Plum Cake

On the way back home from Norway, we made a stop in Kiel for a few days and stayed with my host-parents from my exchange student year. A visit to their house for me usually revolves almost entirely on what I am served to EAT while there :-) ...and certainly this time was equal to the all the deliciousness I could imagine. Those beautiful plums became this excellent plum cake, with nut crust below and meringue on top, lightly scented of lemon. Aaaahhhhhh..... it was even better the next day, when the caramelized juices sunk into the base layer.

But, no....this time my visit was entirely, joyfully and 100% about someone else. My host sister Birte's son has just entered his first year of school, and I wanted to be there - auf jeden Fall - for his Einschulung (the ceremonial "first day" Eliza had last September, for example.) He is the sweetest, most invigorating little monkey you've ever met. ;-)

He's like a vitamin. I love the way he thinks outside the box. His perspectives are always original, always thought-provoking and always betray a natural love of learning. I hope his teachers see him this honestly as well.....at the Einschulung they said all the "right" things, and we all know Auntie Tanya ;-) was listening keenly. I wanted to stand up and applaud when the Principal outlined how every child is different and learns at his or her own pace. But, I opted for a vigorous double thumbs up to the dad seated next to me. ha ha!

Our family-group had such camera misfortune at the Einschulung in Hamburg -- two batteries went dead and my camera.....well, my camera was sitting on a table back in Kiel. I was so focused on remembering to take other things -- clean children, water bottles, gifts, phone -- even now, I feel a little sick to my stomach over how I could ever forget my camera on such a great day; and it was really great. The perfect day.

So, all the pictures I have are from our time together in Kiel before the Einschulung, which was also lovely. Of course, I was ready to play cards, explore bugs and discuss cars with wings & water jets :-) with my favorite First Grader. But, when they arrived, he seemed to prefer Eliza over me. No. That's wrong -- he COMPLETELY preferred Eliza over me.

The rest of our Sunday party had great fun teasing me over coffee about how I'd been "left" for someone younger ;-) - ha ha! (it came out very well in the German, and was really pretty funny) ....and, I had that plum cake for comfort.

[Along the water in Kiel....they call it a fjord, as well :-).....]

One of the best things about knowing people for over two decades is that I could ask all those prickly questions that might seem rude or critical with my peers and neighbors here. So, I asked -- open, rough, honest -- and cannot say enough good things about the affirmation that comes with being able to do that. Most all of the answers confirmed my suspicion that things are just done a little differently here in the south; but the *best* answer was about the garbage disposals. They are apparently illegal in Germany, for there are laws in place against putting food into the drain pipes so as to not attract RATS. I'd be very, very curious to know how old that law is. These people almost read my mind, and I didn't even have to bring it up, if you can believe that. Birte's husband came into the kitchen and said to me,

.....Wouldn't it be nice if this sink had a garbage disposal, like in the States?

Tanya: How convenient that you mention this; I've been wanting to ask you about that.

:-)

It's like having a Fairy Godmother for living overseas. With cake.