Snapshot of the month

Aika's visit at my home. Michiko was a bit curious and walked along the glass. It was hard for Aika. She wanted to play with the little furball and started licking the glass. Michiko was unimpressed by that and walked away again...

Lamingtons

As lamingtons are an Australian dish, this article is in German.

Lamingtons sind eine einfache und leckere Angelegenheit aus Australien. Traditionell werden sie aus Kuchenresten gemacht. Mittlerweile gibt es aber auch dort Lamington-Bleche zu kaufen. Grundlage ist ein Biskuitteig, der am Vortag gemacht wird. Ich habe ihn abkühlen lassen und über Nacht im Kühlschrank gelassen.

Am nächsten Tag den Teig in kleine Würfel schneiden. Da gibt es keine Vorgaben, je nachdem wie man es gerne mag. Bei mir wurden sie ca. 4 x 6 cm.

Die Glasur wird gerichtet. Über köchelndem Wasser rühre ich 1 Päckchen Puderzucker mit etwa 2 Esslöffeln Kakaopulver an. Dazu ein Klacks Butter und genug Milch, dass es schön flüssig wird. Zuerst dachte ich, es wäre zu flüssig, doch so konnte es ein wenig einziehen und genug auch wieder abtropfen.Die einzelnen Rohlinge mit zwei Teelöffeln fixieren und in der Schokolade wälzen, bis sie überall bedeckt sind. Überschüssiges abtropfen lassen und dann im bereitgestellten Teller mit den Kokosflocken wälzen.

Die fertigen Lamingtons sehen dann so aus:

Knitting virus!

Knitting is getting very popular again. I resisted many months to show interest but then it also struck me. I asked for help!

I already knew how to make knits but it had been years ago... A dear friend showed me how to make purls. She also showed me how to begin a row and how to end it. What she forgot to show me was how to make the first ever knits.

I don't know where this will take me to. But I think it might be quite usefull to know how to knit.

After the rain...

... comes the sun! If you are lucky both work together in producing a lovely rainbow in the sky!

This is nature's sense of beauty!

Spätzle - geknöpft

Spätzle are a famous German dish. Often served fried with cheese in tourist regions. I think it might be called the German version of cheese macaroni.

There are different ways to make them. The dough is the easy part. Only flour, eggs, a little salt and enough water to make it into a dough. I don't use a specific recipe, it's too easy!

And after I found this great tool in my basement (belonged to my great-aunt), I couldn't wait to make them like this! These are my favourite spätzle!
You simply put the pan-like tool on top of a pot with boiling water. The dough is pressed through the holes with smooth movements of the scraper.
As soon as the swim on the top of the water they are ready. Usually this is immediatly. Spätzle made in this way are called Knöpfle - buttons.

Instead of forcing them through holes you can also put the dough onto a plate and cut it into the water. Then you get scraped spätzle. They are bigger than these ones.

The third way I know is using a little press like you can see here. The result is a thin and long spätzle. The most industrial ones you can buy look like made with a press. But of course making them on your own is always the better decision.

My dish was completed with lentil soup from a can (yes, too lazy) and added sausage.

As I cooked too much spätzle, there will be a serving of cheese spätzle tomorrow.

Finally Spring!

I don't remember what day it finally started getting warm, because I lay down with a flu. But then suddenly it was the time to sit outside in the wonderfull and large garden of my parents. T-Shirt-weather, sunshine and cats hanging around!

I love it! It's been cold and nasty for too long now...

The Settlers of Catan

This is my all-time-favourite-game! The Settlers of Catan from Klaus Teuber.

One of its best things is the variable board that consits out of a lot of hexagons, here in the standard version there are 19. In every game they are ordered differently and have different numbers so they never give the same amount of raw materials. Of course there are numbers that are played more often than others. Check them out to place your first two villages on good regions.

The raw materials are the basics of everything. You need them to build streets (wood and clay), villages (wood, clay, hay and sheepskin), cities (stone and hay) or to buy some special feature cards.
The game has a lot of trading charm. And if your fellow players don't want to trade with you, you can still trade with the bank. To worse conditions, but sometimes it is necessary.
There are not only your fellow players and the bank involved in the game! Everytime somebody throws the dices to a seven there is a gang of robbers who steal your materials if you have more than seven in the hand. If you dice the seven you can chose the part of land where the robbers steal even more. But that will be for your own good. But beware! The next time somebody else throws the seven and the robbers may come to steal from you!
The pictures above are from the new version. I still own the old one with wooden streets, villages and cities. Also the water frame is in hexagons too, not in prefixed parts. Both versions have their own charm. Only the wooden one is no longer sold in the stores. I will keep mine safe!

Next time I will show you the different expansions. They promise even more fun playing with a lot more possible variations.

This game is definitly 10 out of 10 points for me!