Beauty Berry ~ Skønhedsbærlilla

Nu er det den sidste søndag i september, og mit kamera er vist ved at stå af, for lige meget hvad jeg tager billeder af, er det lidt ude af fokus og altså lidt sløret.
     Men ... lige siden vi boede et år i Tyskland har jeg prøvet at lave den perfekte Pflaumenmus - det kan man bare ikke. Så hver gang nogen, jeg kender, er i Tyskland, er der en tre-fire varer, jeg beder dem om at købe med hjem. En af dem er netop Pflaumenmus, og allerhelst af mærket Ja!
     Og det glas en af Ugleungerne have de med hjem, havde fået nyt låg. I stedet for de hvide, jeg huskede, havde det månedens farve. To fluer med et  - sløret - smæk

Now it's the last Sunday of September, and my camera seems to be on its last legs, because no matter what I take pictures of, the subject is out of focus, something isn't right.

But... ever since we lived in Germany for a year, I've been trying to make the perfect Pflaumenmus – it's just not possible. So every time someone I know is going to Germany, this is one of the three or four items I ask them to bring back. Preferably of the Ja! brand.

And the glass of Pflaumenmus that one of the Owlets brought home had a new lid. Instead of the lid being white as I remembered, it had the colour of the month. Two birds with one – blurred – stone.

Poetry Monday :: Big City :: in German and no Cities ~ Updated with more verses

    Mandagsdigtet er en blogleg, som Mimi fra Messymimi's Meanderings og jeg har overtaget - midlertidigt håber vi - fra Diane, der slapper af og rejser verden rundt med sin mand. Vi håber hun er parat til at tage over igen, når hun kommer hjem.
     Stikordene kommer fremover fra 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts. Det er en Facebook-gruppe, der udgiver et stikord til hver dag i året, men bare rolig, stikordene vil stadig være at finde både her og på Mimis blog.

Dagens stikord er: Storby! Men eftersom jeg vågnede op i morges med et fuldt færdigt tysk digt! i hovedet, er jeg er alvorligt bange for at der ikke kommer et digt på dansk i dag. Nok ikke engang et engelsk.

- A - - B - - C -

Mimi of Messymimi's Meanderings and I have taken over the hosting duties, mostly the supplying of the prompts - only temporarily we hope - while Diane at On the Border is taking a break for health and relaxation, travelling the world with her husband as far as we can tell.
 
We just hope she's going to take back over once she returns home.

The prompts now come from 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and other Arts group. This is a Facebook group with a prompt for each day of the year, but no worries, the prompts will still be here and at Mimi's blog.

  I have something more to ask of you: If you read this and the poetry of others via the links, would you please leave a comment.
  Half - if not more - the fun of these challenges is receiving the responses of others.

Today's subject is Big City!

- A - - B - - C -

Today is Poetry Monday, the theme is Big City, but as I woke up this morning, a poem in German! was in my head. But why?


Nächtliche Konversation:
A - Ist bald der dunkle Nacht vorbei?
B - Die Uhr zeigt immer noch nur Zwei
    - Leg du dich hin, schlaf ruhig ein
    - Und wacht im Morgensonnenschein.

A - Und was ist's jetzt
B - Dreiviertel sechs
    - bald kommt das Morgengrauen
    - Schließ du bloß deine Augen

A - Jetzt scheint die helle Sonne rein
B  - Jetzt darfst du wach und munter sein
A - Oh weia! ich bin müde du
    - ich mache meine Augen zu.
 

English literal translation:

Nightly Comversation
A - Will this dark night soon have an end?
B - the clock says only two
Lay yourself down and go to sleep
And wake in morning sunshine.

A - Now what's the time?
B - A quarter to six
    - Soon will the morning break
    - now you go back to sleep

A - And now the sun is shining brigth
B - You may get up now, time is right
A - Oh dear, I am so tired now,
    - an hour more will sit just right.


Dansk oversættelse:

Natlig samtale
A- Er den mørke nat snart slut?
B - Klokken er stadig kun to
Læg du dig ned og sov igen
Og vågn i morgensolskinnet.

A - Og nu, hvad er klokken nu?
B - Et kvarter i seks
    - Snart gryer dagens grå min ven
    - så luk du øjenene igen

A - Åh se, nu skinner solne klart
B - Nu står vi op, er det ikke rart?
A - Men jeg er træt, jeg ikke vil.
    - jeg sover lige en time til.

 - - - - - -  - Coming Themes  - - - - - - - -

Sep 15 Tea fusing
Sep 22 Kitchen
Sep 29 Snuggles
Oct 5 Wood
Oct 12 Life
Oct 19 Train
Oct 26 Make believe occupation

Poetry Monday :: Pizza

Poetry Monday is a challenge, normally hosted by Diane at On the Border. But starting this January she's taking a break due to health issues, and Messymimi and I have conspired to keep the chair warm for her. We will each set the topics for one month, I began with January, Mimi supplied for February, and so on until Diane returns.

-- ◡◡ --
-- ◡ -- ◡ --
-- ◡◡ --

Today's word is Pizza  ~  The sun is shining, the trees are green, it's time to dig, and sow, and weed, and rearrange, and, and, and ... But still I like thinking up poems, this time just a short one.

A pizza is a nice, round thing
One of the pleasures hungers bring
Bottom made of crispy bread,
on it spread tomatoes red,
Mushrooms white and melting cheese,
ham and shrimps my palate please.

 -- 🍕 --

And a bonus. Pizza made me think of this totally crazy German song called "Ich bin ein Döner" (I am a döner kebab).
If any Germans around -- Hallo Iris und Karen Myyrätohtori -- Ja ich höre gern Deutsche Partyschlagersänger ;) Und korrigieren Sie bitte alle Fehler.

The refrain goes like this in German:
Baguette macht fett,
Sushi macht wuschi,
Pizza macht spitzer,
aber Döner macht schöner.

Let's try that in English:
Baguette makes fat,
Sushi makes woozy,
Pizza makes spiteful (or maybe horny - my German slang is dated! - 20 years since we stayed there)
but Döner makes prettier.

-- ◡◡ -- ◡◡ --

Next Monday: Politics

Wal•Mart & Döner

      Hvis vi skulle have store plastikting til husholdningen, snavsetøjskurve, babybadekar, opvaskebaljer, al den slags plastik-gejl uden hvilken en husholdning ikke rigtig kan køre - kørte vi over på den anden side af Lebenstedt. Der lå Wal•Mart. Vi var overbeviste om, at det var en tysk kæde, og udtalte det på tysk, ligesom de lokale også gjorde. Det var en enorm butik, og den delte parkeringsplads med et stort havecenter, hvor vi købte en tysk top-ting til vores juletræ.
     På den fælles parkeringsplads stod det en lilla eller lyserød vogn, hvorfra venlige, tyrkiske mænd solgte Döner Kebab.

-⋅-  -⋅-

If we needed large plastic household items - laundry baskets, baby bathtubs, dishwashing tubs, all that plastic stuff that a household can't really do without - we drove to the other side of Lebenstedt. There was Wal•Mart. We were convinced it was a German chain and pronounced it in German, as did the locals. It was a huge store, and it shared a car park with a large garden centre where we bought a German top-thingie for our Christmas tree.
In the shared car park was a purple or pink trolley from which friendly Turkish men sold Döner Kebab.

Billede fra Google maps. Döner-vognen findes stadig, nu er den bare rykket over til plantecenteret.
Picture from Google Maps. The Döner-mobile is still there, only now next to the Garden centre

Vi laver aldrig Döner selv - det kræøver roterende spid og sådan en sjov "barbermaskine" til kød. Men vi steger selv pulled pork og bager ofte pitabrød. Så det må være en god erstatning, og i dag vil jeg prøve det med blommesovsen fra i fredags, vi har virkelig mange blommer i år.

-⋅-  -⋅-

We never make Döner kebeab at home, but pita bread is a staple in our household, and I often bake them myself.
Tonight I'm going to try homemade Pulled pork with the Plum sauce from Friday, as we really do have many plums this year.

-⋅-  -⋅-  -⋅-  -⋅-

Pulled Pork
1 nakkesteg på ca. 2 kg (Økologisk, eller lagt i saltlage fra dagen før)
50 g brun farin           
Paprika
Friskkværnet peber
Salt            
2 spsk whisky (kan udelades eller erstattes efter smag)
Syvpeber           
1 laurbærblad
En buket blandede krydderurter fra haven, fintklippet (timian, løvstikke, salvie, oregano ...)
3 enebær
Bland alt undtagen kødet i en ildfast fad med låg
Skyl nakkestegen i koldt vand og tør den grundigt. Læg den i fadet og masser sukker/krydderblandingen rundt på kødet med fingrene.
Læg låg på fadet og stil det i ovnen ved 110 gradet i lang tid mindst 6 timer. Vend den efter tre timer.
Hiv kødet i trævler med to gafler - det er det, der gør det til Pulled Pork -  og lad det ligge lidt i stegevandet.
Server med varme pitabrød, hvidløgsdressing eller blommesovs.

-⋅-  -⋅-  -⋅-  -⋅-

Pulled Pork
1 neck roast of approx. 2kg Organic, else it's too squishy and needs salting overnight.
50 g brown sugar          
Paprika
Freshly ground pepper
Salt           
A spoonful or two of smoked whisky (can be omitted or substituted after taste)
Seven pepper - Japanese Nanami togarashi (else a little chilli)         
1 bay leaf
A bouquet of mixed herbs from the garden, finely chopped
3 juniper berries
Mix everything except the meat in an ovenproof dish with a lid
Rinse the neck roast in cold water and dry it thoroughly.
Place it in the dish and distribute the sugar/spice mixture on the outside of the meat with your fingers.
Cover the dish and place it in the oven at 110 degrees centigrade for at least 6 hours. Turn it over after three hours.
Shred the meat with two forks - this is the Pulled part -  and leave it in the cooking water for a while.
Serve with warm pita bread, garlic dressing or plum sauce.

-⋅-  -⋅-  -⋅-  -⋅-

Så håber jeg Dönervognens farve rammer månedens farve godt nok.

I hope the pink of the Döner-mobile is close enough to the colour of the month.

Sveskeblommer ~ 3 Plum Prunes

Vores foretrukne indkøbssted i Lebenstedt var markedet, der skiftevis var i Blumentriften, foran Maximiliankirken og et tredje sted, jeg har glemt. Der købte vi Fladenbrot, tyrkiske specialiteter, grøntsager fra omegnen, pølser, honning ... alt den slags. Jeg drømmer ofte om at have sådan et marked i nærheden.
     For de mere kedelige ting, var der Rewe Markt, der også hed MiniMal. Der købte vi mel, mælk, sukker osv. De havde deres eget mærke, der hed Ja! I den serie havde de også Pflaumenmus - blommemos. Vi elskede det, og jeg har stadig en masse glas, som jeg bruger til syltetøj.
     Deres look har ikke ændret sig meget på de 20 år siden. Lågene er blevet lilla i stedet for hvide, og der er kommet et blommefotografi som baggrund.

Pflaumenmus (blommemos):
2,5 kg blommer       
1/2 tsk nelliker
1/2 tsk kanel       
1/4 tsk revet muskatnød
sukker efter smag
  Vask blommerne og udsten dem. Hak dem groft og kog dem til en grød tilsæt sukker og krydderier (pas på - ikke for meget kanel). Herfra kan man fortsætte på to måder, den "rigtige" og en lidt nemmere. Til den rigtige måde hældes blommemosen i bradepanden, der sættes i ovnen ved 150° - lågen skal stå en anelse på klem - i ca 4 timer eller til mosen er blevet smukt mørkerød og tyktflydende, der skal røres af og til, den hældes på henkogningsglas, der stilles i ovnen i 2 min.
  Den nemmere måde, er der konserveringsmiddel i: Mosen koges noget mere ind i gryden, og der tilsættes et geleringsmiddel efter opskriften på posen, mosen hældes i varme, atamonskyllede glas, der lukkes til med det samme.

Our favourite place to shop in Lebenstedt was the market, which was alternately in Blumentriften, in front of the St. Maximilian Church and a third place I've forgotten. There we bought Fladenbrot, Turkish specialities, local vegetables, sausages, honey... all that stuff. I often dream of having a market like that nearby.
     For the more boring stuff, we went to Rewe-Markt, also called MiniMal. There we bought flour, milk, sugar, etc. They had their own brand called Ja! In that range they also had Pflaumenmus - plum spread. We loved it and I still have a lot of jars that I use for homemade jam.
     The look hasn't changed much in the 20 years since. The lids are purple instead of white, and there's now a plum photograph as a background.


Pflaumenmus (plum spread):
2.5 kg plums      
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon      
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
sugar to taste
  Wash the plums and stone them. Chop them coarsely and boil them into a mush, add sugar and spices (be careful - not too much cinnamon). From here you can proceed in two ways, the origianl way and a slightly easier one.
For the original Pflaumenmus, pour the plum mash into the roasting tin, place it in the oven at 150° - the door should be slightly ajar - for about 4 hours or until the mash has turned a beautiful dark red colour and is not runny any more, stirring occasionally, pour it into scalding hot jars and place them in the oven for 2 minutes.
  The easier way is to use a gelling agent: boil the mash a little more in the pot and add a gelling agent according to the recipe on the bag, pour the mash into scalding hot jars and seal immediately.

Sveskeblommer ~ 2 ~ Plum Prunes

Vi fandt os ret hurtig til rette i Osterlinde og fandt vore foretrukne steder at gå på indkøb i Salzgitter. I vores lille by var der en købmand, hvor Frau Deich sørgede for os, men det helt store udvalg havde hun naturligvis ikke. Så for større indkøb tog vi til Salzgitters hovedby, Lebenstedt. Der gik Storesøster i skole, der gik vi til messe, på biblioteket og i biografen. Og der fandt vi også en øko-forretning (hvor vi senere købte vores julegås under meget forvirrende omstændigheder), de havde et lille blad, bare et sammenfoldet ark, der hed Schrot & Korn (Avner & Kerner), som indeholdt gode råd, opskrifter og plantetips til årstiden. I det blad fandt jeg opskriften på svinefilet med blommer og enebær.

    Svinefilet med enebær-blommesovs
200 g svinefilet eller koteletter
1 spsk olie   
150 g blommer
1 tsk smør   
1 spsk vineddike
1 stor tsk honning   
1 laurbærblad
2 enebær   
fløde
salt, kanel, ingefær, cayennepeber

• Brun svinefileten i olien. Drys den med salt og peber og hold den varm i sølvpapir.
• Skær blommerne i tynde skiver. Smelt smørret, tilsæt blommer, vineddike, honning, laurbærblad og enebær og lad det snurre i ti min. Tilsæt fløde og smag til med salt, kanel, ingefær og cayennepeber. 
• Skær fileten i tynde skiver og lad den trække 1-2 min i sovsen.
• Server med ris, bulgur eller båndpasta.

Man kan også bruge koteletter skåret i tynde skiver - det er billigere, men smager lige så godt.
Lav sovsen færdig, steg svinekødet, drys med salt og peber, og hæld sovsen over.

-- 🐖 -- 🍑 -- 🍴 --

We quickly learned our way around in Salzgitter and found our favourite shopping places. In our small town Frau Deich had a grocery store where she looked after us, but of course she didn't have a huge selection. So for larger purchases we went to Salzgitter's main town, Lebenstedt. This is also where Big Sis went to school,, where we went to mass, to the movies, and to the library, and where we we also found an organic shop (in this shop we later bought our Christmas goose under very confusing circumstances). They handed out a little magazine, really just a folded sheet, called Schrot & Korn (Chaff & Grain), which contained advice, recipes and planting tips for the season. In it I found the recipe for pork fillet with plums and juniper berries.


    Pork fillet with juniper plum sauce
200 g pork fillet or chops
1 tbsp oil  
150 g plums
1 tsp butter  
1 tbsp wine vinegar
1 large teaspoon honey  
1 bay leaf
2 juniper berries  
cream
salt, cinnamon, ginger, cayenne pepper

Brown the pork fillet in the oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and keep warm in tin foil.
Cut the plums into thin slices. Melt the butter, add the plums, wine vinegar, honey, bay leaf and juniper berries and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the cream and season to taste with salt, cinnamon, ginger and cayenne pepper.
Thinly slice the fillet and let it soak in the sauce for 1-2 minutes.
Serve with rice, couscous or pasta.

You can also use thinly sliced chops - it is cheaper, but tastes just as good.
   Finish the sauce, fry the pork chops in thin slices, sprinkle with salt and pepper and pour the sauce over.


Note:
Butikken ligger der såmænd endnu. Der Vollkornladen, Am Schölkengraben 5, Salzgitter, og den ser fuldkommen ud, som jeg husker den.

The shop still exists, and even in the same place, Am Schölkengraben 5, Salzgitter, and in the photos it looks exactly as I remember it.

Sveskeblommer! ~ Plum Prunes! Updated with recipe in English

     I år er der atter sveskeblommer på vores træ. Mange sveskeblommer, og det er en god ting. For vi kan godt lide sveskeblommer.
     Nogle af dem bliver til svesker, for hvis det på nogen måde er muligt, skal julegåsen stoppes med æbler og svesker af egen avl.
     Men sveskeblommer kan bruges til meget andet end svesker.
     Vi boede et år i Tyskland - et skoleår fra august til august - så vi nåede lige præcis to blomme-sæsoner. Det andet år gik vi og glædede os til at bageren stillede skiltet frem:

-- 🌳 --

This year we have prune plums on our tree again. Lots of prune pluss, and that's a good thing. Because we like them.
     Some of them are dried and made into prunes, because if at all possible, the Christmas goose should be stuffed with apples and prunes from our own garden.
     But prune plums can be used for much more than prunes.
     We lived in Germany for a year - a school year from August to August - so we had exactly two plum seasons. The second year we looked forward to the bakery putting out the sign:

Så er der sveskeblommer!

Og det betød at der blev bagt store bradepandekager med halverede sveskeblommer. De smagte bare så godt.
     Den bedste bager lå i det lokale byggemarked. Nej, det er ikke spor tosset, Steineckes bageri havde en god café med mange og gode kager og mere end hæderlig kaffe, te og varm kakao. Alt sammen til en rimelig pris. Det betød, at damerne sad der og hyggede mens mændene købte søm og skruer. Og det betød også ingen sure miner - og så kunne man jo altid tage endnu et stykke Zuckerkuchen eller Zwetschgenkuchen med hjem. Vi var ofte hos denne bager. Eller hos den, der lå i MiniMal, eller hos BackFactory i Blumentriften. Det var gode tider.
     Når jeg savner det for meget, som nu, og får lyst til den slags kager, er der ikke andet for end at bage den selv.

The plums has arrived!

And that meant baking large baking pans of cakes with halved prunes. They tasted so good.
The best baker was in the local hardware store cum garden centre. No, that's not at all crazy, Steinecke's bakery had a good café with lots of good cakes and more than decent coffee, tea and hot chocolate. All at a reasonable price. This meant that the ladies sat there and chatted while the men bought nails and screws and rakes and, and, and. And it also meant no angry miens - and you could always take home another piece of Zuckerkuchen or Zwetschgenkuchen. We often went to this bakery. Or the one in MiniMal, or the BackFactory in Blumentriften. Those were the good times.
When I miss it too much, as I do now, and I crave these kinds of cakes, I have no choice but to bake them myself.

Sorry everybody not reading Danish. This recipe for German Plum Cake is only in Danish. If you really want it, I'll translate. Tomorrow will bring ye another recipe from the German plum kitchen.

 

Blommekage (med smuldrelåg)
Denne tyske blommekage kan laves både med og uden smuldrelåg (Streussel, crumble) så bare spring de relevante kursiverede linjer over, hvis den skal være uden.

Ingredienser
1 kg blommer
250 g smør
200 g sukker
3 æg
400 g hvedemel
1 spiseskefuld maizena
5 g bagepulver
(2 spiseskefulde mælk, hvis dejen er for fast)

Streussel (crumble):
150 g hvedemel
100 g koldt smør
75 g sukker
1 spsk. vaniljesukker

• Tag alle ingredienserne ud af køleskabet, og lad dem få stuetemperatur.
• Smør en bageplade grundigt og tænd ovnen på 180° C over- og undervarme.
• Bland melet med maizena og bagepulver i en skål.
• Kom det bløde smør i en anden skål, tilsæt sukkeret, og pisk det godt indtil det er lyst og luftigt.
• Tilsæt æggene et ad gangen, og rør hvert æg med smørblandingen i et minut, før du tilsætter det næste.
• Når alle æggene er tilsat, drysses melblandingen i skålen og vendes i. Rør ikke for længe, det skal kun lige samle sig. Hvis dejen virker for fast, kan du tilsætte et par spiseskefulde mælk.
• Fordel dejen på bagepladen, og forbag den i ca. 15 minutter.
• Hvis du vil lave Smuldrelåg (Streussel), så kom mel og sukker i en skål. Tilsæt det kolde smør lidt ad gangen, og bland det med fingrene, indtil du kan lave flager.
• Tag den forbagte bund ud af ovnen, og lad den køle af. I mellemtiden forberedes blommerne:
• Vask, halver og udsten dem.
• Dæk derefter mørdejsbunden med de halve blommer og pres dem lidt ned i bunden.
• Fordel smuldreflagerne over blommerne.
• Bag blommekagen i ca. 35 minutter. Smuldreflagerne skal være flot gyldne og det samme skal kanterne på kagen. Tag den ud, lad den køle lidt af, og servér den varm med flødeskum, eller lad den køle helt af.

Plum cake (with crumble topping)
This German plum cake can be made with or without a crumble (Streussel) so just skip the relevant italizised lines if you want it without.

Ingredients
1 kg plums
250 g butter
200 g sugar
3 eggs
400 g wheat flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
5 g baking powder
(2 tablespoons milk if the dough is too firm)

Streussel (crumble):
150 g wheat flour
100 g cold butter
75 g sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla sugar

How  to:

• Remove all ingredients from the fridge and allow them to come to room temperature. Grease a baking sheet well.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C.
• Mix the flour with the cornstarch and baking powder in a bowl.
• Place the softened butter in another bowl, add the sugar and beat well until light and fluffy.
• Add the eggs one at a time, stirring each egg into the butter mixture for a minute before adding the next. Once all the eggs have been added, sprinkle the flour mixture into the bowl and fold in.
• Don't stir for too long, you just want it to come together. If the dough seems too firm, you can add a couple of tablespoons of milk.
• Spread the dough on the baking tray and bake for about 15 minutes.
• To make the crumble topping (Streussel), place the flour and sugar in a bowl. Add the cold butter a little at a time and mix with your fingers until you can make flakes.
• Remove the pre-baked base from the oven and leave to cool.
• Meanwhile, prepare the plums: wash, halve and stone them.
• Cover the pastry base with the halved plums and press them slightly into the base.
• Spread the crumble flakes over the plums.
• Bake the plum cake for about 35 minutes. The crumble flakes should be nicely golden, as should the edges of the cake.
• Remove the cake, let it cool slightly and serve warm with whipped cream or let it cool completely.

I morgen fortsætter turen rundt i det tyske blommekøkken.

Poetry Monday :: Muffin

Poetry Monday is hosted by Diane, and she and Mimi of Messymimi's Meanderings - who supplies us with many of the topics - are also writing wonderful, funny, thought-provoking, ingenious and honestly well written verse. Go and read them!
  Karen of Baking in a Tornado has joined us in this crazy pursuit, and promises us at least a poem a month!
  SpikesBestMate often publishes a nice verse in the comments.
  Jenny at Procrastinating Donkey who has been a faithful participant, was slowly returning to blogging after her husband's passing from this world. But then a humongous storm blew past and interrupted the flow of electricity and it seems Jenny never really got back after this. Let's hope there's nothing worse happening than a break, and let's continue to send warm thoughts, good energy, and lots of prayers her way. Let us hope that she will return to blogging and maybe eventually join Poetry Monday again, she, and her wit and positive energy is sorely missed.

Today I do not function well. I'm having a headache, and every time I think "Muffin" the only thing surfacing is these two lines which is all I remember from a crazy song my daughter and her classmates made up when she went to school in Salzgitter-Lebenstedt, Germany (2003-2004):

Wir sitzen im Kreis und teilen ein Glas Gurken
denn wir sind Superhelden und bekämpfen allen bösen Schurken

Translation:
We're siting in a circle and share a glass of gherkins
For we are super-heroes and are fighting all the evil villains.

If Iris Flavia of Double-Half or One Ten without ham is reading this, please correct and tell anything you might know about this.

The MUFFINS did however inspire me to a drawing for the Simple Daily Drawing challenge.

My other drawings for this challenge - bad and not so bad - can be seen on my drawing blog: Uglemor tegner, where we also meet Habakuk and his wife Abelone, and now and then a Droplet or two.

- - - - - 

Next Monday: Candy Canes

Poetry Monday :: Fruitcake

If you want to read some better  poetry,  Diane - who has taken over the hosting of  this challenge - and Mimi of Messymimi's Meanderings - who also supplies us with topics - are writing wonderful, funny, thought-provoking, ingenious and honestly well written verse. Go and read.

  Karen of Baking in a Tornado has joined us in this crazy pursuit, and promises us at least a poem a month - may  we hope for more!
  SpikesBestMate often publishes a nice verse in the comments.

  Jenny at Procrastinating Donkey who has been a faithful participant, is slowly returning to blogging after her husband's passing from this world. Let's continue to send warm thoughts, good energy, and lots of prayers her way. And dare we hope that she will join Poetry Monday again.


Fruitcake for me is Stollen. Ever since long  ago we loved German cakes, and the year in Salzgitter did nothing to diminish that love.

Give me pudding, give me Yule log
Gingerbread or cookies small,
They're tasty but I dare say
Christmas Stollen beats them all

Give me mint pies, Pfeffernüsse,
Fattigmenn and all the rest
I do like them, but believe me:
Stollen is the very best

In December I go shopping
People look at me and frown
For my cart is filled with Stollen
We do like them, white and brown!

A typical Stollen with almond paste filling - our favourite.  But .. to be honest, we like Printen even better!

Next Monday the topic will be Sleep!

Leonhardifahrt (6. november)

     For mange, mange, mange år siden var Uglemor ung og læste til lærer. Hun læste tysk og fransk, og derfor tilbragte hun næsten en måned på sprogkursus i Grafing bei München. Søndag den 26. oktober det år var der som hvert år Leonhardifahrt rundt i byen for at fejre den hellige Leonhard af Limoges, hvis festdag det er i dag.
     Efter messen var der fest. Mange af byens indbyggere har slået sig sammen i vognlaug og kørte i smukt pyntede hestetrukne vogne og klædt i bayriske dragter.  Resten af byens indbyggere var også smukt klædt i Dirndl og Lederhosen og så var der os sprogkursister der stod og kiggede på. Tre gange kørte hestevognene rundt om sankt Leonhards kirke. Så kom præsten ud sammen med to ministranter med en også smukt pyntet beholder med vievand og en kost til at stænke med. Så velsignede han først hver enkelt hestevogn med mandskab og til sidst alle dem, der bare stod og så på.
     Vi var tre lidt ældre kursister der holdt sammen, og vi havde stået sammen med en ældre dame i en smuk, blåternet Dirndl. Hun havde fortalt os lidt om de forskellige vogne - og meget om den, hendes børnebørn kørte i. Til sidst sagde hun: "Heute habt ihr drei aber Glück gehabt ..." Vi så naturligvis lettere forbløffede ud, så fortsatte hun "... denn ich bin Frau Glück!" Vi tog smilende afsked med den muntre fru Glück, der også ved en anden lejlighed lærte os at koge ægte sydtyske Knödel.

Frimærke fra 2005,. Og heller ikke fra Uglemors by.
Stamp from 2005. And not from MotherOwl's city

Many, many , many years ago MotherOwl was young and studied to become a teacher. She studied German and French, and for 4 weeks she joined a school of Languages in Grafing bei München in Germany. There we had the pleasure of celebrating Saint Leonhard of Limoges. His day is today, but in Bavaria he is celebrated the last Sunday of October.
In the city of Grafing and the surrounding area people are forming guilds working on their horse drawn carriages all year round. and on the last Sunday of October they all show up at mass dressed in Dirndl and Lederhosen, the horses are tackled and barded in blue and white , the national colours of Bavaria. After mass the guilds drive their carriages three times around the church and are blessed by the priest. Afterwards the priest blesses all the spectators, the local people also dressed in their finest and then us, German students.
We were 3 a bit elder than average students, who normally stuck together, this Sunday as well. And a nice elderly lady dressed in a blue chequered Dirndl told us a bit about the carriages, and a lot about the carriage driven by her grandchildren, some days ago she had told us how to cook real German Knödel, and we knew her a bit, as she was the neighbour of one of us.
As we said our goodbyes she told us: ""Heute habt ihr drei aber Glück gehabt ..." We looked a bit bewildered until she continued; "... denn ich bin Frau Glück!".

Ugens ugle -- 4 -- Owl of the Week

Ups, det ser ud til at Uglemor har glemt en ugle. Der er ingen Ugens Ugle 3.  Undskyld
     Denne uges ugle er Haveuglen. Han var min fødselsdagsgave det år, vi boede i Tyskland. Hver forår kommer han frem fra sit vinterkvarter, udvælger sig en fordelagtig plads, hvor han slår sig ned indtil den først frost jager ham indendørs igen. Han er gammel og gnaven, han skælder Uglemor ud for det meget ukrudt, for hendes uortodokse og tilfældige haveplaner, for ikke at høste radiserne i tide og for alle de andre uregelmæssigheder i Uglemors have. Uglemor kan alligevel ikke undvære ham, han er fast inventar i Uglebo.

- o 0 o -

It seems like MotherOwl forgot an owl. There just is no Owl of the week 3. Sorry
This week's owl is the GardenOwl. He is German, and was my birthday present the year we spent in Germany. Every Spring he comes out, finds the perfect place to live, and stays there until the first frost, surveying the garden, telling off MotherOwl for her many weeds and haphazard gardening ways. He's old and grumpy, but MotherOwl cannot bear to garden without him.

Dette billede  af Haveuglen er fra marts 2014. Der var rigtig mange erantis det år.
This photo of GardenOwl was taken March 2014, a year of many eranthis.

PS:
Jeg er ikke overbevist om at Haveuglen er hankøn, der lå et æg i nærheden af ham i sommers.
I'm not at all sure GardenOwl is a he, I found an egg nearby last Summer.