Thank you for all your sweet comments on the blog and on Facebook about my post for my mom’s birthday! You are all so sweet! She is a very special lady, indeed.
Last Wednesday I wore my cowboy girl boots to work. I got lots of compliments on them throughout the day, but it didn’t dawn on me until I was running errands around base that Germans don’t wear boots like that. A lot of local nationals looked at me funny.
Almost every AF member has been to Texas, there is a large AF presence in that great state, so they don’t think a thing of it. Note to self: don’t wear yer boots off base.
You know what one of my favorite things about waking up in Germany every morning?
Letting the pooch out and enjoying the beautiful space that is our backyard. I don’t want the flowers to freeze this winter. I want them to last forever. Although, I can’t wait to see how beautiful Germany and the Mosel Valley looks in the snow. I am so excited for snow! (You can call me crazy if you’d like.) After living in Mississippi, Texas, and spending some time in Arizona these past few years, I don’t care if I ever see triple digit temps again.
Lately, breakfast has been on the go. Just because I don’t have time to eat it at my breakfast table, doesn’t mean I have to skip it. It’s the most important meal of the day. And my personal fave, so there was no way I’d miss it. I ate my breakfast at my desk.
Vanilla almond yogurt with homemade granola. Simply delish. |
I am falling in love with my kitchen, albeit small, it is very efficient and I’m absolutely loving cooking in it. It could also be because I’ve missed getting to cook, I now have NICE things to cook with (we got a lot of great kitchen items as wedding gifts and we are so grateful!), and I have someone to cook for. I’ve gotten to use it multiple times since we got all moved in and it isn’t nearly as bad as I thought. The cabinets are packed very full, but it works. Having the table in there works great as an island and preparation area.
Believe it or not, that tall rectangular cabinet next to the sink is a fridge. A very tiny fridge. It is the beer/wine fridge. We have a full size fridge on the other side of the window for our food. |
Last night, we had friends over for dinner. I think for the first time ever, I got to make a real dinner for a table set for 4. I got to use my new place settings, flatware, and serving platters/bowls. I absolutely love it all!
On the menu: layered pizza dip, maple-pecan chicken, rice pilaf, tossed salad with homemade Italian dressing, and ice cream with homemade hot fudge for dessert. We enjoyed a bottle of spätlese halbtrocken Riesling with dinner. {That’s a semi-dry or off dry white wine.} I got to try out my new Polish pottery last night, too! It was exactly what I needed for the appetizer.
I am so in love with Germany and living here.
I have also been baking a lot in my kitchen, which is just as much fun as making dinner in my opinion. I made cookies for the life support guys and the GWN (Great Warhawk Nation) pilots as a thank you for Spouse Appreciation Day. I know you don’t like my recipe posts (my blog view numbers usually drop when I post recipes — yes, I know who views the blog from where and when — I’m on to you!!), but these were too good not to share with you so you’re going to read it and like it. When you first started reading this post you didn’t know it was a recipe post, you thought it was about wearing boots, my backyard, and our kitchen, didn’t you? (See what I did there?) I got you good. 😉
I find a little humor in the fact that the cookies I made are called Mississippi Mud Cookies. I had to do a little research on these cookies to figure out why they are named for the great state of Mississippi and discovered that the original Mississippi mud cake is thought to have been created by WWII-era cooks who found a way to use available ingredients to make a dense chocolate cake. There you have it.
These cookies are perfect for a cookie swap party or for a sweet treat to keep in the cookie jar. The marshmallows pressed into the dough make them ooey and gooey, and the chocolately richness reminds me of the banks of the Mississippi River.
Not.
I’m (kind of) kidding. I do miss some things about Mississippi and the cookies are pretty tasty.
Mississippi Mud Cookies
adapted from SL 1001 Ways to Cook Southern, aka my cooking Bible
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur’s Unbleached White Whole Wheat)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup milk chocolate morsels
- 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp miniature marshmallows
Beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Beat in vanilla and melted chocolate.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; gradually add to chocolate mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in chopped pecans and 1/2 cup milk chocolate morsels.
Drop dough by heaping tablespoons onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Press 3 marshmallows into each portion of dough.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.
Yield: about 3 dozen
The boys went crazy over the cookies so I’m told. Apparently they devoured all 6 dozen (minus the 2 cookies that I had to sample to ensure they were safe to eat) by 1030. That’s what I like to call Pilot food. Breakfast snack of a champion, I say.
It is a beautiful fall Saturday here and we are going to enjoy it by attending a local Oktoberfest in a little village nearby with our friends. Brats and beer for dinner, anyone? It think so.
What are you up to this weekend?
PROST!
cburtnett says
Your kitchen is looking great! I hope you enjoy the snow as much as those beautiful flowers. I'll take the flowers! I think I have the ingredients for those cookies. This will be a good day to heat up the oven! Can't wait to read about the Oktoberfest!
Tamera says
Do you like German wines? Riesling is not my thing. Your kitchen and kitchen wares are beautiful! The cookie recipe looks delish, I'm going to try it out! (I like recipe posts!) Okay I think that's enough exclamation points for one comment ;^)
Emily says
Actually, I do like the German wines. I've always been a red wine drinker, but since living here, the white wines have become my go to. They are so much better than anything I've ever had. Alex has never liked any kind of wine and likes the whites here. I prefer them to be more trocken (dry).
And I don't mind…I love exclamation points!! 😉
Alison Donlon says
Awww…LOVE seeing pics of your house! Your kitchen sink looks awesome! Love the circles…and the lil fridge for drinks in the kitchen…very cool! Miss you! Love you!
Emily says
Miss and love you, too!! Hurry up and visit!!