12/26 DAY 7: DAS GROßE FRESSEN III (PIGGING OUT III)
I woke up hungry—not—after enduring several marathon sessions of eating/drinking at the Balke’s house.

The immediate family (including aunts and uncles) all met at Schmittel’s house at 2:00 on Sunday, the second day of Christmas, for a Christmas Shin Dig.


Birgitt and Hortst-Dieter Schmittel

Schmittel had spend many, many hours preparing a beautiful Christmas dinner for the family, which included some very fancy food, including duck and knödel (dumplings,) which I really enjoyed.

In my normal blog, I had mentioned that my favorite Christmas song is Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming. Birgitt was playing some Christmas music and lo and behold (no pun intended), the song came on. Oma hummed it, which kind of touched me. I promised her I’d send her a CD with the rendition from the Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles that I like so much.


Mats, Sören and Julia in front of Schmittel’s tree

Opa wasn’t there which was too bad. He wasn’t feeling all that well. He had gotten sick because of eating too much sugar free candy that I had given him. He is completely bored in life because he worked his entire life and has no real hobbies, so, although I felt bad for causing a problem, I was happy that he had enjoyed my present of American candy. (Julia says he’s the worst person to buy for.)

MY COOKING

To celebrate Christmas, I was asked if I could make my famous eggnog (that I had prepared for the family, in Denmark 10 years prior.)

I was so nervous cooking in Marita’s kitchen as it’s literally a foreign one. I worried I would destroy something in her flawless kitchen or worried I would mis-recycle or that I would screw up the recipe.

Sure enough. I did screw up the recipe. Instead of beating the egg YOLKS, I beat the egg WHITES. So I had to throw away the first mixture and start over again. The second time worked but it only made a small bowl, which was not ideal for serving to the 10 or so of us at the family party.

I also made a Mexican Delight (layered dip) from my grandmother Wilke’s recipe (although I add a meat layer, too!) I had imported the refried beans and Chips. I managed to find the correct taco seasoning and a similar sour cream. Also I got a thing of guacamole, salsa and even “canned” jalapeño peppers. I was really worried that there wouldn’t be enough flavor, so I put a generous amount of jalapeños into the meat mix.

I brought a small teaspoon into the living room for Julia to taste. She immediately said, “yumm.” Then the look on her face changed. “Oh, my God, Matt. That’s spicy. Get me some water! Quick!”

I brought he back a small glass and mineral water from the kitchen. She immediately grabbed for it and gulped some down.

I think she had a bit of irritation/pain in that one area, and I told her this. She was not amused and responded by saying that it was very mean of me to give her something so hot/spicy. She was pissed off and was coolish for me for the next couple of hours.

Upstairs, as I waited two hours for Julia to primp in the bathroom, I was worried that I had wasted all of that time/money on a dip that nobody would eat. To give you an idea of how expensive Germany is and how bad the US/Dollar exchange rate is, it cost me almost $80.00 USD in order to make the egg nog and dip.

VERDICT: MY COOKING OK

So, Sunday afternoon, I finally had the opportunity to serve my cooked goods. The eggnog really went over well, both grandmothers loved it. Birgitt even passed around spoons for people to get the last bit of foamy nutmeg off the bottom of the glasses.

The Mexican dip also was a hit, although Torsten, Jessica’s boyfriend didn’t eat too much of it, as claimed it was too hot. Pain/irritation?

Heat or not, the food on the plate disappeared quickly. The 9 inch plate was scraped clean and eaten.


Birgitt, Julia and I in the kitchen prepping the eggnog
- posted by Matt @ 9:29 AM