25 Jul 2016 - Cars and metric

1. I have an oddly hard time keeping to a single speed when driving. In the US, where the unwritten rule is you can go +/- 5 mph over/under the speed limit, I had no trouble easily staying near the speed limit. Here, at 120 kph (70 mph), I have a hard time keeping it within +/- 5kph. Though that’s probably not surprising as, +/- 5 kph is +/- 3 mph. Smaller range. But I’m slowly getting used to it. I’m told the unwritten rule here is +/- 10% of speed, so maybe I’m being too careful.

2. Distances are still causing some difficulty for me. 200 km seems like SUCH a long way, but it’s only 125 miles. And I still have trouble mentally calculating times based on distance. I just need to remember that 100 km is about an hour driving on the autobahn where it seems like most speed limits are around 120. The ‘unlimited’ sections are balanced by all the construction.

For a long time, when I lived in LA, my frame of reference was the 300 mile trip to Las Vegas. I could handle 5 hours driving to Vegas. If a trip was less than 300 miles or 5 hours, it was reasonable. Here, if I drive 5 hours I may cross several countries and be driving in the Mediterranean.

3. Mileage. In the US we use mpg (miles per gallon), here it seems to be liters/100km. My little 4 cylinder golf gets around 6 liters/100km. It gets something like 650 km on a tank and it seems like I should be able to drive forever on that. Certainly, the fact that I live 2-3 km from my work means that I only fill up once every 3-4 weeks if I don’t have a long drive in between. I still have no idea if that little “I’m going to stop your engine (for a minute) every time you stop and restart it when you take your foot off the brake” thing is really fuel efficient.  So far, it just freaks me out that my car effectively stalls 10 times on the way to work.

4. I have very few ways of measuring dimensions at home that have metric measures. Both of my measuring tapes are inches only. Very annoying. Luckily Beth’s sewing measuring tapes have metric.

5. And measuring food for recipes is odd as well. Mostly because I need to remember that 1 kilo is 2.2 lbs. I can’t tell you how many times I bought a kilo of meat and really meant a half kilo (1 pound, or 16 oz.)

6. Using German machines/appliances is frustrating. Yes, I can translate the manuals but translation software is terrible. Mostly, we just find settings that work, and then as we use the machines, try different ones to figure out what they do.

7. I’m learning German now. I have a 1 hour/week class, and tons of homework. My big problems are still understanding spoken German and putting sentences together. Word order/grammar is different enough to be frustrating. For example:


"Hängen Sie die Fragen im Bad auf."

Translated literally: „Hang you the questions in the bathroom on”

Google translation “hangs the issues on bad”

Actual translation: Hang the questions in the bathroom.

The “Sie” seems like an ‘extra’ word, or seems like it should be implied, but its inclusion and capitalization are important and can change the meaning.

I’m slowly getting the hang of it.

I’m sure the above is all wrong somehow, so looking forward to the comments setting me straight. :)

8. I need to figure out how Urgent care works. I’ve been sick for a few days, and there was a point that I thought I needed to see a doctor, but regular doctors aren’t open on the weekends. In the US, I’d go to an urgent care (not as urgent as an emergency room). Here, I’m still not sure what to do.

Recipes 24-07-2016

There are a couple of things I make here in Germany, some remind me of the US (especially breakfasts), but some are just good, solid recipes.


American Spicy Breakfast Sausage


16 ounces (450 g) ground pork, or beef/pork (Rinder-,Schweine Hackfleisch)
1 teaspoon salt
1.5 teaspoon cayenne pepper (Cayenne Pfeffer)
1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage (rieb Salbei, a fine grind)

1/4 teaspoon fresh coarse ground black pepper (schwarzer pfeffer)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (Paprika-Flocken Not sure if this translates right)
1/4 teaspoon coriander (Koriander)
1/4 teaspoon msg

Simply mix the ingredients into the ground meat and fry.  Be careful to mix thoroughly. We prefer the beef/pork mix, it's very lean at our market.  Note that this is very spicy and good for southern biscuits and gravy (Robin's specialty.)

Kung Pao Chicken with Spaghetti (like the one at california pizza kitchen)


The Sauce
1 1/2 cup chicken stock or 1 1/2 cup vegetable stock
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup soy sauce (Low Sodium)
1/2 cup dry sherry
3 1/2 tablespoons red chili paste with garlic
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

Coating
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons cornstarch (or potato starch, I couldn't find corn starch here)
1/2 teaspoon salt


PASTA
1 lb spaghetti
1/2 cup olive oil, plus
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut in 3/4-inch cubes
1 cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts
1/4 cup minced garlic
3 cups coarsely-chopped scallions, greens and whites

Directions

Combine stock and cornstarch in a medium sauce pan, adding corn starch a little at a time and whisking to prevent lumps

Add remaining ingredients

Bring to a boil and them simmer until thick

Combine coating ingredients and place in a large plastic bag. 

Set aside

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a rapid boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large nonstick frying pan over high heat, heat the olive oil for about 1 minute. Add the chicken pieces to the Egg White-Cornstarch Mixture and toss to coat them. Taking care to avoid splattering, add the coated chicken to the pan and cook like a solid pancake until the egg mixture sets; then, using a large spatula, carefully flip the chicken pieces over together and, with a wooden spoon, gently separate the pieces.

Gently stir the roasted peanuts into the pan. As soon as they darken in color, after no more than 1 minute, stir in the garlic and scallions. Once the garlic begins to brown, after no more than 30 

seconds, add the Kung Pao Sauce and toss and stir to coat the ingredients.

When the pasta is ready, drain it well and, in a large mixing or serving bowl, toss it thoroughly with the sauce. Serve family-style or transfer to individual serving bowls, arranging the chicken, vegetables, and peppers.

Jeff's Carnitas


Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
2 Cups water
Salt (to taste)
Ground Cumin
Chili Powder
Black Pepper
Garlic Powder
4-8 cloves of Garlic, diced (optional)
2 Cups fruit juice, the weirder the better. (you can omit this.)

The key to good carnitas is that they're cooked for a looooong time. And they're twice cooked. And they are a little tart. Ok, that's three keys.

Put the meat in a pot and season to taste. Add 2 cups water. Sorry there are no specific measurements for the seasonings, you're gonna have to wing it.

Cook for 2 hours at 325 degrees until the meat is done. If the water cooks off, add another cup.

Chop the meat into cubes or loosely shred. I prefer it shredded so there are more crispy bits (see below.)

Make up two cups of your favorite juice. The safe ones are orange or pineapple. I like passionfruit or guava. A syrup is better.

Add the meat back into the pot, and pour the juice into the roaster (over the meat.) This also has the advantage of deglazing the pot and getting the good juices out. Add the garlic.

Cook at 325 degrees for an hour or two. Stir occasionally . The liquid will cook down. I prefer it to cook away altogether, myself, but if you want your carnitas a little wet, stop sooner.

Take the meat and put onto cookie sheets in a single layer. Broil for 5-10 minutes until carmelized and brown. Watch it carefully, there's a fine line between brown and burned.

They should look something like this:

Eat with tortillas, refried beans, rice and salsa.

Speaking of Salsa:

Simple Blender Salsa

Ingredients
2 (14.4 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 jalapeno chile, seeds and ribs removed (or canned is fine, use to taste)

1/2 yellow onion, quartered
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
salt to taste

Directions

Pour 1 can of tomatoes into a blender, and add the jalapeno pepper, onion, cilantro leaves, lemon juice, and salt. Blend until fairly smooth. Pour in the second can of tomatoes and blend briefly. Adjust seasonings to taste by adding more lime juice and salt. Let the salsa rest for 1/2 hour before serving to allow the flavors to blend.

That's it for today. Next time, I'll post my recipe for Goulaschsuppe, Beef Stroganoff, and a few others.

20 Jul 2016

Anything on pretzel bread with a little butter is amazing.

In the US, restaurant meals comes with water (with ice), and all almost all soft drinks (sodas, or pop, or soda pop depending on where you live in the US) have free refills.  In Germany, I’ve found myself getting used to having no drinks with a meal (or maybe some still water (non-bubbly), but not much.   I suspect that I’m saving hundreds of calories by not having unlimited sprite refills.

I find that I don’t miss old food favorites much, or I can find something equivalent here.  There are a lot of places that have good hamburgers, and heaven knows that I love sausage, and this is the sausage capital of the world (and by that, I mean ground meat.)  I suppose I miss good Mexican food, and to a degree, Japanese food. 

I certainly have a lot of new favorites:  Goulash, schnitzel (of any kind.) Brotkartoffel (actually, it should be Bratkartoffeln) (like home fries in the US), potato taschen (like filled hash browns), Maultaschen (like ravioli), 

The days are feeling more and more normal.  It no longer bothers me to go out to stores and speak with people.  My German is getting better.  I can say “Ich spreche ein bisschen deutsch” (I speak a little German) to match most Germans who say they speak a little English too.

I’m taking weekly language classes, which are going well, if too slowly for me, but my problem is still in parsing spoken German. It doesn’t help that sometimes you can’t figure out the meaning of a sentence until later in the sentence.

Knoppers are these amazing little treats with sweet cream and wafers.  In theory, I think they’re supposed to be meal replacements, but I can’t eat just one, so I think I eat all my meals in one sitting.

Ok, this is a k

The German medical system, while pretty amazing, has its issues.  Doctor visits seem to have very long delays before you can be seen.  It’s partly endemic to the system, as sick people are allowed to walk in any time (as far as I can tell.)  The best advice I had was to get the first appt of the day if possible. Or go to private insurance, but once you go private, you can’t go back to public insurance.

12 Jul 2016 - Condiments/Sauces edition

There are so many good condiments (Würze) and sauces here in Germany, I thought I'd write a post about it.

1) Mayonnaise - Most of the mayos here taste more like American "Miracle Whip" than "Best foods". They're a little sweet. I don't know the difference between Deli mayo and Salat-mayo.  But if you want the US type mayo, buy the McDonald's brand mayo.

2) Knoblauch sauce - Garlic Sauce.  It's amazing.

3) French Dressing - Of the ones I've tried, they're nothing like the American-style french dressing that I'm used to.

4) Balsamic vinaigrette - Very strong and very good.

5) Sweet and Sour sauce is weak and not very sweet OR sour.

6) The sweet Asian sauces that I'm used to (and the very spicy ones) don't seem to exist in the grocery stores.  No General Tso, Sesame, Schezwan, etc.  I've only experienced Chinese food here in Karlsruhe though.

Yeah, that's the real General Tso (from 1875) set against a backdrop of his chicken

Bonus link

6.5) Soy sauce tastes like I expect, but teriyaki is hard to find.

7) Mustard comes in many styles including american-style Yellow mustard (like french's.)  And I can't find any of the thick brown chunky mustards that I'm used to.  However, there are a ton of sweet (honey?) mustards, and you can get mustards from regular to extra scharf (extra spicy.)

8) Ketchup - There are so many kinds!  Curry flavored is very popular, but I've also seen Mexican ketchup. There is, of course, McDonald's brand ketchup.

9) Rapeseed oil - a disturbing name, but I believe it's Canola oil in the US.

10) Sriracha - This exists, but it's not the brand I'm used to in the states (Rooster). I'm told it tastes the same though, even if it's mascot is a goose.

Bonus Link




11) Peanut sauce - The Chinese food in peanut sauce I get is in a very thin, peanut flavored sauce, rather than the thick sauce I'm used to.  Perhaps if I got Thai peanut sauce it'd be thicker like I remember.

12) Gong Bao - I think this is an analog to Kung Pao, it's a brown, slightly spicy sauce. No peanuts though.

07 Jul 2016

1. They do not celebrate the fourth of July here! Weird, right?  So I wore a T-shirt with an American flag and the words "Independence" and "freedom" on it.  No sparklers either (until New Years.)

2. We made reservations and had dinner at a really good, authentic Chinese restaurant. Here's how the reservation call went:

Beth: Sprechen Sie Englisch?
them: Yes
Beth: We'd like to make a reservation for four at 6:30 please
them: Ok.
Beth: Do you need a name to put it under?
them: No, everyone else is Chinese
Beth: Oh, Ok.
them: Do you know what you want to eat?
Beth: No?  Can we decide when we get there?
them: Sure.

It was largely empty when we got there, but the food was amazing.

3. Renaissance Fairs (or Middle Ages Fairs, as they call them here), are great.  People dress up, but not as elaborately as the ones we went to in the states. And they're held in cities that are actually FROM THE MIDDLE AGES!

Bretton was founded in 1504

We went to a festival called the Peter and Paul festival:

You could buy "Peter and Paul schnitzel".  We did not.

4. Traffic signals are on the near side of the street (or the side on which you stop at red lights), rather than on the far side.  That means that if you're the first at the signal, and you're tall, you have to scrunch down rather a lot to see when the signals change. If you end up out in the intersection a little (past, or next to the light), you're screwed and can't tell when the light changes.

And then there's the funny walking man light

5. Some intersections are crazy complicated.  They have 4 way signals, signs (for when the signals are out), and if there's a tram crossing, there are signs and lights for those, plus signs and lights for pedestrians and bicycles, and then the trams themselves have traffic signals.. It can be VERY confusing.

(look closely, that's really an american intersection)

6. It can be hard to do small things like getting rid of yard clippings. The trash folks won't pick them up.  I think we need to find a recycle station or dump.

7. I've written about the Saturday phenomenon before. Because all stores are closed Sunday, and most people work during the week, MANY people shop on Saturday.  What that seems to mean is that every store is super packed with people, especially grocery stores.  We've taken to going week nights if we can, and ordering some groceries delivered. It seems to be working OK.  Saturday mornings are also generally OK. I guess people sleep in.

8. I don't know why I'm surprised to find Chorizo here. It's a Mexican sausage (Spanish too?). But this is the sausage country.  Of course, they'd have it.