Tag Archives: food

Abundantly Awash In Normandy Apples

Apples — we have an abundance of organic apples here at the house in Normandy where we are house sitting and child sitting for friends while they are in England at a conference.

It’s been remarkable to see how the apple processing in our mini production line has sped up each day as we got into the groove of peeling (with Mark’s expert assistance!), coring, chopping, and stirring-stirring-stirring.

Peeling and chopping apples in Normandy, France

Yesterday we did all of the peeling by hand since I was having problems with the mechanical peeler. And Mark certainly did come in handy when he saw how slowly I was going!

Peeling apples for chutney and compote in Normandy, France

But the most successful (and speedy!) method has been to use the small red metal mechanical peeler as seen in the video below.

Memories of canning and bottling and bread baking when my children were small have come drifting to the surface and the juggling of hot sterilised jars is now back to being second nature.

But I’d honestly forgotten how much fruit it takes to simmer down into a comparably tiny amount of final product. So I moaned a bit when I saw how few jars were created after the first on-my-feet-all-day of kitchen work. An entire afternoon and evening and only SEVEN jars???

Finished jars of apple chutney and compote

But oh my — the fragrance of apple chutney and apple compote bubbling away for hours!

Off to a new part of Normandy in a few days. Keep coming back to read about new adventures in living on the road!

Photo Of The Day: Hot Dogs, Get Your Hot Dogs!

Anyone who has ever been to a baseball game in the USA will have heard the familiar chant, “Hot dogs! Get your hot dogs!” Yes, I went to a few Cincinnati Reds games when I was young and I remember that sing-song urging to buy a snack.

The unexpected sight of this American-flag-draped hot dog sculpture on the streets of Berlin made me laugh because it seemed so wrong-place, wrong-time. It’s on Lindenstrasse, right down the street from the Jewish Museum.

American-style hot dogs for sale in Berlin, Germany

Berlin Bonfire Night – Funkenfeuer

Last night was Easter Eve and it was also Bonfire Night – Funkenfeuer – in Berlin. We didn’t know what to expect but our friend Stefan told us we’d all have a good time. And he was SO right!

The bonfire or Funkenfeuer marks the end of Lent. But since I have read about quite a lot of such festivities during my years of graduate degree research, this one is definitely a pagan-origin ceremony that has been ‘absorbed’ into Christian tradition.

We followed Stefan down the pathway through the grass (Stefan is in the red jacket on the right — turning back to look at us) and we could soon hear and see the throngs of people who had arrived earlier.

Off to see the bonfire with Stefan

The sun was low in the sky as we made our way through the crowds, but the first of the large bonfires had already been lit and was blazing away. Hundreds of people milled around, eating barbeque or salads or sweets and drinking the plentiful beer on tap.

Bonfire night just before sunset

The first bonfire is now well under way

We ate delicious roast pork sandwiches, drank beer, watched the fire for awhile, and then Stefan and Mark stood in the eerie blue glow of the beer stand to get another beer.

Barbeque in Germany

Stefan and Mark in the line to purchase a beer

The second bonfire was lit as darkness descended and it was even more dramatic than the first one had been since it was now silhouetted against the black skies. As I edited the photos this morning, it was easy to understand how mankind in a more primitive time period could have ‘seen’ visions of dragons or eerie figures dancing atop the flames against the inky backdrop of the night sky. I certainly see them in the last 2 photos below!

We may all be more ‘civilized’ nowadays, but the powerful allure of an enormous bonfire still answers some primitive song which is echoing in our hearts.

SUNDAY NIGHT POSTSCRIPT
Although the term Funkenfeuer is apparently technically correct, our Stefan told us tonight that he had never called it by that term and had always heard it called simply “Easter Fire.”

Bonfire in the Berlin suburbs

Bonfire in Berlin

A Wanderful Life

The Neverending Journey

Tag Archives: food

Abundantly Awash In Normandy Apples

Photo Of The Day: Hot Dogs, Get Your Hot Dogs!

Berlin Bonfire Night – Funkenfeuer