Poached eggs - in my favorite little pot

I made poached eggs this morning.  It's actually much simpler than the people who want to sell you the "necessary" gadgets would lead you to believe.  All you really need is a pot, some saltwater and an egg.

I prefer using my favorite little pot for this

Isn't it cute? 

Taste of Home: Dampfnudel - third attempt

No, you didn't miss anything. I am reporting the third attempt rather than the second... For some reason, they didn't turn out the second time.

The dough was too sticky, the Dampfnudel didn't rise in the pan and I ended up with this flat sorry excuse for a Dampfnudel that - to top it off - had an oversalted crust. And no, I did not take a picture...

So the curse had struck again! I have this talent for getting things right the first time around - and then never again. We joke about it at work, because it happens there, too. And if I were a singer, I'd definitely be a one hit wonder.....

But - just like at work - I don't give up easily. I am bound an determined to make a reasonably decent Dampfnudel! So - let's try this again - and good luck to me!

Taste of Home: Rotkraut (German red cabbage)

It's time for another adventure in cooking.  German red cabbage as described in my trusty Dr Oetker cookbook.

Taste of Home: Dampfnudel - first attempt

I attempted Dampfnudeln for the first time in my life...

I am told that the difficulty in making Dampfnudeln is to make sure that they don't fall down when you raise the lid of the pan.  Clearly, that is not an issue here. 

The taste was pretty decent, too.  The only problem was that the crust was not as dark as I'd like it to be.  Oh well, try - try again.... 

I'll let you know when I figure it out. 

Update: Check out my third attempt for a successful attempt at Dampfnudel. 

Taste of Home: Saure Scheiben (German Sour Potato Slices)

A little while back, this guy ate potatoes for 60 days straight to promote the health benefits of potatoes.  His name is Chris Voigt, I looked it up.  He blogged about it here.  He talked about eating potatoes "every possible way -- boiled, baked, mashed, grilled, roasted, juiced, blended, fried, etc." but, while he finished the stunt, it was reported that he apparently did get tired of eating potatoes in the end.

Growing up in Germany, we ate potatoes a lot.  When I read Chris definition of "every possible way" I was sort of amused.  There are so many more ways to fix potatoes than most people probably realize.  I bet that my mother could cook at least 30 days worth of different potato dishes - without repeating herself even once.

I'm old!!!

The other day, my son asked me, if I had a compass he could use.  That is, a compass to make circles with, not one of those things that points you north.

I did have one of those and directed him to where it was: In the basement, top right drawer of the desk. (Yes, I am the most organized disorganized person I know. My basement is part mess-o'-boxes - and part über-organization.)

When he came back upstairs, compass in hand, he was looking at it sort of puzzled and he asked: "Mom, is this compass so old that it's still from West Germany?"

Fun Finds Friday: I am your neue Teacher....

While looking for something completely different, I came across this little gem..

The Valentine's Day card that makes me smile

I was not going to write about Valentine's Day at all.  As a single woman, it's not a day I find particularly exciting. But then I read Laura's blog and remembered that I do have a fun little Valentine's story.

Taste of Home: Spätzle!!!

The other day, the contestants in "Worst Cooks in America" made spätzle from scratch.  The show made me realize that my kids only knew spätzle from the packages that I would buy since I had cooked them from scratch in their lifetime - maybe once....

Turns our, spätzle are easy and quick to make. Unlike spaghetti or egg noodles, they're the noodles you'd want to actually make yourself.  The homemade version is much better than what you get in the dry package.

So, I decided to make spätzle  - to go along with the pork roast I made yesterday - for dinner tonight.

Thank you, Honda!

It's been cold in Kentucky lately. We've had more snow than I remember getting - ever - and I am over it. I'm ready for spring. Apparently, so is my car.

Who's Tom?

A few days ago, my stepdaughter called me to ask me about a few details of our quiche recipe. Yes, we do have a family quiche recipe!

Unfortunately, I had not made quiche in at least 5 years and had no clue where this recipe was .... and as I am writing this, I am realizing that this post really does sort of "fit" into the "search of space" aspect of this blog. Who knew... ?

At any rate, I told her that I had no idea where the recipe was, but that it could really be only at 2 or 3 different places - and I might as well look for it now.

Cleary, time is a problem

I started this blog on 2009, because I was going to journal my journey from the ridiculously busy and disorganized person I felt I was at the time to this woman, who had it all under control... wouldn't that be nice....

Clearly, that did not happen in the last 2 years, because - as you can tell - I didn't manage to find the time for a single post. (Actually there was a draft I wrote on 7/16/09. All it said was "my life is hopelessly overstuffed" and this is still true to this day.)