegerschnitzel, which is pork, and mushrooms, or beef and savory brown sauce. I only had chicken, so I decided to adapt German-style schnitzel methods to chicken and make up a sauce. And here is where I discovered that apparently I still AM German, because it was sooooooooo good that I could have eaten the whole thing then and there. Here is that part of the recipe/process:

Chicken tenders (or if using lg. chicken breasts, beat them thin with a meat tenderizer)
flour
paprika (Germans love adding paprika to stuff)
salt and pepper
a whole bunch of butter
1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken broth
about 1 tsp. onion powder, or to taste

     Rinse the meat and pat dry. Dredge in a mix of flour, paprika, salt, and pepper and fry in butter on both sides til just done. (My flour ratio was about 1/3 cup, 1 tsp. paprika, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper.) Add more butter if it has gone a little dry, and put in about 2 Tablespoons of your leftover flour mix, whisking it in. Add the onion powder too, and keep whisking as you add the chicken broth slowly. Result: super amazing authentically German-tasting gravy/butter sauce! YUM!

     Now: Eat heaping platefuls of spaetzle and chicken drenched in sauce, and if you're feeling good, make a quick green salad with onions and tomatoes and use a vinaigrette. Add some spaetzle, chicken, and sauce to the top and be transported to German food bliss.

     Here is my home picture. This was after my 1st portion and during the salad course and it doesn't look like much, but it is probably the best thing you can imagine eating. Ever.

Golden's birthday party

I can't believe I blogged Silas' birthday party, and skipped over Golden's! eek! It was because I had written it down in the family journal that I thought I had blogged it, and well, now I will. Here, from my entry in the FJ, Aug. 7, 2011:

Golden, 2nd child, 2nd daughter, middle child, fire cracker, whipper snapper, bright little sunshine, delight--that one turned three years old today. What a perfect day! Sundays are already enjoyable to begin with, and having a birthday on a Sunday--even better! Golden got to pick breakfast, and she picked french toast. So we had french toast with strawberries, powdered sugar, bananas, cinnamon whipped cream, and great big smiles in the morning. (And an extra [DECAF] coffee for me--yum!) Even Silas ate the same thing--I love it when he can eat what we're eating. Anyway, to honor German family tradition, Golden also got a gift at the breakfast table. It was a "My Little Pony" coloring book (yes, i did buy her a creativity-killing coloring book! She loves them, what can I say...) and two mini My Little Pony plastic toys that I had gotten at a resale ages ago and saved for a special occasion. One of them was to share with Sparrow.

After breakfast and cleanup, we did home church and then I got to making fondant (for the cake) and lunch. Golden easily took a nap after her lunch. Sparrow was my companion in cleanup, preparing for the celebration, and decorating the cake.

At 4 pm, friends began coming over. I had decided she could have three friends over--one for each year of her life so far--but then I found out that Adelyn (Danielle's cousin) was going to be here visiting, so of course we had to have her, too! Plus moms and babies. So it was quite a full house! We did a craft and painted nails. Then dinner--pizza and hot dogs. Then the cake (which was made to look like a present by using fondant, m&ms, and fruit by the foot). Then presents--so exciting! Our friends are so sweet and generous. Golden loved all her gifts. From me & Thomas she got a cotton quilt (every night she had been crying out, "Mom! Sparrow is taking all the blanket!" And the only extra one we had thus far was polyester) and a musical jewelry box with a little spinning ballerina inside. (Almost exactly like Sparrow's except the outside design.) One huge blessing is that as I was going out shopping on Thursday, I checked the mail, and my lovely aunt Martina had sent a birthday card for Golden with 50 dollars inside! So I got to go to Target and pick out a present for her--just what I'd wanted to do, but had been resisting--we can't waste $ right now. I picked out a toy cell phone I knew she would love, and now she has $ left over, too! She did and does love her cell phone. Can you tell I love giving gifts?

After presents we watched "Milo and Otis" and ate popcorn! So good! Golden loves watching movies, and so rarely gets to. (It hink I watched that one with Sparrow on her 3rd birthday as well!)

Oh. Super funny episode with the cake. We brought the cake out and sang "happy birthday," but when I placed it in front of Golden, the vent blew the candles out! We closed the vent and lit the candles again, telling her to blow, but instead she started singing "happy birthday" again! So we all joined in a second time. Then she blew out the candles. Hooray!

To Golden on Her Turning Three

Every year that you have been in our life has been a better year. Yes! To watch you grow has been nothing but astonishing and delightful. Your laughter sounds like music. Your hair is like golden down. Over the past year, you have grown and learned so much! From how to do tendus to learning "America the Beautiful" by heart, you do it all with assurance. You even learned how to draw ladybugs and lions, and recite a story in front of an audience. You learned how to help make the bed and how to say "excuse me, mommy," and unload the dishwasher. You became a big sister and you are so good at making sure Silas doesn't go into the bathroom or put little things into his moth that he could choke on--not even pink princess castles that are actually the same size as he--"he's gonna choke!" You've learned about Jesus and how to pray. You are so good at reciting Bible verses! And you've learned to be your sister's best friend. God sure wanted to bless us when He gave us you! You give our family so much joy. We love you, Golden, without end.
Love, your Mommy

July and August: From the Mouth of Babes

G: "I had a dream about a star and a moon and a big ditch, and I was not afraid of it, cause there was a shooting star, and remember there was a lion and a ditch and there was a nice dragon sitting by the ditch." -July 4

G: (praying) "Thank you that I got to see the boom storm. And hear the boom boom storm." -July 7

G: "Why do they call it 'brotherhood'?"
me: "It means we love each other. Like a brother."
G: "Yeah, and it means that we kiss each other." -July 23

Sp: "I figured out that 'gasoline' has a silent E at the end."
me: "And how did you do that?"
Sp: "At first I thought it said 'gasolinE' but then I figured out that the E was silent." (and with no formal reading lessons yet! go little 5-year-old!) -July 23

Sp: "Daddy's the coffee, and you're the cream, and I'm the sugar."
G: (shouting from the kitchen) "I'll be the leftovers!" -July 24

Sp: "God can draw on the walls because He's God and He's not renting a house." -July 29

Sp: "Even when it's the morning sometimes, it's still dark."
me: "No, you can pull the blinds up when you wake up."
Sp: "No, even when the blinds are up, it's still dark. It's the Jesus kind of darkness, the sin all around us." -July 30

Sp: "It must have taken a really long time to pave the road."
me: "Yeah!"
G: "Yeah! And God loves us--SO much!" -Aug. 2

Sp: "God is like a cookie. Except He's not little and round. And He's not for eating." -Aug. 3

G: "I love Daddy so much, and I love you and I love Sparrow and I love Silas. And the people is SO in the family!" -Aug. 5

G: "God will punish us."
me: "No He won't. Jesus already took our punishment."
G: "Yeah. And He took away all Jesus' blood. And His blood took all of our punish." -Aug. 6

G: "Somebody pooted!"
Sp: "Not me!"
G: "Oh. I think that was the egg smell that I smelled." -Aug. 23

G: (during prayer meeting) "...And thank you for mommy's new baby and that there is another baby gonna come out of mommy, and another one, and another one, and that we got to see a LOT of buzzards. Amen." (and THAT is how she inadvertently announced our new pregnancy!) -Aug. 23

G: (showing me an electric candle) "These are quieter than pumas, but not than trucks." -Aug. 24

Sp: "I hope Silas becomes an Indian someday." -Aug. 25

me: "What happened? Why does your leg hurt?"
G: "I dunno. Maybe a javelina bit it the next day and then it was hurting SO WELL, and then there was blood." -Aug. 25

G: "Mommy, why are you crying?"
me: "I don't know, I'm having a bad day."
G: (going off to find Sparrow) "Sparrow! Mommy is sad and she needs a band-aid!" -Aug. 26

G: "Mom, I keep throwing up and days and days, why do I keep doing that? When I eat too much food it makes me sick." -Aug. 28

G: (seeing me drinking a bottled soda) "Mom, you're like a man, like drinking wine." -Aug. 28

G: (seeing me squint because of the strong carbonation in my soda) "Mom, I saw you sleeping on one eye."  -Aug. 28

June Jumblies

G: (speaking in pretend anger)
"I'm gonna put you in jail and--make you some LUNCH!" -june 1

G: "I'm gonna sit on the floor, so my body won't get lost." -june 6

Sp: (singing a made-up song)
"Jesus, G-I-S-S, Jesus!..." =june 7

(snippets from my girls who were looking at a world atlas together)

"ooh, look at the cute man!" (football player in helmet)

S: "Mom, which ones are female? ...Prob'ly the girl ones are female."

S: "It's a statue of a king. A christmas king." -june 8

(me about to put raw honey from local honeycomb on golden's toast)
G: "No, no! I don't want that kind of honey! I want real honey, that's in the cupboard!" -june 11

G: "Sparrow, you could pray!"
S: "No, I don't want to!"
G: "But you can pray by yourself cause you're strong enough."
S: "It's not that you have to be strong to pray."
G: :But I can't carry stuff in the world." -June 13

G: "I had a scary dream that there was a lion and a zebra and a giraffe. and it was so quite mean, and it went 'roooooooaaaaaar!'" -june 13

G: "Surely don't hurt your back, K?" -june 13

G: "Mom, she's fathering me!" (bothering) -june 17

me whispering loudly across the table after Thomas has gone outside:
"Today we're going to make some cards for Daddy, cause Father's Day is the day after tomorrow."
Golden leans over table and whispers loudly, "after winter, I'm gonna take a present." -June 17

S: "Mom, the W in my name is silent!" -june 22

G: :Daddy! you look like a gramma!" (He was wearing silver glasses) -june 24

G: "G'night, king! ...sleep like you're rocked by the stream!" -June 24

G: "Mama, can I have some vitamin Eve?" -june 26

G: "Sparrow, that hurts my feelings!" (sparrow was leaning on her shoulder) -june 26

G throws her stuffed animal in air and catches it:
"Oh my GOSH! that was beautiful!" -June 26

S: "mom, i know how to say there you go in spanish: 'der ju go.' " -june 28

the thing in the pond

Monday morning we woke up to find a creature in our fish pond--a furry, piglike desert creature--the infamous javelina. the desert animals come to our pond to drink early in the morning, and well, this one was overly ambitious or else nudged in by a fellow, but somehow, the footing was lost... i was awakened  by thomas telling me what he had found as he got ready to haul it out of the water. it was still alive, but when i groggily bumbled out of bed to take a peek, it was clear that this creature had no fight left in it except just to keep its nose above the water! at first thomas tried to push it out with a rake, and the blobby little guy didn't even struggle or move! when he let it sink back down to go get his shovel, i felt such compassion for the poor thing--i understand the feeling--not going under again? thomas lifted the soggy boarlike fellow out with a huge heave, and he lay there totally exhausted and helpless. then, cause he was still on the edge of the pond, we pushed him over to the sand. he was shaking miserably. he stayed there just huddling in the sun, not able to move--a few times he tried to get up, but was shaking so badly that he could not coordinate his limbs; it was actually rather funny. an hour later, though, when thomas tried giving him some old apple, he was so uninterested that he decided to get up and wander off into the desert. that night we encountered the herd near our house again, and i am sure he was among them...

enjoy the video.

the dark side hasn't got a thing on us

yesterday: another nasty bug self-destructs by drowning itself in our house! YEAH! i think God is definitely saying something here. if we don't even have to worry about killing our own scorpions and centipedes, what DO we have to worry about? evil can't touch us! we don't have to spend all our energies trying to keep the devil out necessarily, for God has rendered him powerless!

may memorables

G: "Are we going back to the old hallway?" (driving home from California) -May 3

Sp: "Mom, I wish candyland was real and that we lived there." (doesn't every 5-yr-old?) -May 3

G: "Some reason places are goooood places. and nice places. They're good places, and real." -May 3

Seeing me putting ice into a glass of coffee,
G: "I want ice water!"
Sp: "Actually, it's iced wine." -May 8

G: "Mommy, God told to get in this hot car for a long, long time. And God said the whole world to get in this hot car for a long, long day." -May 10

G: "Always, Adam and Eve always eat fruit off that tree."  (the story happens the same way each time, no matter how we wish it would end differently! i feel ya, little one!) -May 11

Sp: "I know why it's called 'Starbucks.' Cause it sounds like 'fourbucks' and everything there is four bucks!"  (she's got insight, that girl!) -May 15

Sp: "I want a mommy just like Journey's. Just the same as her, just the shape as her! With the same hair." -May 19

G: "I'm five."
Sp: "No, you're not, you're only two."
G: "I'm actually two half old." -May 19

Sp: "You'll always be my mom, but you're also gonna be like my grandma, cause you're old." Reflecting a little further, she says astonished, "I don't know how my Opa and Oma stayed alive this long!" -May 19

G: "Last time, at the coffee shop, I scrumbled, and there was a baby in my hand, and I poured it out..."
me: "You scrambled?"
Sp: "No, she means stumbled."
G: " No, stambled; no, scandaled!" -May 21

Sp: "Mom, in college are there great big tall sky scrapers?" -May 21

Sp: "If you're first on land, you're gonna be last in heaven." (love how she called Earth "land!") -May 23

(Playing house with British accents)
Sp: "Oh yes, my dear, it's very simmering." -May 24


Sp: "I want to go to Superhero camp!"
me: "Well, they have something for you too! They have princess camp for girls and superhero camp for boys."
Sp: "I think monkey camp is also for boys." -May 25

G: "I want some mango!"
me: "It's not mango, it's honeydew."
G: "I want some honeydude!" -May 28

(We were all brainstorming names for characters in a story.)
G: "I know! Apple-face!" -May 29

G: "You're erupting me!" (interrupting) -all the time!

Golden likes to bring people a book and say, "Can you read this to me in German?" If they don't know German, they then tell her so, and she gets all disappointed! I don't think she would mind if it were in English, do you?