Johannes kocht

Just got home from a day of talking about cooking, cooking some of what I had talked about, then eating some of what I had talked about :-) Can I hear Uli, and Andrea, saying, "More about food - his blog is full of it."? But then Frances and Barbara like reading about what 'we' Germans like to eat!

At the end of my last German lesson, Frau Fox gave me a cook book about autumn recipes. Nice of her. I read it over the next few days and learnt some new 'cooking' words. I told Oldie Hermann about this, so he invited me to learn to cook a traditional dish today - as a starter.

I arrived equiped with newish apron from some nice people in Hungary, and got to work at once. Hermann sat down and acted as advisor throughout. Here is a photo of me attacking the Sunday roast. It was 'Schweinebraten' cooked in water, condiments and sliced onions to spice up the gravy.

I then cooked 'Saurkraut' purchased recently in Poland. The best! I learnt which spices, leaves, condiments to add and even a little sugar at the end to take off the 'sharp' taste. To this I added simple boiled potatoes. Liquid from the roast was thickened with gravy powder and a few more condiments - and that was it. Onto the table, plates and off we went. Delicious!

Next week I am going to practice 'Kartoffel-Pilz-Auflauf' before trying 'Wirsingauflauf' to which I shall invite Hermann to taste. Guten Appetit! Between this I have a full week of teaching, oldie group activities, a photo session with Sylke, concert at the Komische Oper, finding my warm winter clothes - and cleaning the windows!