Back tracking a bit...New Years....with friends.

So this week in Germany-land, we are all playing clean up and catch up after the long holidays. Loads of paper boxes are out at the street waiting pick up by the recycle men. It seems uni-cycles were a big hit with the kids this year. Much of the street are still litered with the remains of the New Years artillery. It is a huge thing in Germany to set off as many fireworks as possible. We were not here at home to witness this event this year, but did our own share of bringing in the New Year with a bang. We were lucky enough to get away for a few days and spend the holiday with our friends from the Bad Kissingen area. We always enjoy our time together.

This year...I learned to knit. In my husbands family the women are very domestic and knit, sew and cook all perfectly. I have to admit, where I can change the oil on my own car and do body work, I have been intimidated by these Godesses of domestic life....so I feel as a woman...I have moved up a peg. My girlfriend Hanne is very patient and managed to teach a dyslexic in 10 minutes or less...how to knit. I am now working on my first scarf.

We also got to visit an exhibition of the terra cotta soldiers from China that are on a wandering tour. It was ok, not a great exhibit, but we did get cake and coffee afterwards and THAT was really great. I do have to say, I found some interesting things to file away for future, but that is my theory, you should always be able to find something to learn from anything. I did get a few interesting photos, which of course I will share.

We had a wonderful New Years Eve dinner of raclette...another thing that if you have not tried....you must. It is a fun way to share a meal with friends. This kind of falls under the catagory of Fondue...I think invented again by the Swiss...they sure know how to make melted cheese with friends....fun. You basically have a heated device at the center of the table that you put small pans onto and you usually use boiled potatoes and cheese as the base....then any other kind of fixin' you can think of. We shared some Feuerzangenbowl, which also..awesome. I think it would be easier if I just put a definition of this one from Wikipedia so here goes:

The Feuerzangenbowle is a German Christmas and New Year's tradition which translates literally as "Fire Pincers Punch". The direct translation is "burnt punch". It is a bowl, similar to a fondue set, which hangs over a small fuel burner. The bowl is filled with 3 bottles of warm red wine, and occasionally spices similar to those used in ordinary mulled wine. The bowl is brought out to the dining table at the end of Christmas dinner, and the "Feuerzange" is placed over the bowl. The "Feuerzange" (fire pincers) is a metal holder for the "Zuckerhut" (sugarloaf), a large conical mass of sugar around 7 inches in length. The sugar is soaked in rum and set alight, and rum is continually added with a ladle until all the sugar has melted and mixed with the wine. The rum must have a strength of at least 54% alcohol (per volume), as it would otherwise not burn properly. It is then served in mugs, in the same way as Glühwein, and the burner keeps the bowl warm until it is emptied.

Ok, well, it was delicious. Afterwards we watched some German New Years TV shows....nothing like waiting for the ball to drop in NYC. They should have their own thing...like perhaps a beer stein drop...I don't know, just thinking out loud. Then the boys blew up the back garden with fireworks while the girls...comforted the very frightened dogs.

I think that catches you up on our New Years....