Have a great New Year's Eve

We spent yesterday taking a long walk at Tryon Creek and are spending the last afternoon of 2011 hanging out with the girls who are playing with their friends.

The toothfairy visited our house...

Alena lost another tooth yesterday.  It started to wiggle while we were up in Seattle and it already came out.  Wow!!!

and look what she brought her....

one happy girl - so glad the toothfairy stopped by :)

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Best Pasta - ever - for Dinner...

...we love having family visit - everyone enjoys it, at least everyone at the Pdx side :))) - Tonight one of our guests cooked for us. Pasta Bolognese - the most delicious, fantastic Bolognese ever. Really! I am not sure if I can ever recreate this....

We took a road trip

up north - on the way we stopped for lunch

Alena waiting for her meal

Mia Rose and Kati waiting patiently for their meal

Do you know where we stopped along the way?  Yes, we did indeed have fast food...however it's the only one our family eats when in the Pacific Northwest...Burgerville.  Kids Hamburger Meal, with juice for the lovely girlies...

At our destination we visited one very fun place - and the girls got to visit with some cute pigs...

and since we stayed overnight, and it was not in downtown Portland - we went out for breakfast.  Thankfully our good friend told us just where to go...

look at that delicious Vegan Pancake

Alena loved her breakfast - Vegan Pancake with plenty of fruit and a side of bacon :)

and now, would you like to know where we went?  OK - here is one clue...

Do you know where we went?  Yes? Are you sure?  -  Yup, this is the Space Needle and we went on a road trip to visit the larger city up north, Seattle :)

Oh, and we had breakfast at Portage Bay Cafe http://www.portagebaycafe.com/ It was fantastic - and to me the best is always if our girls can have just the food they like :)  They had vegan pancakes, soy milk - and having Galactosemia safe food was no issue.  Whoo-hoo - just what this mothership loves :)

Alena plays "We wish you a Merry Christmas"

Mia Rose plays "Away in the Manger"

A lovely Christmas

we had indeed and guess what, Santa even visited our house.  Yes, he did.  Look at these excited girlies...

And yes, Santa brought just the right colors :)

Breakfast and then a nice long walk outside.  One of the things I absolutely love about living in Portland is that it is always possible to take long walks outside.  All of us walked up Mt. Tabor, stopped at the Wishing Tree for a special wish, and on the way back down - of course - stopped at the playground.  I always feel so much better better day after a nice long walk....

After our walk the girls were ready for some long awaited movies and we started cooking our traditional Christmas feast.  I love traditions, so on Christmas Day we make a Weihnachtsgans (Christmas goose) with Chestnut & Dried Fruit Stuffing, Kartoffelkloesse (potato dumplings), Blaukraut (red cabbage), and this year we also had brussel sprouts with chestnuts....and of course the butter was substituted in all recipes with  Earth Balance a.k.a. Vegan Butter...

I hope you all had wonderful day!

Merry Christmas - Froehliche Weihnachten from Portland

Bubbly for all - real bubbly for the parental units and sparkling cider for the girlies :)

Christmas Eve 2011

We saw the Nutcracker in the afternoon and here they are - ready for Christmas Eve Dinner. Delicious ham, Kartoffelsalat (Potato Salad), mixed green salad, and raisin sauce. It was a dinner success! And do you know who came by for a visit after dinner? Yes, the Christkind came by and left presents for our two lovely ladies. Whoo- hoo all the way from Germany!

Happy Friday - we have guests...

...there is nothing like being with family for the Holidays, right?! Our guests arrived from Germany yesterday and the first stop was a late lunch at Foster Burger as a welcome. Great atmosphere and burgers. The only thing is, that the buns are not safe for the girlies. There is a little bakery right next door and they also sell baguette buns which are milk free :) So we pick up the bun, take it along, and the ladies get their burger served on the "safe" bun :))) but you know what happened yesterday? Both ladies decided to eat the meat and neither ate any of their bread....

They are back ...frozen cheeseless roasted veggie pizza

Yes, that's right! We accomplished all if our grocery shopping for Xmas yesterday. Trader Joe's used to have a frozen cheeseless roasted veggie pizza -which the girlies loved - which sadly was discontinued. I have been checking back for it ever since, just to be disappointed. But yesterday guess what?! Well, I already blew the answer - they are back!!! Yay - just a great item to keep on hand for those nights or days when a quick meal for the girls is needed...

But now guess what was for dinner last night?! Yup, pizza :)

Eat all your veggies soup...

...and finally the end of our long day. Dinner. I made soup with onions, carrots. Sweet potatoes, potatoes, large can of diced tomatoes, barley, and 13-bean . Served along the deliciously amazing, and yet so easy to make homemade "no knead" bread. It was just what we needed to warm us up after our outing to Peacock Lane tonight.
So here you have it - our lovely Wednesday in three posts and pictures :) Good Night!

Evening outing to Peacock Lane...

...before dinner the four of us set out to our traditional outing to Peacock Lane. This is the first time we went this close to Christmas, so it was crowded. Fun, but too crowded. I just wish they would not allow any cars to drive through. Especially since it is such a short block. Oh well, and if you so not live in our great city of Portland, no worries there is a website where you can check Peacock Lane out www.peacocklane.net

All better...

...we took it easy today - decorating our Christmas Tree, some painting, some reading, piano lessons in PJ's :), overall silliness by mother and children and a trip to the playground were our daylight activities. Here is Alena during her piano lesson which she loves so much....

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The last blood draw for 2011...

...what a winter break we have.  Yesterday Alena's Birthday Party, and today we went up to the "hill" (OHSU) for the girl's blood draw.  Ever since we have gotten the "magic cream" aka anesthetic cream blood draws have become very routine, easy, and almost fun.  We park the car at the Southwaterfront garage of OHSU, and take the tram up to the hospital.

Girls in the tram on the way up to the "Hill"

Then we stop at the Metabolic Clinic, where the girls get the magic cream applied, and voila, 30 minutes later their blood is drawn.

The girlies waiting for the "magic cream" to do it's magic

No big event.  - Yup, that is what I was expecting.  It has become almost somewhat painless for all of us involved.  Well, but today was different.  I guess that is what happens if you become too comfortable.  The girls had decided that Mia Rose would go first.  She is such a trooper - sat on my lap, held up her arm, and watch the entire procedure.  Alena went second.  She sat on my lap, and was OK for the draw.  As I gathered up our stuff she said "Mommy I am so so sleep". The phlebotomists quickly gazed at each other, then back to Alena, sat her down and gave her apple juice.  She had actually broken out in a cold sweat.  After a few minutes she felt better, we left and then she lied down right in front of the elevators.  Told me she was too tired to walk, or do anything.  Do I need to tell you how I felt?  I am sure you know.  There was a little streak of panic and what if's'.

Long story short - after lying down, addition apple juice and a visit from the Medical Assistant to take her blood pressure, Alena was OK.  It was probably just because Alena was so stressed out about the draw...In any way, I honestly can tell you that this whole entire episode - and yes, I know it really is not a big deal - got me quite unsettled.  All is good now :) - Oh, and by the way we met Ron out for lunch. Both girls indulged themselves in Burgers with Fries.  And you know what else, I did not cook dinner tonight.  Alena ate the rest of her cake - for dinner :), and Mia Rose had the remaining Fleischkuechle from last night...

Take care!

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Monday Night - after birthday party - Dinner

...Fleischkuechle with Swabian potato salad and mixed in greens.  What are Fleischkuechle?  In Bavaria they call them Fleischpflanzerl, and in other parts of Germany they are referred to as Buletten.  We call them Fleischkuechle - little meat cakes.  OK - the translation really does come across really well.  They are not meatballs, and not hamburgers.  But very delicious and our ladies love them as well as as the potato salad.  So here it is the photo of our dinner tonight.  Note, Mia Rosie in the background :)

Fleischkuechle, potato salad

OK - I will now call it now a night.  It has been a long day :)  Have a great day!

Belated Birthday Kids Party...

was today for Alena's 8th Birthday.  Alena's birthday this year was during the break, so it was a little challenging to have a party then.  So, we decided to have the party today - the first day of winter break.  We invited the kids from her class, and about half of them came for the party.  The invitation promised cake, popcorn, and a movie.  In class the children read about Felix and how he travels the world - Just to give you an idea here is a link to the book -> http://www.amazon.com/Letters-Felix-Little-Rabbit-World/dp/1558598863 - They are German movies, and we own two of them.  Felix travels the World, and Time Travels.  The original plan was to show Felix travels the World - but it did not have an English language option. Only German or Swiss German - ooops, it was a quick decision.  In any case,  the kids enjoyed the movie.

Oh, but what I really wanted to tell you about was the cake I made.  Alena loves chocolate, so it had to be a chocolate kind of cake.  I did not want to make brownies and then I found a recipe for a Chocolate-Cherry Cake.  Yummy! - A huge success.  And yes, of course absolutely Galactosemia safe - at least for the diet our girls follow :)

First the picture - the the recipe....

Cherry-Chocolate Birthday Cake

The measurements are again in grams - as this is a German recipe

150 gr Sugar
200 gr Margarine - soft
1 Pack Vanilla sugar - or vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt
4 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
100 gr. grated dark baking chocolate (I only found one safe brand - you could also use chocolate chips)
100 gr. grated almonds
125 gr. Flour
1 glass dark Morello Cherries (Trader Joe's) drained

• Mix sugar with margarine, vanilla, and pinch of salt until it is mixed together
• Add eggs - one at a time
• Mix baking powder, flour, and almonds. Then mix with chocolate
• Slowly add the dry ingredients to the egg, sugar, margarine mixture.
• When dough is thoroughly mixed pour the batter into a greased springform
• Put cherries on top of the dough and gently push them slightly into the batter
• Bake at convection at 350F for about 45-50 minutes (check after 40 minutes), or at 400F in conventional oven

Enjoy!

Happy Holidays Concert

it is a triple post kind of night. Yup - I have lot's in store tonight as you don't even know about yesterday.  Right?!  What is going on?  No, I am not slacking off - just being swamped :)

So yesterday we went to the Happy Holiday Concert at the Oregon Symphony.  This was the third year in a row that we went to the Kids Holiday Concert.  I think that the 2011 was the best one yet.  There was Mrs. Claus, and the Grinch.  Both girls were just mesmerized.  It was really, really amazing.  So here are a couple of pictures of our lovely ladies - and the lovely gentleman :)

Before the concert - Alena was not in a smily kind of mood :)

All excited for the concert to start

Along with our tradition of going to the Holiday Concert we have the tradition of eating dinner at Pastini's which is right around the corner from the Schnitz.  Fun - dinner and great, homemade pasta.  After dinner a stroll through Nordstrom's and then via Pioneer Square to see the tree back to the car....

Mia Rose on Pioneer Square...

both ladies in front of the tree...

the Portland tree in all it's splendor...

Leftovers for a delicious Saturday lunch

...remember the risotto we had a couple of days ago? Well, I made so much that we ended up having a ton of leftovers. It was a perfect lunch - risotto cakes with a side of salad. To make the risotto cakes, I just added a bread crumbs - I use Panko as it is dairy free and Galactosemia safe - formed the cakes and fried some up with a small about of oil in a griddle. They turned out good - as a first course :) we had cups of Gulasch. Perfect - no need to cook anything else.

Oh, you are wondering about dinner? We were invited to a party where there was lots, and lots of foods to graze on. Also for the girls - there were only a couple "non-safe" items which we pointed out to them. All of us had a great time :)

Gulasch was our Friday Dinner

oops, I fell asleep with the ladies last night - so it is a belated dinner post. Not to worry, this should be the exception to the rule, now that I am back in the "swing of things". In any case - Gulasch is not fast, but easy to make and so delicious. I always make a lot so that we have left over. I find t amazing how six ingredients make such a fantastic dish. Onions, paprika, beef, water, salt, and potatoes. OK - make it seven ingredients because there is also a splash of Olive Oil which I use to soften the onions....

I serve it - just like my Grandmother did - with crusty white bread and pickles (not salt or dill pickles, but in vinegar). I buy Hengstenberg brand from Germany at WorldPlus Market. http://www.hengstenberg.de/de/rh.php/produkte/gurken - only in German - Grrman stores also carry them, and I found them on the web as well...I have posted the recipe before. Please let me know if you would like it and I would repost in the comments...Happy day, all!

Hopworks - again...

I was in an out-of-town meeting all day, so there was no time to cook.  Well, OK I probably would have been able to make pasta but tonight was also the Winter Sing-along at the girls school.  Here is the thing, if we eat dinner at home, it is always, always so hard to leave the house again.  So there were two reasons to go out,  right?  The girls like it, there is a fantastic play area, good food, and fantastic adult beverages :)

We ordered the usual pretzel bread without the butter brushed own - this time it was correct the first time around; and hot dogs for the girlies.  And guess what,  I almost - just almost so - forgot to take the dinner photo.  So here she is - Mia Rosie eating her Hot Dog, and Fries...

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Vanillekipferl - Vanilla Crescent Cookies

I do not know about your school, but here in Portland our kids have one late day a month.  It means that school starts two hours later than usual.  All of us generally enjoy the extra time in the morning and today was just such a day.

A late day, and is there not a better thing to do than bake cookies in the morning? Well, I had actually made the dough a couple days ahead and just pulled it out of the fridge.  So that is what we did.  We rolled, and shaped crescent cookies.  Baked them, and sprinkled them with a vanilla-sugar mixture.  Oh, and just in case you wondered - they are completely Galactosemia safe :)

Alena enjoying the freshly baked cookies...

Vanillekipferl - Vanilla Crescent Cookies

• 250 gr Flour
• 1/8 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 125 gr. sugar
• Vanilla - a few drops or a package of vanilla sugar
• 3 egg yolks 
• 200 gr. vegan "butter"
• 125 gr. finely ground almonds

1. Mix flour with baking powder, and sugar.
2. Add vanilla, eggs, and margarine cut up in chunks
1. put mixture on low - then medium speed
3. Add almonds
1. mix them into dough until it is one dough
4. Wrap dough in ceran wrap and chill for at least an hour
5. Roll dough into a long roll
6. Cut slices - about 1/4" off the roll
7. Roll the slices and form a crescent
8. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper
9. Bake at 375 F for about 9-10 minutes
10. Once you remove them from the oven sprinkle Vanillekipferl with Vanilla Sugar/Powdered Sugar mixture (1 pack of vanilla sugar to about 50 gr of powdered sugar)

Enjoy!  - Oh, and before I forget. This recipe is a perfect tag along for the Zimtsterne.  Zimtsterne recipe calls for 3 egg whites, while this one calls for 3 egg yolk - perfect, is it not?

Mushroom Risotto on a cold Tuesday night

Today I gave Ron a choice.  Either sweet potatoes and black beans with rice, or risotto.  I originally suggested squash, but mushroom is even more delicious :)  So mushroom risotto it was.  Delicious with crimini mushrooms, and today I used mushroom broth instead of vegetable broth.  Brings out the yummy mushroomy, earthiness of this risotto.  - It was a big success for the entire family.  Mia Rosie cleaned her entire plate.  Risotto, salad, and the rest of the salad dressing along with onion in the bottom of the salad bowl...

Baked chicken was for Dinner

Baked chicken leg's, oven Fries - Trader Joe's - and mixed salad with baby greens, carrots, and yellow peppers. This - I must say - was such an easy, and quick dinner to make. I somewhere feel like I cheated :) - I think that this is the first time ever, that I baked chicken leg's. It is usually not one of the meats on my "standard" list. But it was part of the Family meat pack I got at New Season's in late October and it's what was left in our freezer :) So baked chicken ist was...
very delicious and I certainly will make it again...

Chili is the perfect dinner on this Monday night

Delicious, comforting, quick and easy. Chilie, Avocado, and corn bread.
An onion, a large clove of garlic, a pound of beef, beans - or just beans - a large can of tomatoes, chili spice, salt, and pepper will so the trick. Sautee the onion, add the garlic, and chili powder. Then the beef and brown - or the beans. When it is browed add the tomatoes and a couple cans of beans. Let is simmer for at least 30 minutes. Adjust salt, pepper, and chili to taste.
I cheated - always on this - on the corn bread with the box from Trader Joe's. Just add soy milk, oil, and an egg. I have to say that the Trader Joe's cornbread is by far better than Jiffy's. But that's just me.
Stay warm, all!

Zimtsterne on a blissful lazy Sunday...

We did so much yesterday that we relaxed all day and I made one more batch of cookies as our supply is already dwindeling. So today I made Zimtsterne - cinamon stars. They are delicious and contain not one milk product, derivative, or substitute. How about that?! They taste almost like "gebrannte Mandeln" aka Moondrops. Almonds, cinamon, sugar, and egg whites...
Here they are - mine are not as beautiful, but they are tasty. Oh, and is the apple Nikolaus not cute? Mia Rose made it last week in the Sophie Scholl Saturday School - and in the background is our advents wreath :)
Here is the recipe - measurements are in gram as ist is from a German cookbook; my scale does measurements in grams and ounces.
ZIMTSTERNE - Cinamon Stars
- 3 egg whites
- 250 Gram powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla - or a package of vanilla sugar which you can get at a German store, and I
have also it before at New Season's
- 1 teaspoon ground cinamon
- 275 - 325 gr ground almonds or you could also use hazelnuts
* Beat egg whites until very firm
* Slowly pour sifted powdered sugar into the egg whites
* Set about two Tablespoons of the egg white mixture aside - for frosting
* Add Vanilla, cinamon, and half amount of the nuts
* Mix under the meringue carefully and slowly add the remaining nuts
* Cover area with flour - or powdered sugar - and put dough on top of it
* Roll the dough to about 1/4" thickness - you may need to put flour on top of the dough as well to
prevent dough stickig to rolling pin
* with a star shaped cookie cutter cut out the cookies. Place them on a parchment lined cookie
sheet
* frost cookies with the meringue - you may have to add a couple of drops of water
*Preheat oven to 300F - bake for app. 20 minutes
Enjoy!

A fun Saturday spent in downtown Pdx

and I have to tell you right away that there will be no dinner picture tonight.  Sorry, if you have been anticipating it :)

After having so much fun last night, we had a very slow start into our Saturday.  We have not been downtown with the girls for a long time, so what better time?  It was a freezing cold day here in our great city of Portland - OK, freezing cold for us with temperatures hovering about 39F - but fun to be outside and get into the holiday spirit. We heard and saw some of the Christmas Tuba on Pioneer Square - who know - which both girls loved since both of them love to sing. Then worked our way up to Finnegan's the toy store which is at a new location. By the way, I find the new location quite disappointing :( Our next stop was to go to the Ducks store.  So, if you are not in Oregon and not into college Football you probably have no idea what I am talking about :)  so here is a link to the Oregon Ducks http://www.goducks.com/ - oh, and if you are a Beavers Fan I really do not favor one more than the other.  Really!  So here is the link to the Oregon Beavers for all you Beaver people :) http://www.osubeavers.com/

Now back to our day.  We took the Max from Pioneer Square to the Saturday Market, and walked to the Duck store.  And what surprise, Santa Duck was there and we met him.  The picture is unfortunately not yet ready, but I promise to post it! Mia Rose told me later "...I thought he is fake, but he is real..." Oh, so worth it :)

We strolled back to the Max station Portland via the great Portland Saturday Market which is another great Portland institution http://www.portlandsaturdaymarket.com/ We stopped for a warm up coffee, and a hot chocolate for the girls.  I just love Portland.  Of course, they had soy milk, and yes, the chocolate was vegan - so it was no issue at all to get a Galactosemia friendly Hot Chocolate for our girlies.  Look at Alena warming up...

and a couple steps later we stopped to get some "Moondrops" - which are fresh roasted almonds aka "Gebrannte Mandeln" Yummy!  Almonds, sugar and cinnamon - such a delight.  Freshly made, warm, so good and yes, Galactosemia friendly.  Who-hoo!

mmmhhh, delicious...

Happy Holidays to all!

Friday Night Fun...

I know, I know it is already Saturday night and I have fallen behind :)  In any case,  we had a communal dinner yesterday with our friends and neighbors.  The girls had great fun hanging out with their friends,  and we also got to enjoy some adult conversation. The four girls ate first, then had a treat of Almond Dream Praline Crunch Ice Cream - which by the way all of them loved - and then got to watch Tangled (I call it Rapunzel) along with some fresh popcorn.  Here is a picture of the girls at dinner

Alena and her friend Ana before sitting down for dinner

These two ladies just could not wait :) - Mia Rose and her friend Sophia

So, while the girlies enjoyed the movie we enjoyed a nice dinner with adult conversation.  Great start into the weekend.

Oh, oh, I almost forgot  - we had Polenta, mushrooms, salad, peppers, meatballs, and sausage for dinner. Yummy!

We went out on Thursday...

Alena had her "All about Alena" presentation in school today.  She showcased herself and put together a presentation with pictures as well as stories about her life.  The project was actually quite an undertaking as we went back to look at pictures from the time she was born until now.  We did have a lot of fun!

In any case,  she had a successful presentation and what better way to celebrate than with a dinner out.  We had dinner at Deschutes Brewery Public House here in Portland. http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/locations/portland - Both ladies chose to eat the kids Hamburger which on the menu is a Cheeseburger.  We are so proud of our girls - they ordered themselves "Kids hamburger without any cheese, or dairy on it because we are allergic".  Whoo-hoo...the waitress was amazing.  She double checked on the bun - so if you go and you cannot have the milk products be sure to order the burger with the Gluten Free Bun.  It is made with almond milk, instead of the cow :)

Look at the ladies - very happy with their Burgers :)

Tortilla Soup was for dinner this Wednesday

nice, and warm - perfect to warm us up on a chilly day. I made a cheater version. How? Well, I used Tortilla Chis instead of frying up fresh, crisp, Tortilla strips. It still was good. Onion, garlic, chili powder, salt, and peper.Added to it a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste - then four cups of chicken broth and finely chopped cilantro. I brought it to boil and let it simmer for about 15 minutes before adding a can of drained black beans, a can - small - of diced tomatoes, and a cup of - frozen - corn. Served it with lime wedges, chopped avocado, Toffuti sour cream, and tortilla chips on the bottom and on top of the soup. Nice, and warm...

Chicken, mushroom ragout on egg noodles with salad...

...was our Tuesday night dinner. I actually made the ragout already yesterday. Chicken thighs, crimini mushrooms, onions,a bottle of white wine, and -Tofutti - sour cream. It was in the oven for almost 2 hours yesterday and turned into a yummy dish. - I served it with egg noodles and the - mostly - usual salad...

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Monday Night Dinner is not very exciting...

...I kid you not :) it was however liked by the entire family.  What was it?  Well, do I dare admit to it? Ha, ok ok it was - brace yourself - Mandarin Orange Chicken from Trader Joe's.  Every so often it is such a treat and it left us plenty of time to work on more stars for our windows :) Picture of those will follow soon...

In any case, dinner was Trader Joe's Mandarin Orange Chicken out of the freezer, served with Jasmine rice, and - finally - mixed green salad.  Not very exciting, but quite good!

Milk Free Weihnachtsbroetle - Christmas Cookies - and a busy Sunday...

...we - OK three of us - pretty much stayed home all day, and ended up being quite busy.  We started the day with making cookies.  Mia Rose was invited to another Birthday party today, so we decided that she would cookies along as a treat for herself and the others.  In preparation,  I had made the dough already last night, so this morning all we had to do is roll out the dough.  We took turns making the cut-outs.  Mia Rosie cut out the first portion, while Alena cut out the second portion.  Turned out to be a good solution :)

By the time the cookies were baked, frosted, and decorated it was time to take Mia Rose to the party.  The host planned on serving pizza, so I pre-ordered a Kids Pepperoni Pizza without cheese at Pizzicato which was right on the way to the party.  On our way to the party, we stopped to pick-up the pizza.  I dropped off Mia Rose, the pizza, cookies, and the usual talk in regards to milk, etc. As always,  she wanted me to leave as soon as possible...she had a good time.

I really wanted this post to be about the Galactosemia safe Weihnachtsbroetle - Cookies - we made yesterday and today.  So far, we have three kinds.  Haselnussmakronen - Hazelnut macaroon's -, Walnussguezli - Walnut Cookies, and Ausstecherle - Sugar Cookies.  What do you think? -  All turned out great - recipes are below.  I would love to hear from you - really :) Oh, and I plan on making a couple more. Just not sure what. - Probably Vanille Kipferl, and Zimtsterne - let's see...

Haselnussmakronen - Hazelnut Macaroon
4 Egg Whites beaten
150 - 200 gr. fine sugar
300 - 350 gr. finely ground hazelnuts
1/8 tsp cinamon
3-4 TBL ground chocolate - I use Ghiradelli's
whole hazelnuts for decoration for each piece

- beat the egg whites until they are very firm
- slowly pour in sugar, and cinnamon
- mix hazelnuts with chocolate, and carefully mix the nuts under the egg whites
- Pre-heat oven to 300 F
- using two teaspoons put little mounds on parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Decorate each - if you like -
  with a hazelnut
- Bake for 20 - 25 minutes

Walnussguezli - Walnut Cookies
- 175 gr Flour
- 100 gr. finely ground walnuts
- 125 gr. sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- 75 gr liquid vegan margarine (I use Earth Balance) slightly cooled
- 1 egg
To decorate -
- 1 egg beaten
- Walnuts, or walnut pieces

* mix flour, walnuts, sugar, and salt in a bowl
* add slightly cooled off margarine
* stir mixture until it turns into a smooth dough
* take the dough and roll it into one-two rolls approximate 6cm in diameter and wrap in ceran wrap
* cool for about one hour
* Preheat oven at 400F
* Take dough out of the fridge, cut slices approximately 3-4 mm off the roll.  Put the cut cookies on
   a parchment lined cookie sheet. Put egg on top of each cookie, and finish with an individual nut, or nut
   pieces on each cookie
* Bake for app. 10 minutes

Ausstecherle - Sugar Cookies

- 375 gr. flour
- 100 gr. vegan margarine cut into slices
- 150 gr. sugar - or a little more if you like your cookies very sweet
- 2 eggs
- 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
- vanilla sugar - or liquid vanilla
- Frosting -> app. 125 gr. powdered sugar and stir app. 3 tablespoons lemon juice, or other juice/liquid to
                     your taste.  The frosting can also be colored if desired

* Mix all of the ingredients into a dough
* Roll the dough up in ceran wrap and cool for about an hour
* Spread a little flour on your working area, roll out the first half of the dough with your rolling pin
* cut out individual shapes and place cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
* preheat oven to 350F and bake for about 10 minutes
* when cookies are cooled - spread frosting on the cookies, and - if desired this is the girls second favorite
   part - decorate them with colored sugar, sprinkles, etc.

Nikolaus

The girls have been attending the Sophie Scholl Samstagsschule since we have gotten back from Germany in late October.  It is a German immersion school and taught on Saturday's.  A couple weeks back, I posted pictures from the Laternen making day for St. Martin's.  Today, the children learned poems, and prepared for their special visitor Nikolaus.  In tradition of the celebration for St. Nikolaus Day (which is actually December 5th) each child took off a shoe and left it in the hallway.

And here look what happened....

a present in each shoe - one for each person from Nikolaus.

Nikolaus first visited the children.  The children recited poems in German for him, and St. Nikolaus also recited a German poem for the children "Tief vom Walde da komm' ich her..." Take a look

Nikolaus meets the children...

there he is..

Once Nikolaus left and went back into the Wald it was time for the children to take a look to see wether Nikolaus left them any presents.  And see how happy our girlies are...

Two very happy girlies.  And yes, their treats were Galactosemia "safe" - no chocolate but Gummibears, little oranges, nuts, and a pencil each.  Both were thrilled.  Alena did ask me later so "Mama, how did Nikolaus know that we cannot eat any Kuhmilch?" Hmmmm, I wonder how he knew ;)

As all of us went out to the suburbs today,  we decided to have lunch at McMennamins Cornelius Roadhouse.  It is basically just up the road from the school.  The girls shared a cheese less pepperoni pizza, and a basket of tater tots with plenty of honey mustard dressing.  

Oh, and if you are looking for the daily dinner picture - there will be none because the girlies ate their leftover pizza for dinner. Neither of the parental units needed any additional food today.  An off regular schedule day - but hey, it is the weekend....