Best Irish Stew Recipe

A friend recommended this recipe to me from the BBC Food site and everyone I've made it for just loves it:

Ingredients1½kg/3lb 5oz stewing beef, cut into cubes
175g/6oz streaky bacon
3 tbsp olive oil
12 baby onions, peeled
18 button mushrooms, left whole
3 carrots, cut into quarters or 12 baby carrots, scrubbed and left whole
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp chopped thyme
2 tbsp chopped parsley
10 cloves of garlic, crushed and grated
425ml/15fl oz red wine
425ml/15fl oz chicken or beef stock

For the roux50g/2oz butter50g/1¾oz flour

Method
1. Brown the beef and bacon in the olive oil in a hot casserole or heavy saucepan.
2. Remove the meat and toss in the onions, mushrooms and carrots, one ingredient at a time, seasoning each time.
3. Place these back in the casserole, along with the herbs and garlic.
4. Cover with red wine and stock and simmer for one hour or until the meat and vegetables are cooked.
5. To make the roux, in a separate pan melt the butter, add the flour and cook for 2 minutes.
6. When the stew is cooked, remove the meat and vegetables.
7. Bring the remaining liquid to the boil and add 1 tbsp of roux.
8. Whisk the mixture until the roux is broken up and the juices have thickened, allowing to boil.
9. Replace the meat and vegetables, and taste for seasoning.10. Sprinkle with chopped parsley

The Quantum and the Lotus

This book features a dialog between a Buddhist monk who trained as a genetcist and an astrophysicist. They discuss a wide range of topics, including the nature of the universe and how Buddhism and quantum theory intersect. One very interesting point brought up in the book is the amazing unlikelyhood of this universe having all the right parameters to support life. Apparently there are no less than 15 parameters that needed to be calibrated exactly right, such as gravitational force, speed of light, mass of elementary particles, etc. This would seem to argue for a creationist force but as Buddhism points out, this doesn't solve the intellectual problem because who created the creator then?

Anyway, if you're struggling to understand the universe this is a good read.

They grow so fast. . .

L, my youngest, is a total mommy's girl and wants to snuggle all the time, although lately she's been having potty training pains and is obsessed with having her tush wiped with a moist towel (not that scratchy dry recycled stuff, thank you very much!). Other than the fact that I have to make about 200 trips to the bathroom with her every day, she is my little joy bug.

K is my big girl who looks at me with the same eyes I used to see in the mirror when I was her age. She's just turned 5 and already she's alarmingly competent at stuff like riding her bike around the neighborhood, getting down the big scissors from the top shelf, and all sorts of other things I don't want her doing. Today she went outside to play and came back in tears because the big girls and her best friend went off to share some secret that she wasn't allowed to listen in on. I just hugged her because what could I say? How can you make a 5-year-old understand that the same thing happens when you grow up but you learn to care a bit less?

But little girls are resilient. Ten minutes later all was well and all the girls spent the next hour laboriously creating a little 'jewelry shop' with handmade products cleverly formed out of blades of flowers, blades of grass and fall leaves. They were hanging on display all over the play structure. I wish I had a picture because they were quite lovely but the I couldn't find my camera.

It seemed I had walked into a scene from an earlier era, when kids played with things they found outside instead of expensive, lead-infested plastic toys. Is this the German influence? The Disney princesses are definitely known in Germany, although they don't have quite the same market foothold here. Or is it just the age?

Separated at birth

When I lived in Germany 3 years ago there was an interesting statistic that one in seven German children were not fathered by the man they grow up calling 'Papa'. That's pretty high, but probably reasonable given that one in three married German women admit to cheating on their husbands (not sure what the ratio for men is, but it's probably in the same ballpark). No wonder Ralf married an American! As you can imagine, growing up with these statistics, Ralf took a good hard look at Leni when she was born until she started looking so identical to him that people on the street started commenting on it. No question about whose child Leni is - guess which one's Ralf?

Bad eggs

I just finished filling out my absentee ballot and to my surprise there was an even scarier proposition for Americans to vote on than McCain and Palin. There was actually a proposition on the ballot to give animals that are raised to be eaten room to stand up and turn around in captivity. First of all, I had no idea that today's farm animals in California can't stand up or turn around, what are we, barbarians? But even scarier was the write up from the folks who are against this proposition. Something about driving the prices up so California farmers don't produce eggs any more and then we have to buy our eggs from Mexico and get all kinds of diseases from inferior Mexican eggs. Even granting that this whole Mexican chain of logic is valid, it's kind of scary that it's not worth it to California farmers and consumers to produce wholesome eggs without such callousness. I'm not trying to take on all the woes of the world, but voting no on this bill is like saying, 'Suffering is irrelevant as long as I don't have to pay another penny for an egg.' Surely there's a point where the trade off between suffering and personal comfort gets silly. Are chickens more important than children in Africa? Probably not, although who knows what God or whoever you believe in would say about that. But they are closer to home and more directly impacted by this election.

It's not about being humanitarian. It's just about being humane.

Vote for Obama. And please vote for the chickens, too.

Warning - Don't read this on an empty stomach!

German food is great, especially in the colder months. There is every sort of bread you can imagine, with every sort of wheat, nut or grain that there is. Some of the breads are dry and boring – for example, the other day we had lunch at our club and I swear we were eating mud bricks but there’s no accounting for taste because Ralf ate his with gusto and several comments about how much he missed real bread in the US – but if you find a good one it’s really good. Munich is also the home of the big-as-your-head soft pretzel. These taste particularly good with Radler, which is ice cold beer mixed with Sprite, and Obatzda, which is a cheesy dip made of Brie, Camembert, butter and paprika and topped with slices of red onion.

Now let’s talk about dairy. The milk here is just good. German cows (at least the ones you can see from the highway) are fat, happy creatures that have nothing to do but look for the most succulent blades of grass to make the sweetest milk. This lovely milk also makes the creamiest butter and yogurt you can imagine. You can lose a lot of weight eating German yogurt because it fills you up for hours.

I never really thought of butter as a delicacy until I watched a French friend of mine lovingly butter a piece of baguette and eat it slowly with her eyes partly closed, as if she had all the time in the world for that perfect slice of buttery Heaven.

There are also obvious German delicacies like Schweinebraten, which is pork roasted in its own juices with a nice, crispy, slightly burnt crust that forms as the outer layer of fat slowly roasts. A good crust is hard to do and the mark of a successful Schweinebraten.

And let us not forget to pay homage to the cakes of Germany. My favorite cakes are the Sachertorte, which is a rich chocolate cake with apricot preserves mixed in, and Prinzregententorte, which is a 7-layer yellow cake with chocolate cream frosting between each thin layer.

And finally, there’s a category of specialty items that take some getting used to but once you like them you’re hooked. For example, Schmalzbrot is pork fat mixed with pork drippings and little pieces of fried bacon spread on dark bread and topped with onion, parsley and a dash of salt. Then there’s Handkaese, which is a hard, incredibly stinky rotten cheese that that is served over dark bread, soaked in vinegrette and topped with raw onions for accent. This dish is popular in the Frankfurt area and is typically served with a sour apple wine that tastes fantastic after you finish your second glass. And last but not least there is Pressack, which is a meat-based gelatin with actual meat chunks marinated in (you guessed it) vinegrette and topped with (you guessed it again) onions.

Mind you, although I enjoy Schmalzbrot, Handkaese and Pressack, it’s not for everyone. About 3 years ago I read a funny article about how some typical German food products were sent to Africa for sampling and the Africans were scandalized at how a rich country like Germany ruins perfectly good food.

Ralf

This is my tall, smart, handsome, super-organized husband Ralf, who thinks I am using my blog to rubbish him.

OK, it's not really that bad

I've gotten some feedback that people now fear the German highway after reading my blog. However, not to worry - I'm a terrible driver and I sort of manage. In fact, although I somehow squeaked through the system and earned a German drivers’ license years ago (although after I took the driving test the instructor berated me for 5 minutes in low Bavarian, which I didn't understand a word of until the driving school principal gently translated: 'You were supposed to downshift before stopping.') even I in my German-license-earning greatness don’t remember all the different rules of precedence for signs, lights and signals. Generally speaking I look for red and try not to hit other cars and that works pretty well. For what it's worth, if you just forget the main rules and focus on the exception rules you end up with a system that isn't that different from what you'd expect. Weird, huh? And yet, it works.

Here's an interesting factoid: The word 'berate', which means to upbraid or scold, is derived from the German word 'beraten', which means to consult. So I guess when you berate someone in German you're actually doing them a favor that they should be paying you for. ;-)

Rules of the Road

Driving in Germany is an experience that provides much insight into the meticulous German soul. In the US, the rules of the road are comprised of some basic and consistent rules, for example, on certain types of road the speed limit is always 35 mph, on the highway it’s 55 or 65 or whatever it is these days but it’s basically consistent so you don’t have to think about it on each stretch of road. There are also clear and consistent rules of precedence, for example, right before left at an intersection where there’s no traffic light. So to summarize, there are a few rules that apply pretty much everywhere and most of them make sense so they’re easy to remember.

For the average German, American traffic rules were designed for weak and retarded people. Just the fact that they can be summarized as I just did in a few sentences is proof of their basic inferiority. Even my husband Ralf, who has more insight into, and, I trust, appreciation for, the American character than the average German, thinks we’re a bunch of helpless, spoon fed idiots on the road. Driving a motorized vehicle is a privilege and should be treated as such by responsible adults who have taken the time to master the skill.

So anyway, car meet road. Road, car. What’s so hard about that? Keep reading.

The exception doesn't always prove the rule

Let’s start with the speed limit. There isn’t one, so in that sense all the nonsense you’ve heard about no speed limits on the Autobahn is technically true. However. Because there is no actual speed limit as such individual stretches of road need to be administered individually so the German roads are littered with speed limit signs. On some stretches the speed changes dramatically every 50 meters, which kind of sucks when you’re driving a stick shift. Moreover, at least for the highways I’ve been on between Munich and Stuttgart, stretches where you can actually go as fast as you want are few and far between, not to mention relatively short. And if you are at all a cautious driver it’s best not to be in the far left lane on those stretches because there will immediately be a silver Porsche or black Mercedes about 5 miles behind you blinking its lights and within 3 seconds it will be right on your tail without slowing down at all so you better get over.

Another weird rule is ‘right before left.’ We have that same rule in the US, you say – what’s so weird about it? What’s weird is that it means something completely different here. It means that when you’re driving along minding your own business and someone pulls recklessly out of a little side street to the right they have right of way. My husband and I argue about this one because I think it’s the most insane rule that ever existed whereas he’s been cleverly brainwashed since high school to think it makes sense. Deep down inside I think the Germans also realize that it’s a crazy rule because they came up with the idea of ‘main highway’ where cars coming from the right don’t have right of way. So when you’re driving you look to see if your stretch of road has a ‘main highway’ sign, which looks like a yellow diamond, and you hope that someone remembered to put up yield signs on the intersecting streets. All in all, this wacky dynamic right of way concept makes it even harder than having a consistently bad rule because you’re never sure if you have right of way or not. (To be fair: Ralf claims that he always knows.)

Much like the German language (more about this at another time), the German rules of the road are based on a few rules that make no sense at all and a bunch of exceptions that would make sense if they were rules instead of exceptions. Because there are so many exceptions (like how fast you can go, whether you have right of way, etc.), there need to be a lot of traffic signs, lights and signals to make drivers aware of the exceptions. This in turn necessitates a hierarchy of road signals so that if you are on a street that has a light and several signs that conflict with each other – I am not joking - you know what to do. Generally speaking lights take precedence over signs and red trumps other colors. Sign precedence is determined by shape and color, and sometimes the actual text of the sign will explain when the rule applies. This text tends to be pretty small, which may be one reason virtually all Germans wear glasses.

What's My Lane?

Now let’s talk about traffic lanes because there seem to be some unofficial rules about which lanes you are supposed to use based on what sort of driver you are. As far as I can tell, the far right lane is primarily for Polish trucks... although, I suppose they can’t all be Polish. Having all the trucks in the right lane makes sense to the extent that it keeps the trucks out of the main traffic flow. However, when you’re trying to get on the highway you’re competing with an endless row of trucks that have right of way, which means they don’t slow down or get out of the way even if it means risking their own lives, and certainly not yours. But except for when you’re entering or exiting the freeway, and they’re trying to squash you like a bug, they’re pretty well contained off to the right. The second lane is for women in smaller cars like Golfs or Twingos and Dutch tourists in campers. Generally speaking, that’s my lane. And the far left lane is for escaped mental patients or people in the second lane who muster up enough courage to pass someone (you may only pass on the left). Sometimes there are four lanes, which allows the German housewives to split off from the Dutch tourists.

The roads themselves are also different from the wide, friendly, environmentally horrible highways we Americans feel entitled to drive on. For one thing, German highways are poorly lit by American standards, which makes it easier for maniacal Porsche drivers to dazzle you with their high beams. For another, Munich (like many European cities) is built on the concept of a ring. Traversing the city generally means following the ring, which is difficult because the street names change periodically and intersecting streets masquerading as the ring try to tempt you off of it and then you find yourself in some place like Unterhacking or Oberamergau with no clue how to get back. The highways are also somewhat challenging to navigate – although they are larger and more like what Americans are used to, you need full knowledge of European geography to get around because the sign won’t mention a direction or the town you’re trying to get to, it’ll say ‘Salzburg’. This works well if you know where Salzburg is relative to where you are now. Of course, even Ralf doesn’t know every single point on the map by heart so he carries around this complicated little book that folds out into many different versions of a map depending on where you are trying to get to. This map is virtually impossible to decipher and it was in part Ralf's mastery of this task that allowed me to identify him as an alpha male and the future father of my children. There's also no way to fold it up again so you only want to use it for real emergencies because you pretty much have to buy a new one each time.

The upside is that German drivers are in the habit of paying attention while they drive, which is good for American newcomers because they can spot (and avoid) you immediately by your failure to understand street signs, your sloppy haircut and/or relaxed posture while driving, your tendency to pass on the right and the jerky moves your car makes if you are driving a stick shift. Note that this does not apply to the truck drivers so give them plenty space and keep in mind that they won’t get into nearly as much trouble for running you off the road as they would in the US.

Shake it, baby, shake it!

About seven years ago I was working as an implementation project manager at a large German multi-national car company. One of the things that struck me at this time was how formal some of my German colleagues on the project were. For example, one of the German team leads would shake everyone’s hand in the morning and following his example, so would everyone else on that team. And it’s not like he was super old or of royal descent or anything that might have explained it - he was just your basic mid-to-upper level manager working with the same people every day. I’m not a big hand shaker so I started grabbing a coffee when he came because if I missed the first pass he wouldn’t chase me down later to shake my hand, which would have been disturbing rather than just interesting. Anyway, in this somewhat unusual fashion we all worked quite well together but I always kind of wondered what was up with that.

Fast forward seven years later and when I pick up my kids at Kindergarten, what do they do before I can take them home? They shake hands with their teacher! Another mystery solved.