ta name="google-site-verification" content="LnUtT_d1nKFEi6qCVRa2VtURKXcUowdpcm2UMwFTZUk" /> hummus recipes: July 2007

Monday, July 30, 2007

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

I just discovered a website called Savory San Francisco. I think it launched late last year. I think you could best describe it as a restaurant information site. I love that they have video blurbs about many of the restaurants - it really helps you get a feel for what a place is like, and it's great to hear the vision from the mouths of the owners and chefs. It reminds me of what they do on Check Please Bay Area.

Imagine if Yelp could figure out how to include videos with the reviews. Now, that would really be Useful.

They have sites for different cities, including New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia.

I tried to embed a video in this post about one of my favorite restaurants, Ame, but it wouldn't play. Wahhhhh, I am such a computer dork! So just go check it out for yourself on the website.

Enjoy!

Fowl Play

Christopher Walken - cooking! Now, if you didn't know who he was, this video would seem completely benign. But watch it and tell me you don't wonder if he shot that chicken's head off at point blank range, smiling his signature smile? He just can't help it - he has the unmistakable voice of a serial killer.

Oh, I do hope he becomes the next Food Network Star!

Be sure to watch all the way until the end to see the special visitor.

Drink Me, Eat Me

It seems as though I am always making lists for people. It's cool - I feel honored that they ask my advice on where to go about town. Here is one I made for Michael, on where to get a casual drink & nibbles near 1st & Market:

Otis - Maiden Lane
http://www.otissf.com/
- elegant atmosphere, uptown drinks

District - 3rd & Townsend
http://www.districtsf.com/
- new wine bar with small plates, cool decor

Salt House - Mission b/w 1st & 2nd
http://www.salthousesf.com/
- restaurant in an old printing warehouse - bar area with small plates, cool decor

TWO - Hawthorne Lane @ Howard
http://www.two-sf.com/home.html
- new restaurant that replaced the old Hawthorne Lane, great interior, excellent bar with happy hour menu

Cantina - Sutter b/w Mason & Taylor
http://www.cantinasf.com/
- new bar owned by Duggan MacDonnell, the bartender from Frisson - low key and nice staff

Hidden Vine - Post b/w Taylor & Trader Vic
http://www.thehiddenvine.com/
- cozy wine bar with a great cheese plate, excellent flights - in the bottom of a hotel

B-Bar & Restaurant - Yerba Buena Gardens
(no website)
- beautiful view, low-key but cool atmosphere. full bar with small plates.

Sugar Cafe - Sutter @ Taylor
http://www.sugarcafesf.com/
- great decor (Jonathan Adler meets the St. Regis), good nibbles, lots of room to sit - like a more casual version of the St. Regis

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Deep Throat

Being sick sucks. In fact, I'd go as far as to say it sucks balls. I have been stuck at home with strep throat for the past few days and I feel like I am in pergatory.

I used to get strep all of the time as a kid, so I know exactly what it feels like, and I knew I had it. Every time you swallow, it is like tiny knives are being unleashed inside your throat in a wild frenzy. It's awful. And nothing helps except getting started on antibiotics immediately. I called my doctor at 8:30 on Saturday morning, and he was kind enough to call in my prescription. That day, all I could eat was a bowl of soup, and it took me about 2 hours to get it down. Nothing feels good, not water, not tea, not honey - and sleep is difficult because the pain is always there. Did I mention that it sucks balls?

I talked to my friend Megan, and she says that she gets it all of the time now. That is so weird - is strep running rampant, after having been dormant during our high school and college years? It sounds like such an antiquated affliction, like scarlet fever and mumps, I would have thought we would have gotten rid of it by now. It's such a nasty little infection, so angry and hurtful.

I finally started getting some relief today. I have been using Vicks 44 Sore Throat Spray every few hours, as well as gargling with warm salt water, which helped a little. I usually try to avoid antibiotics, but I have to say they work like magic against strep. Today I had a smoothie, some risotto, and a few pieces of cheese on crackers. It's like being a child again, and learning how to eat solid foods.

I've gotten a lot of reading & laundry done, and watched a few movies that I had been meaning to see ("The Pursuit of Happyness" and "Junebug"), so it wasn't a total waste of time. However, after having to cancel all of my weekend plans, I am ready to be better and participate in life again. I am definitely not hard-wired to be a spectator.

Good Fortune

My friend Rich was visiting from Long Island with his parents and his 8-year-old daughter, Kate. They had hit all of the tourist stops in the city, so when I met up with them last week, I thought it would be fun to take them to Chinatown and the Golden Gate Cookie Factory. It was not that easy to find! It's on a little street called Ross Alley (between Jackson & Washington) and the place is really small, too. Once you find the street and start walking, you start to smell the fortune cookies, and then when you get there you have to kind of squeeze your way in to the front to see what is going on. It looks just like this picture (which I pulled off of the net, because they charge you $5 to take a photo in there).


There is an old man who pulls the fresh cookies right off of the machine and shows you how to fold them. You have to do this while they are still hot or they will break. The problem is, you kind of burn your fingers, and when your fingers stop hurting, the cookie is too cold and will break. Anyway, it's fun, and if you are lucky, you will get multiple tastes and even a chocolate fortune cookie. The old guy is adorable.

They sell them by the bag for around $7.00, as well as sesame cookies, giant fortune cookies, and "adult" fortune cookies.

This is definitely a unique place to take both locals and visitors.

So Cute, It Hurts

Babies are cute (sometimes), but baby animals are ADORABLE! This little guy melts my heart.

Friday, July 27, 2007

Spicy Oven Fried Chicken

I need a chicken recipe that doesn't need heating up before eating. Something easy to eat by hands. Something for a picnic. The people at Epicurious.com happened to read my mind and published a picnic menu with recipes. I'm making oven fried chicken. From the site's recipe review, people said it's too bland. So I'm adding a lot more spice to the thing.



Ingredients
  • 4 pounds chicken breast - cut into strips


  • Marinate

  • 2 cups buttermilk

  • 1 head garlic - chopped finely

  • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper


  • Batter

  • 3 cups bread crumbs

  • 2 teaspoons salt

  • 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano

  • 4 teaspoons dried basil


Directions
  1. Combine all ingredients for the marinate and stir chicken in the mixture. Cover and let refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

  2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil.

  3. Combine all ingredients for the batter. Dip chicken pieces into the bread crumb mixture and arrange on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked and golden brown.


These turned out awesome. Next time I have to remember to grease the foil a little since a few pieces of chicken stuck to the foil. The are crisp and spicy and delicious. Cayenne pepper added a perfect heat to basil and oregano. I might skip coriander seeds the next time. It's nice but I think oregano and basil are quite enough.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

A Tight Ship


I would not consider myself a "car person", but I love design and production. So I was pretty excited when I heard that we would be visiting Ingolstadt to have a private tour of the Audi factory which is headquartered there.

The 95 degree weather was not a friendly environment for the 2.5 mile walk around the campus. The place is enormous - we only saw a sliver of it in the several hours that we were there. My factory experience has been limited to textiles, garment manufacture and hardgoods, so this was light years beyond what I had ever seen, and very impressive. First of all, everything is automated. One building was run by 98% robots, 2% manpower. Station supervisors were positioned in pods above the production floor and observed the production on screens. Audi prides itself on quality, and there are a lot of quality checkpoints along the way to avoid any costly mistakes.

For all of the rules and regulations, I was surprised to find out that workers are allowed to drink beer on the job. They are just not allowed to be drunk. Who determines the difference? Is there "quality control" for that?

Afterwards, we were taken to lunch by one of the development managers, as well as a marketing director and the head of US dealerships. They had a lot of questions for us about the American perception of Audi, as they want to improve their market share here. I don't know if they liked what we had to say - really, we were being complimentary in saying that people who really know cars tend to choose Audi, whereas people who are more concerned with labels choose BMW or Mercedes. They consider those two brands their competition, but Americans don't have the same association with Audi. If they could create a more identifiable image (we LOVE buying into an image in our country - think Ralph Lauren and Apple), they would definitely realize more success, in my opinion.

Anyway, they are beautiful cars. My Dad loves his. Seeing the production line made me have full faith in owning one. I have to start saving my pennies for the Q7 - or get a job there, one of the two.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

A Tisket, A Tasket


Munich has a wonderful Farmer's Market on Saturday, near Marienplatz. It's large, and packed with people (who are either shopping or drinking beer at 10am, gotta love Germany). Somehow, it seems much more relaxed than French markets. In France, it seems that everyone is in some kind of race to get the best, freshest and last piece of cheese in the universe. Here, people browse, stop, taste, look, buy, move on. Even the vendors seem less uptight. Maybe it's all of that great beer.

One of the Bavarian specialty foods that surprised me were the radishes. In this photo, you can see them clearly displayed in front. They are enormous, served sliced in thin strips, which you eat sprinkled with salt. They are crunchy and light and tasty - a nice compliment to the rich meats and spreads on the plate.

There are restaurants among the food stalls at the market, so that you can really make a whole day of it. It's a very nice way to spend a Saturday, with family, friends, or on your own.

Candy Chameleon

Ich liebe marzipan! It's been one of my favorite candies since I was a young girl. Not only is it delicious, it can be made to look like anything. I fell in love with these adorable marzipan pigs at a store in Munich. I want to nuzzle them, and then bite off their little ears. Is that wrong?

My Cross to Bear

There is nothing, absolutely nothing better than a European pharmacy. Visiting one is like going to the doctor, without the long wait, old magazines, and high price tag. Every time I spot that wonderful neon-green cross, I feel like a wayward soul who has just found salvation. I swear, angels sing in those wonderful stores.


There are some major differences between American drugstores and European pharmacies. I will use Walgreens as an example.
  • In Europe, pharmacies sell two things. Drugs and beauty products. Not cosmetics, beauty products like lotions and sunscreen and cellulite reducing creams. Walgreens sells so many things they have labeled aisles like at the grocery stores, so that you can find "seasonal items", "cold remedies", and "school supplies" with ease. They sell so much crap, it is easy to forget what you went in there for, and if you leave with Barbie Pop Tarts and a talking fish, it's not really a surprise.
  • Over-the-counter medicines in America are on shelves just like everything else. So you spend hours trying to figure out which of the 15 kinds of cough syrup to take. In Europe, you immediately go to the counter where the pharmacist is waiting to talk to you, tell them what is wrong, and they immediately pull out the appropriate products (no prescription needed) to fix your problem. They would never assume that you have the capability to self-medicate.
  • European pharmacies are clean and beautiful. Like a mini high-end department store. I have yet to see a Walgreens without crap falling off of the shelves, and so many things on the front counter that you barely have room to put down your actual purchases. And because it's one-stop shopping (hey, slippers! 20-packs of batteries! An inflatable pool!), the lines are always excruciatingly long. Waiting for a prescription is the worst. I am surprised more people haven't died waiting in line for their pills.
  • Pharmacists in Europe all seem to be good-looking. Like Elizabeth Shue in "The Saint". Maybe they are another species, I don't know. They also seem to care what happens to you and take pride in their recommendations. My local pharmacist in San Francisco has a hair growing out of his chin that is longer than the hair on my head. It scares me.
I have been to many churches in Europe, and they are all beautiful. But my idea of heaven resides on almost every street corner, in the simple form of the pharmacy.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Me & My i-Pod

Everything, Everything by Underworld is one of my favorite albums to listen to on the Pod, especially while travelling. Every song is fantastic, including this track, Born Slippy.NUXX. Whether you are sitting in the back of a white van speeding by cow pastures, or on a train following the course of a river, put this on and there is a private rave raging in your head.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Save Me


This is what my family looks like after 2 days in the car together. I am the one on the right.

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Want to feel small? Take a trip down a mine shaft and drive around the internal tunnels of a century-old salt mine. It is like visiting another planet, and you quickly become aware of how dependent you are on others, as well as the basics of light, air, and protection. It is rare for people to see complete black, darkness without light. Your eyes strain to find light where there is none. I found that I could sympathize with poor Gollum, in the dark caves with only fish to eat and his "Precious" to keep him company.

This particular mine, in Sondershausen, used to be a primary resource for salt. But through the years it was over-mined, and now they have to fill the cavities to prevent the earth (and the town above) from sinking. Because of the natural property of salt to neutralize toxins, the mine has now become a depository for waste, delivered in bags and used to fill the holes. It has been a remarkable recovery over the years, with its dual purpose helping to rebuild what was there and at the same time help the environment by providing space for toxic waste.

It is impossible to imagine the vastness of the space until you see it. The mine has a full sized theater, bowling alley, and banquet halls that can hold hundreds of people at a time. It is used for conferences, weddings, sporting events and concerts - the acoustics are incredible.

The logistics of working underground are important to understand. The small elevators are the only means of transportation, so every piece of machinery, every candle, every lamp - goes down and stays down. In fact, the vehicles are transported in parts and built down there - when they are no longer functioning, they are stripped of their parts and put to the side. The only thing that comes up after going down are the humans.

After our tour and lunch, I was thankful to reach the surface, and now have such a different understanding of the world that lies beneath us.

Friday, July 20, 2007

This is Not Your Grandmother's Museum


When we visited the Jewish Museum in Berlin, I was struck by the fact the the way we visit a museum today has drastically changed from the stuffy and staid experiences of the past.

There is a movement towards architecture as an integral part of the experience. I think I first noticed this at the Tate Modern in London, and most recently at the deYoung in San Francisco. The buildings are no longer just a backdrop for the exhibits, but an experience in and of themselves. Daniel Liebskind has taken this one step further by using archictecture to evoke emotion directly tied to the subject matter, in this case the Holocaust, and then the history of Judaism.

On the Lower Level, you enter into a structure of intersecting angles and tilted planes. It immediately makes you feel ungrounded and a little strange.

Behind a large door is the Holocaust Tower, a 24-meter high space lit only by natural light, and unheated. Inside, staring at the high ceiling, in the cold and unadorned room, you get a sense of hopelessness and the futile feeling of entrapment. A tall steel ladder on the wall reaches high up, but ends without reaching the top. There are small glimmers of light above and peeking through holes in the wall, but the room is mostly dark, and even when there are people in there, you feel alone. You can hear people outside, but they seem very far away.


Outside is an installation called the Garden of Exile. 49 concrete columns are filled with earth and arranged on a slanted floor. As you walk through and around them, you occasionally see another person, which can be startling. Even though you are outside, it does not feel any more liberating than the tower, especially viewing the green branches which loom high above.

The other Holocaust installation that was very unique was by Menashe Kadisman, called "Shalechet". Approaching the exhibit, you hear loud clanking sounds, almost like a hammer on a metal surface - but they are irregular sounds. You enter into a large open room and see people walking on what appears to be metal disks.

When you get closer, you realize that the discs are actually abstract faces. In order to walk in the room, you have to walk on them. And when they touch each other, the metal upon metal makes a clanking sound. This was more powerful to me than looking at photograph upon photograph of concentration camp victims. It gave me a more personal connection to the vast numbers of people lost in the war, and brought to mind the question, "How could this happen?" in a much more profound way that in ever had before.


On the other two floors, there is a history of Judaism, which is also very interactive, which is definitely a trend in museums today. We live in a world of constant change and stimulus, this type of viewing is not only to keep the kids ADD in check, it works the same way for the adults. What you come away with a very individual experience and a sense of having participated in the subject matter rather than just having it shown or dictated to you. For me, this will stay with me for a very long time.



Coffee Chocolate Chip and Hazelnut Cookies

I'm moving up in the baking world. I got a cookbook! It's called "Cookies -- simple and delicious easy-to-make recipes." I found it in the second-hand bookstore on the way home from work. This recipe was rated very easy (out of easy, very, and extremely easy.) I reduced butter and sugar, used ground flax instead of bran, instant espresso powder instead of brewed coffee - and I got these....



Ingredients
  • 1 stick butter

  • 1/2 cup brown sugar

  • 1 egg

  • 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour

  • 1/2 cup wholewheat flour

  • 1 tablespoon ground flax seed

  • 2 cups oatmeal

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

  • 1 cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts


Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

  2. With electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg. Add coffee. Beat until well blended.

  3. In a separate bowl, whisk all purpose flour, wholewheat flour, ground fax, oatmeal, baking soda and salt together.

  4. Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips and hazelnuts.

  5. Roll the batter into balls, place them on the prepared cookie sheets. Flatten them with the palm of hand. Bake for 15-18 minutes. I baked mine for about 20 because I like my cookies crunchy. I got 32 cookies.


This is the first time I used hazelnuts. They have very strong nutty smell - kind of competing with coffee/chocolate. The cookies came out nice - not too sweet and very very crunchy. I think I left the nuts too chunky. Will pay more attention chopping then the next time.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

I'm Melting

Question: If you are on a family vacation, how long does it take before people start breaking down and eventually have a meltdown?

Answer: 4 days

It's a fact.

When in Berlin


Before we left, I looked at the travel section of the New York Times online for information on the cities we would be visiting on this trip. They have a series of articles called "36 Hours in [insert name of city here]" which is great - highlighting the best hot spots and giving real (not guidebook) descriptions of them. We consulted the article on Berlin to find a restaurant for dinner last night, and it worked out really well - we were in a completely non-touristy neighborhood in a great restaurant that was incredibly reasonable and offered a very tasty menu. And it was not translated into German, so our waiter kindly went through ever dish and described them in detail.

Here are a few photos from Schneewiess, in the Friedrichshain district (similar to the Lower East Side in NYC). I highly recommend it and will definitely return there on my next visit to Berlin.


Tag, You're It







As in most cities in Europe these days, there is a fair amount of grafitti around town, especially in the artists' districts. Here are some of the best ones I have seen this trip, mostly from Mitte, near where we are staying.

That's my brother Jonn with the Bunny-lady, who we have seen in several cities now.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Peach Crisp

I have a recipe clipping! The one and only clipping! Since I don't subscribe to any cooking magazine or any newspaper, there isn't much chance I clip anything. But this recipe was from AM New York, the free newspaper you get in the morning on the way to the subway. I got this recipe way before I started baking a lot. This was probably the only baking I had done before I bought a KitchenAid mixer and went crazy starting in the middle of June last year.

The recipe was for Apple-Cranberry Crisp for Thanksgiving. I'm making my peach crisp based from this recipe - with a lot of changes.... well - now that I'm a little experienced - I know that crisp is very forgiving and usually way too sweet for my taste.



Ingredients
  • 6 peaches - cut into chunks

  • 1 cup oatmeal

  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour

  • 1/4 cup raw sugar

  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1/4 cup butter - chilled - cut into small chunks

Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

  2. Throw the fruit in ungreased medium size (2.2 qt.) Pyrex dish. I sprinkled 2 teaspoon of my fiber supplement on top of the fruit to help increase my fiber intake... and to help congeal any liquid coming out of the fruit from the heat.

  3. In a medium bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients together. Rub the mixture by hands until we get coarse meal. Sprinkle this over the fruit and bake for 35 to 50 minutes depending on how mush you want the fruit to be. I like mine still crisp so I baked for 35 minutes.




I eat this with unsweetened yogurt for breakfast. It feels very healthy with lots of fruit and fiber from my supplement and oatmeal. It's also delicious. The quarter cup of butter goes a long way in this recipe.

Have We Met Before?



Arriving in Berlin is like meeting a new best friend. You know that you instantly value the same things, and you don't feel like you have to prove anything to each other. There is an instant comfort level there that can sustain passionate conversation or long moments of silence.

Everything is straightforward in this city, which is such a refreshing change from other cities that seem to put forward such an opulent facade that you have to dig to find the heart and soul of the culture. Not so Berlin. From the architecture, to the fashion to the attitudes of the people, everything is minimal with an equal dose of form and function. The past and the present seem to sit with each other very respectfully, neither one vying for center stage. There is beauty and elegance for sure, but none of it seems gratuitous or misplaced.

One thing that I really love is the architecture. I have not been in a city with so much contemporary architecture on such a wide scale, and I love it. Most of it is very linear using materials and colors that both contrast and compliment each other.

Berlin is huge, 8 times the size of Paris. With only 2 full days here, we will not be able to explore all of it. But I will be back to visit this new friend again, and I am looking forward to a lifetime of getting to know one another.




Monday, July 16, 2007

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Chai Latte Cupcakes

I have been meaning to bake this since I saw this post at Laurie's Kitchen. I'm taking just Chai spice mix and using my favourite vanilla cupcake recipe. The frosting will be just simple whipped cream - just like latte!



Ingredients

  • Chai Tea

  • 5 bags of Chai tea

  • 1 1/2 cups soy milk


  • Chai Spice

  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamon

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

  • 1/4 teaspoon ground clove


  • Cupcakes

  • 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 2 sticks butter - room temperature

  • 2 cups sugar

  • 4 eggs


  • Whipped Cream

  • 2 cups heavy cream - chilled

  • 1/4 cup confectioner sugar


Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with liners.
  2. Make chai tea, boil soy milk with tea bags on medium heat. Stir occasionally until we have strong brewed tea - about 2 minutes. Let cool.

  3. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and all the Chai spices.

  4. With electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Beat well after each addition. Add vanilla extract.

  5. Alternately stir flour mixture and Chai soy milk into the butter mixture in 3 batches.

  6. Drop by tablespoon into lined muffin pan up to 3/4 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Let cool.

  7. Make whipped cream by beating heavy cream with cleaned electric mixer, fist at low speed and slowly increasing the speed until the cream forms stiff peak. Slowly add sugar. Beat until well combined. Drop by teaspoon over cooled cupcakes.

  8. Make 24 cupcakes.


These cupcakes came out very nice and spicy. The whipped cream was a little too light for the cakes. I might try spiced butter cream next time.

Until We Meet Again


This is a very good but very heavy book written by a woman who was sent to Auchwitz and escaped. It details her experinece there, and about what happened after the war when communism became rampant in Prague. This is the British version that a I found at a used bookstore - I believe there is an American version that was published under a different name.

It's one of those books that is a reminder that the people who went through the war were just people - they did their best, there were no miracles, and sometimes they made mistakes. Some lucky ones survived and some did not, and there was no rhyme or reason to any of it. Survival means different things to different people, and you cannot predict how you will handle a situation until you are in it, lofty though your beliefs may be. And when your humanity has been stripped, how you view the world and the people in it is forever changed - but what does not change is our basic needs in life - to have food, shelter, a mate, children, and good things for our families.

Ascent to Heaven, One Step at a Time


St. Vitus cathedral on the grounds of Prague Castle is incredible to see. It is definitely something to do on a visit to Prague. The sheer size of it is overwhelming, and for lovers of Gothic Architecture, there are plenty of flying butresses and gargoyles to satisfy you.

You can climb up to the top tower to have a magnificent view of the city. Despite the 95 degree day, some of us thought that this was a great idea. 200 steps of a winding stone staircase...sure!


About 100 steps into it, with the cool air disappearing and the steps seeming steeper with every turn, I was about to give up and turn back. The worst part was when some of the lights were burned out and you couldn't see the narrow stairs or if someone was in front of you, behind you, or descending the stairs right next to you. All I could hear was my own heavy breathing. A French woman was right behind me, and somehow we became partners on this long journey.

Encouraging each other, we rested together when we needed to, and finally reached the summit. What a great feeling! We hugged when we got to the top.

Of course, the views were totally worth it. In this one, you can see the Charles Bridge.


Going down was much easier, of course. I was so glad that I had done it. As I was gathering with my family at the base of the cathedral, the French woman found me and introduced me to her husband. We smiled at each other and hugged again, and as she left, my mother asked me if I had run into someone I knew. I just smiled and said no, she was just on the stairs with me. It was too hard to explain. We had shared something unique, a moment in time when another person's smile can make the impossible seem possible.

The Writing on the Wall


We woke up early this morning so that our cousin Jana could take us on a tour of several synagogues in the Jewish ghetto. The first one we visited, Pinkas synagogue, is a memoriam to the 80,000 men, women and children of Bohemia and Moravia who died in the Holocaust. In the 1950's, the names of each one of these people was inscribed on the wall, with their date of birth and date of death.


Normally when you visit a site that honors a tragic event in history, you have a sense of compassion, but from the distanced view of your modern life. In this place, there are the names of four of our family members on the wall. Seeing those names - suddenly, we were no longer removed from the event, but a part of it. The feeling when you see it is hard to describe. I was very moved, and deeply saddened. I can only imagine how Jana felt, seeing the names of those so close to her and being reminded of that time once again.

All in the Family

One of the most meaningful things about coming to Prague has been getting to meet some of our extended family. On Saturday we had a reunion at the hotel, with speeches, introductions and gift-giving. As my brother correctly said, it was more of a union than a reunion. Despite language and cultural differences, it felt that we already knew each other.


We all met at a traditional Czech restaurant for dinner, which was very unique. There were 30 of us in our own room, with its own bar and piano player. It felt like we had stepped back in time at least a century. This was a great find, recommended by a friend of my dad's who had lived in Prague. Thank god we went here, and not to one of the other group-friendly restaurants that we had seen on line, which all looked like they were straight out of Medieval Times. This place, whose name translates to be The Blue Duckling, offered a charming experience all around.


Dinner was an experience - not everything was to everyone's liking, but I loved it all - probably a testament to the fact that I was meant to be a fat hausfrau in another life. Czech food is very rich and not for the calorie-conscious. The restaurant did a great job with our meal, keeping the wine flowing and the courses well-prepared. They even made a special vegetarian meal for my brother Josh. Our first course was pork knuckle, which tastes like ham.


For our second course, we had liver-dumpling soup, which was heavy with oil but very, very tasty. Just the kind of thing that would fortify you on a cold winter's night.



The main course was a dish that you see on a lot of Czech menus - duck leg with dumplings and sauerkraut. It's very similar to duck confit. As a dumpling fan, I was excited to try the dumplings, but these are not the doughy filled kind that you would expect, and I didn't like them. However, the duck and sauerkraut were delicious.


Dessert was these sweet pancake-like cakes with a blueberry yogurt sauce on top.


It was wonderful to enjoy this home-style meal in such an intimate setting. Going from table to table, you could hear stories being told by different members of the family, from all generations. This was definitely a night to remember.