Just a quick intro here: Buffy and I met the summer of 96' and it was good. Giggling over boys who we had code names for good. We weren't obsessive friends, just highly reliable and always there to offer a hilarious take on our daily lives of chaos and high school. Buffy went to the equivalent of a public Ivy league prep school and I went to the crappy public high school. Her house was quiet and filled with classical music and well, my house was noisy and filled with wrestlers... Buffy should have been a bridesmaid at my wedding, but alas, somewhere between college and life, we slipped out of contact... But luckily fate (or law school) stepped in and allowed us the opportunity of a slow and hopeful recovery of a good friendship. Well, at least that is what I am expecting...
Christmas Food Traditions
(plus a story of courtship)
I met Allan seven years, eleven months, and three days ago. I was sitting on the couch in his empty apartment, the other of his five roommates gone. How I got there is a long, rather uninteresting story. But in walked Allan, ducking under every doorway and light fixture in all of his 6'6 glory. He remembers what I was wearing (red plaid wool skirt with black riding boots)and I remember his olive green wool knee-length officer's coat. It was pretty much crush at first sight/conversation. All the key elements were there: culture, class, and dry humor. Oh, and he had served a mission in Germany.
Sigh....
We started dating two months later. I started learning more about jazz music and Jazz basketball. I introduced him to the good U2 albums and rare steak. It was a match made in Happy Valley heaven and we were married six months later in the Salt Lake Temple.
Shortly after our wedding Allan introduced me to some favorite German fare. A year after our wedding we travelled to Germany and Austria and partook of the most delicious food I've ever had in my entire life. Why food from this region does not get more foodie recognition is beyond me. I'm seriously baffled. If you love meat and bread....oh, baby.
I make a few things in my own kitchen now. Among my favorites is Rotkohl, a red cabbage dish.
The first time I had this I could swear my mother had made it before. But she says she never did. So apparently I'm having flashbacks to pre-earth life when Allan and I would dine together in the "Future Americans with Germanic Tendencies"cafeteria (I am fully aware of the doctrinal disconnect, but give me a break, there really is no other explanation).
I make this every single Christmas (also Thanksgivings and Easter).
Red Cabbage (Rotkohl)
Red Cabbage (Rotkohl)
Serves an army.
1 large red cabbage cut into fine strips (a food processor makes this easy)
1/4 c white vinegar
1/4 c white sugar
1 Tablespoon salt
4 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
2 apples, cut fine (again, food processor. or not.)
2 strips of bacon, cut fine
Start this in the morning. Without adding any additional liquid bring ingredients to boil. Cover and simmer for about five minutes. Turn off heat and leave lid on for several hours. Repeat boiling and five minute simmer process 3-4 times throughout the day.
This tastes even better if made one day ahead.
1 large red cabbage cut into fine strips (a food processor makes this easy)
1/4 c white vinegar
1/4 c white sugar
1 Tablespoon salt
4 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
2 apples, cut fine (again, food processor. or not.)
2 strips of bacon, cut fine
Start this in the morning. Without adding any additional liquid bring ingredients to boil. Cover and simmer for about five minutes. Turn off heat and leave lid on for several hours. Repeat boiling and five minute simmer process 3-4 times throughout the day.
This tastes even better if made one day ahead.
1 comment:
You perfectly described our friendship. You're one of the three friends I have had throughout my life who genuinely brought out the best in me. I love you!
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