We got back from Italy last night. It took us about an hour to unload the car and find places to stow to the olives and biscotti and other treats we’d bought at a supermarket near the Austrian border. Even the drive home was amazing. We drove through Sudtirol, crossing the Dolomites. This part of …
If a local tells you that you must get up at half past five to drive for an hour so you can have a bath, your best course of action is to believe her. Our friend Sabine said we needed to be there at daybreak and repressing our skepticism, we believed her. It was in …
We spent our first night in Tuscany at the home of an old friend of a friend, Hannes, and his wife, Margit. They have a midsized farm where they rent out holidaycottages and they grow olives for oil. Shortly after we arrived we were in the barn helping Hannes clean the leaves out of that …
Last year when Christian and Sabine tried to take us on a little walking tour of their nearby city, Steyr, it poured with rain. Instead of sightseeing, we ate cookies and read books to their little girls and frittered away the afternoon in a gemuetlich (cozy) way. This year we did that too, but in …
Sunday morning we went up the hill to have a little lunch and to hang out with some folks who own a restaurant up there. The husband has been friends with these folks, well, forever, the way you are friends with people in a small town where you all go to tiny schools together. It’s …
Christmas eve Cream of leek soup with toasted brown bread croutons Warm rolls right out of the oven Beet salad with horseradish dressing Green salad with pumpkin seed oil dressing Deviled eggs with anchovies Paper thin slices of ham with rosemary Smoked saibling (lake trout?) from the Grundlsee Tomato and garlic bruchetta spread Brie, blue …