Already Growing Out of Clothes

Thank you Sarah for the awesome sweater and jeans. He's just starting to grow out of his newborn clothes and into his cute cute 3-6 month clothes. He's only 2 and a half months, but he's such a long child it's hard to find clothes that feel tight around the waist and don't flood - both ankles and wrists. He's sure gaggling a lot with us now, and it's easier to have a smiling contest with him, but he's still content just to kick around. He hasn't rolled anywhere yet. It's probably a good thing too, or I'd worry about putting him on my computer desk while I work. I'm right next to him, but it'd make life harder than it already is trying to do stuff while he's awake.
Germany is getting colder every day. It still hasn't become bitter cold, but we bundle up before we go out. I'm excited to go out today. My friend Charlotte is going to pick me up so we can go look at some second hand furniture. It'll be so great. She raves about this place. She checks it every day and often finds these gorgeous antique tables, wardrobes, etc for dirt cheap. By the way, wardrobes are an essential here. All my childhood I thought they were just a relic of the past, but when you don't have built in closets, you gotta hang your clothes somewhere. I like it so much, I think I wouldn't mind a home later without built in closets – wardrobes can be so much prettier, and you can move it around the room just as you please. Just remember, never shut yourself into a wardrobe, always leave the door cracked. . .

My little Cutie

Well, I've been told that those who know us just can't get enough pictures of the little guy so I took some this morning. I like this one a lot. It just goes to show that what they can't do at night, they can do mid morning. I'm trying to get him to go down in his crib at night, but he just ends up staying awake longer. It'll take a while, but he'll learn. He makes such great cooing noises and smiles back at us now. He makes us so happy. . . I've been wanting to upload video lately, but I need a firewire cable. That means a walk to Promarkt, and I've got too many other things to do lately. I've almost solved the problem, but it might be a few more days until you guys see the fruit. Anyway, the weather is cold and often overcast with a little wind thrown in. I love it. I always enjoyed these "gloomy" days more than the hot and sweaty sunny ones. My favorite sky is a deep blue autumn one or a partly cloudy stormy one. I have to admit those Texas sunrises were gorgeous, but not quite worth the heat+humidity. Give me the dank and dreary fall days. That's for me.

The Packages Came!

You see a picture today because our packages came in the mail. Yay! Within them was the cable that allows me to upload images to my compy. Here you see George and Joe sleeping together. Aww! Cute! The kicker is that this is during the last half of the last session of conference. Naughty! (The afternoon sessions are 10pm to midnight here, so don't be too hard on them!)

Germany, thank you for not smoking

Ok, I've been waiting for a picture, but I think it's going to take too long to wait for the cable to hook my camera to my compy. . . . The title today doesn't really encapsulate my experience here at all. I'm just sitting here at my compy next to a window that should be open to prevent mildew but usually ends up closed because of a chain smoker who lives right belos us. It's rather annoying, not to mention it tends to scare away the five or six bunnies that like to come and munch on the lawn out back. The black forest is beautiful, and right outside our window. The 3rd of October is German unity day (when west Germany and east Germany reunited), and everything was closed so George and I went walking. We felt like Hansel and Gretel. We found one of those signs that shows you what flora and fauna are in the wilds you are walking in. Although the fauna listed were surprising (including foxes, eagles, and wild boars) the flora were even more so – and amusing. The sign listed 9 or 10 different kinds of mushrooms. Which tasted good, which tasted bad, and which killed you. Later we saw an older-than-us couple out walking with a bag strike off the path . . . mmmmmmmm

One Month and Counting

If you'll kindly notice, this email is being posted around 2am. Yes 2am feedings are very real. (I like it better when he sleeps from 10 to 6, but we can't have it all). Here's the little guy on Sunday the 16th. We're in the throes of packing, during which Joe likes to sit on his "throne" and watch or fall asleep. International moves are crazy. Just don't get planes and customs involved, ok? In any case, little Joe's really rather cute, even if he is a little (ok, a VERY lot) irritated when mommy has dairy. We'll try having dairy again in a week or two (. . . when it's yummy European dairy. . . mmmmm). I'm going to get better with the camera, and get more of our story out, illustrated and all. Maybe with the video camera!

New Arrival

Here he is! Joseph Dale Edwin Bailey. 7 lbs. 14 oz. and 21.5 in. long. Mom and baby are home now, but with certain restrictions on holding time (Joe's got jaundice and needs time under uv light– we can't fit in the suitcase with him so it's been renamed "the toture box"). He's eating well and is very strong. He'll hold his own head up often. He might just take over the blog for a while.

Okay, so I typed in Reubens before Jaime . . . so what?

As I was putting in recipes this morning, I felt more inclined to grab the Russian sauce recipe than the Thai salad dressing. So sue me. I told Aunt Barbru I'd post it anyway. Note to her - just omit the horseradish and you'll get what you ate a couple of weeks ago (love you!). I've gotta remember to stick them in the toaster oven, they're so much nicer and crispier. Anyway, here's our Reuben menu:
Reuben's with Russian Sauce
Creamy Veggie Soup (usually doubled or tripled)
Pickles for everyone
Chocolate Almond Torte with Strawberry Sauce.

So here goes.

Reubens with Russian Sauce
Reubens influenced by internet research
Russian Sauce from The Joy of Cooking

Rye bread (we like dark)
Russian Sauce (see below) - half a recipe will cover 4 sandwiches, it’s a good dipping sauce too
Corned Beef (freshly deli sliced is worth the extra cost) - about 6 oz. per sandwich
Sour sauerkraut (jar, not can, and drained really well - we weight it down on top by putting as many cans as we can in a bowl pressing it down through the strainer) - be very generous. We use about 3/4 of a big jar on 4 sandwiches
Swiss cheese (deli is best, but hey, we’re all on a budget) - about 3 or 4 slices per sandwich
Butter

Serve with Creamy Veggie Soup and a dill pickle (one’s enough)

Russian Sauce:
Combine:
1 cup mayonnaise
*2 Tbs grated horseradish
*2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup chili sauce *and* ketchup *combined *(if wanted hotter more chili to ketchup ratio, if milder . . )*
*2 tsp grated onion
*a few Tbs chopped parsley
*they also list caviar as optional. We’re not that free with our food money yet, but we’d love to try it.

1. I lay out all the bread and do the same thing to each slice (so your Reuben ends up Palindromic - bread, sauce, beef, cheese, sauerkraut, cheese, beef, sauce, bread). Be generous with the sauce. About two or three slices of corned beef on each slice. About 2 slices of swiss, then pile on the kraut.
2. Slap those suckers together. Butter generously one side of the bread and put the sandwich, butter side down on a preheated grill. Do with all the sandwiches you can fit on your grill, butter side that’s up at the time and try to flip only once.
3. Put in an oven or in a toaster oven on toast to make sure the sauce and juice of the kraut don’t make the bread soggy and finish melting the swiss, making for a nice, crispy, melted, delectable Reuben. Enjoy with your soup and pickle. The Chocolate Almond Torte with Strawberry Sauce is a great dessert for this meal (and kosher too).

Creamy Vegetable Soup (For Reubens)
From The Joy of Cooking

2 Tbs butter
1 1/4 Tbs flour
1 1/2 c. vegetable stock *chicken stock*
1/2 c. cream or stock *whatever on hand, we usually use milk*
*1 1/2 - 2 potatoes (midsized) diced and steamed
*3 carrots diced and steamed
*1/2 c. corn - frozen works
*1 onion, sautéed well
2 Tbs. chopped parsley

1. Melt butter, add and stir flour until blended. Add and stir stock until smooth.
2. Bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes. Lower the heat and add: cream or stock and steamed vegetables.
3. Heat thoroughly. Don’t boil if adding cream *(It makes a skin on top)* Parsley is a garnish. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Chocolate Almond Torte with Strawberry Sauce
From Christina’s searching on the internet for Passover recipes

1 1/4 cup sugar
1 cup margarine, softened
4 eggs, separated
2 1/4 cups almonds, sliced, blanched
7 oz. unsweetened chocolate

Sauce:
2 cups strawberries, frozen, unsweetened
1 cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 300.
2. Line the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan with wax paper; grease paper. With blender, mix sugar and margarine until fluffy. Add egg yolks. In a food processor, process almonds and chocolate until finely ground. Stir into sugar mixture.
3. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites to stiff peaks. Mix 1/3 whites into batter. Gently fold in remaining whites. Spread batter into pan, smoothing top. Bake about 1 1/2 hours, until top springs back. Cool for 10 minutes before releasing.

Sauce: thaw and puree 2 cups frozen unsweetened strawberries. In small saucepan, combine 1 cup sugar and puree. Simmer 3 minutes. Cover and cool.

Place sauce on plate. Place torte on top. Garnish with fresh strawberries.

Have fun!