Harvest Vine

Last night Pat and I went out to Harvest Vine in Madison Valley and had a Basque dinner of small dishes. We hadn't seen each other in while and I was in a celebratory mood because of a successful and protracted battle with my computer...it was delicious, especially because I hadn't gone to a proper restaurant in months. We had artichokes with saffron aioli, grilled tuna belly with vanilla, chorizo with pepper dipping sauces, beef carpaccio and finally some espresso-whiskey flan. Definitely a place to return. It also reminds me that I should cook some artichokes in the near future.

Stollen bread pudding

I made this the other day after discovering some desiccated Christmas Stollen holiday cake purchased by my mother and Kevin at a Munich bakery. Maybe I've never had a proper Stollen, but I'm not completely sure what the fuss is about. Luckily, my years of scientific training have shown me that butterfat and eggs tend to improve everything!

2-3 cups abandoned (and preferably unloved) Stollen, chopped.

2 eggs
1.25 cup whole milk
1/2 cup minced dried cherries
salt
~1.5 tsp mixed nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom
~2 tsp vanilla extract.
~2 tsp sugar
grated rind of half an orange

One sliced pear (the creepy winter kind that never seem to ripen).

Melt a little bit of butter in an oven-proof pan (I used a cast-iron bread pan, but whatever) and toss in the Stollen; cook until sizzling. Add the cherries, mix, top with pears, press down firmly. Beat everything else together and pour over the Stollen/fruit combo. Bake until not runny in the center, approximately 30 minutes at 375 degrees F. Eat with whipped cream (naturally, I add cognac). I think we will make it again (okay, I admit, so we actually just bought a cheap Stollen for this very purpose), so maybe I will add a picture.

more trains...

In less than one hour, I will meet my sister in Rome, while Alex is in Israel at a conference…therefore, I’ve had another train experience, this time the night train from Munich. It’s really been quite comfortable for the past 11.5 hours, though I hope to make the trip during the day some time so that I don’t miss the scenery. The kindly Bavarian train attendant also told me “go to sleeper car NOW” when I asked him if one was free (versus my bargain reclining seat). This meant that I got to pass the first four hours of the journey in a first class bunk with sheets and blankets, before being informed that apparently my car was splitting off so it would a good idea for Die junge Dame to move JETZT before I ended up in Venice. I must have been very confused, because somehow a cabin pillow managed to accompany me back to the hoi palloi. Tragically, I discovered that the espresso bar was also jettisoned, which seems almost criminal.

I also had a bizarre but encouraging 6am experience with a fellow passenger who was also looking for the missing coffee car…she and I were actually able to have a conversation in German! Granted, I was not talking about evolving US foreign policy during the new administration, but it was an actual chatty conversation where somehow I could just understand what she was saying. I was pretty startled as this was happening, because normally my German language skills dissolve early on into a conversation. Definitely encouraging but also a little puzzling. Maybe it was residual Ambien from earlier in the evening.

winter travels

After some Seattle productivity which I won’t go into, I am back in Europe. I arrived on Thanksgiving and then made a Thanksgiving dinner for two on the following Friday…unbeknownst to me, what appeared to be a turkey breast was most certainly NOT a turkey breast. This could have been disturbing, given the array of exotic meat products found in Munich. It was likely a leg, and whatever it was, it was covered in cognac-thyme sauce with Scandinavian pseudo-cranberries on the side..The next two days, we had a brief and surreal (and frozen) trip to Leipzig. This trip mostly consisted of some matlab excursions with some of Alex’s data, Spanish food, and my inappropriate napping brought on by travel crankiness on an epic scale. We also discovered that Deutsche Bahn has encountered some difficulties with their newest trains, so some old relics have been pressed into service, with varying degrees of retro charm. Of course, I took this as an opportunity to make snide comments about the vaunted German train system—Alex pretended to be embarrassed for my benefit.

If only all weekends were so eventful...

After a frantically fun end-of-week/weekend together, I said goodbye to Waleed on Sunday. Bedtimes ignored, cakes baked, running jokes recalled, cats harassed and psychoanalyzed, nicknames rediscovered, incriminating and indiscriminate times remembered... it didn't take long for us to get back into top form. Had he been in town for more than four days there might have been a riot in the streets or possibly world peace. I was in a celebratory mood on Saturday and we had a great time reminiscing with Luke about the crazy Boston years, also managing to get in some high-quality late night ranting. We also determined that the three of us are not World Cup material when it comes to soccer.

My one sorrow (besides Waleed leaving, naturally)is that my camera was and is nonfunctional, so there are no pictures! However, this tragedy can also be interpreted as a safeguard for my future political aspirations or chances of being respected by my children.

Something tequila can't fix

Some margaritas and I watched the debates last night, along with Luke and Waleed. It's good to have some moral support during painful and indignant times.  As the evening wore on, I admit that my Alaskan father's vocabulary started to dominate...and no, I wasn't saying "doggone it". I was pleasantly surprised by Biden's sincerity and fluent style, although the gay marriage stance was a letdown.

For some perverse reason, I often show my Alaska license as ID.  Invariably, people ask questions about my igloo childhood, The Cold, The Aurora, The Parka, my nonexistent Native Alaskan heritage, moose, and so on.  Now they start a political discussion and I just want to run. I guess this means I should find a different social crutch.

back in Seattle

I think a good general rule is that my blog-silence means that I am either having a fabulous time or I am so busy being productive that ranting is the last thing on my mind.  In any case, I'll try to post some missing pictures of the last few months, so that we can all pretend that I am still summering on the Cape or the Continent.

After a period of not knowing where anything was in my house, I think I've finally readjusted to being back in Seattle.  Woods Hole was busy but fun and it was great to meet so many faculty and students.  I was also extremely inspired to work on my own projects, which is alway nice. Woods Hole has a definite energy that is difficult to explain or replicate. I'm halfway tempted to try and go again next year, but that is contingent on a few hundred things, so we'll see.

Alex and I spent the first part of September in Boston and New York staying with friends.  A huge thank you to Parama, Kalina and Ronan for putting us up! It's hard to believe, but I think Alex has now met the majority of my friends and family (maybe this says something about my social tendencies).  We saw a percussion show at the Blue Note in New York, visited a couple of neuroscience labs, used the power of the euro to refurbish Alex's wardrobe, ate delicious food, survived both Dorchester and Tropical Storm Hannah and generally wandered and caught up with friends.  We also saw Barack Obama (well, his car at least) arrive at David Letterman's studio near Times Square.

I can also highly recommend the Lucky Star bus between Boston and NY Chinatowns...$15 dollars each way and only an hour longer than the train!