Oh...The Power and Price of Strudel

 Another lazy 12:30 wake up. Detailed my bathroom and collected fresh sheets and towels for the week from the jolly laundry lady. The only plan for today: Strudel at Café Meyer. Maya and I spent the day walking the trails taking pictures posing in silly photo shoots and enjoying the sunny forest scenery. She hasn’t seen the trails yet so I took her to all my favorite spots and we found a few more spot s to explore... And some not to try ever again. One spot especially was so sunny and inviting we decided to brave the prickly little bushes. No problem, we can do it… Of course. It is just branches and tall grass and pine tree babies… Then the squelching… then the foot several inches deep in marshy ground my toes surrounded by cold muddy water… ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh!!!! No sun is worth the squelch. .. At least I was wearing sandals, poor Maya had on sneakers. We vacated the area immediately squeaked and squished our way back to the hotel. Dinner and showers... we were ready for some strudel and coffee.

Light jackets and a couple Euros we huffed our way up the hill and past the cows and up to Café Meyer…

 Only to find it closed till Saturday.

Boo

So what to two American girls decide to do at 7 pm when they are craving apple strudel? Walk to Sonthofen. The sun was setting the lighting lovely and the walk energizing. Forty-five spur-of-the-moment minutes later we were walking toward the restaurant ready to devour some dessert. The kaffee macchiato and apfel strudel mit sahne (strudel with whipped cream) arrived and was gone in no time. We were satisfied and happy. And I found my new favorite spoon. bent at the perfect spot to stand on my glass... I've never met a sppon as intriguing as this before and will try ti find a pack to bring back home !

The one goal of the day met and the rest of the evening to relax and go to the lobby. It wasn’t as good as Café Meyer, but it certainly hit the strudel spot! But it was gone… And so were our Euros… and it was dark… and there was The Hill of steepness… yeah… spur of the moment decisions doesn’t really take darkness or The Hill of steepness into consideration.

No more Euros and the weak light from my little Nokia phone could only do so much. It certainly wasn’t the brightest moment of my life (pun intended). We climbed up the hill when we saw cars come down the hill and used our other senses to keep ourselves on the road and not on anything squishy. We couldn’t see the crap beneath our feet nor the steepness of The Hill… It was only felt, the stars too far to help, creepy branches to ignite imaginations... the complete and utter darkness… well… all of that helped us walk just a little bit faster than usual. The calves are getting better and my lungs not burning as much. Improvements are good…. And after tonight a little wisdom gain about the repercussions of going to great lengths for a slice of strudel.. Next time I’ll stick to the coffee and cookies in my room.

Tomorrow… back to work. I have two more days in Saucier. I aim to make these last two the best two. Tonight I will give my knives a little boost with the ‘ole steel and my body an early tuck in for the night hopefully to result in a proper sleep. Tomorrow I start at 12:45… Sunday 8 Am. I can do it :) 7 weeks and 6 days to go.

Time is flying… slowly

Well... At least my clothes are soft

Apparently they speak more than just English in space. I was watching Spock talk to Dr Bones

… in German.

Indeed.

                I woke up around 12. No alarm = glorious rest. Just me and sleep and a strange dream of being in my neighbor’s car and trying to find the footless woman we had bumped into (into her car – we weren’t the reason for her footless state… but that doesn’t matter and I digress). I didn’t mind waking up and making myself a cup of instant coffee. Another successful load of laundry… well almost. I am sticking with the option for Dunklewash, but today I found out I have been washing my laundry with fabric softener… not detergent (I thought my clothes felt irresistibly cozy and the liquid unusually unsoaplike). But during this successfully softened yet unsuccessful soaped laundry time I finally removed the pile of dust from the corner of my room.  I know I know… I should have given it more time for some more impressing growth, but my mommy didn’t approve of this venture. I currently have my softened clothes hanging from every open shelf in my room (still too scared to conquer the drier).

Lunch with a friend, rode with said friend and Maya to Sonthofen to buy some real laundry detergent and bought some snackage for my shelves. We dedicated the day to find international calling cards, but apparently they don’t exist here… The Germans here don’t want to talk to America. Oh well it was worth the effort… 4weeks and 1 day down. 7 weeks 6 days to go. But the coffee macchiato with amaretto syrup and the pizza at Café Orange helped. Today’s pizza: cheese corn, artichokes, peppers, onions, and pepperchinis… I requested no egg or mushrooms. They invent interesting pizza combinations but next time I am going to try the intriguingly names “Flipper” with thunafisch :). Full and happy we made our way back up The Hill. We made good time… We have been doing much better on The Hill. The Hill still involves wheezing, but The Hill isn’t as intimidating as before. But I will always call it The Hill. Note capitalization in effort to reflect the intensity of The Hill…. Yes… The Hill it is.

Upon our return, more German TV channel surfing. The infomercial of the day: An incredible oven that you can put frozen meat into… No seasoning required! In no time you have a deliciously brown and succulent feast of steak, chicken or even a pork roast… Maybe the new Thanksgiving Day saver! Oh and somehow the rice and healthy selection of vegetables appear readily in front of this machine when you come home from a long day of work! I moved onto other programming: Soccer! This needs no translation. In fact with mute and ITunes, it made for a great game… If only I had a good sausage and beer to go with it. Next time for sure! Goodness, I am sounding a bit manly, maybe I should buy some nail polish on my next trip into the city?… Nah… I still can never have enough chocolate and enjoy smelling like a grapefruit or a summer breeze… especially right now with my newly softened laundry.

So Clean I'm Squeaking

It feels so good to see the end of today. Sitting in the smoking room with all the other people sipping on the glass of beer and knowing that tomorrow, oh tomorrow I am free. (Thank God!) This has definitely been the longest week! Tonight, went pretty well (plating middle course, but this time with communication). My favorite part had to be the first few steps out in to the night air. Those steps just made my night… then I felt cold… and then I started to huff up the hill (Still working on those calves). I scrubbed all the kitchen grime, washed, rewashed, and washed again (I am currently grapefruit scented) to remove all signs of food play. (I’m so clean I’m squeaking!)  Tomorrow, tomorrow, how lovely to know it is tomorrow. What am I going to do with tomorrow? Definitely laundry (I have at least four 50 euro cents for back up!), clean my floor (As intriguing as the dust in the corner is…. I will remove it), go to Sonthofen (get out of here!), and hopefully find myself some pizza (tonight’s craving)… Hmmm…(look at all those parentheses… I use them and ellipsises a lot… but they help me visualize my pauses and train of thought… if that makes sense)

Today I did a little more channel flipping, but it was all financial talk or a fascinating German infomercial for an incredibly nifty hedge trimmer (it comes in lime green too!). Fascinating, but my eyes were too heavy to lift any more. I slept... Oh yes. Out in minutes... SO well and so deep that I woke up panicking, thinking that I slept through my alarm. Nope. I still had an hour to go. My moment of panic woke me up enough to get out of bed and sit some more in the sun ( trying to work on my paleness) with a cup of coffee and an amusing podcast ( If you don’t listen to This American Life… I highly recommend it for long stays in foreign countries :))

I’m officially 17 minutes into my free day how exciting not to dread going to bed! The people upstairs can laugh and sound like hyenas all they want since 6:45 AM isn’t going to see this one all morning cranky! Then again… everyday that I’ve gotten up early there seems to be a thicker fog over the Alps… Maybe I’ll just pop out for a quick picture... but no promises…

Today’s dinner consisted of potato salad, pretzels, and hotdogs… Back home hotdogs are generally a last resort meal… They are something easy to cook, inexpensively fulfill a meat need, and something to quickly fill an empty stomach. But the ones here…. They aren’t just any hotdog. They taste like meat and have a lovely snap when you bite down on them. I slice the thickest part of my pretzel and it perfectly snuggled my tube-steak (as my father so elegantly likes to call them). It truly is some tasty stuff. I am not a huge hotdog fan. Generally back home I cover them with the ketchup and mustard to give them some sort of flavor and sometimes add chips for some sort of interesting texture, but the ones here are good as is. The toppings are an added bonus. (Mustard here is quite tasty… not the French’s yellow, vinegary crap!) I am overall really enjoying the variety of tube shaped meat here. Every day I try to find one I haven’t tried yet. Some not so good… other incredible. But the snap and balanced flavors have certainly changed my opinion on the hotdog matter.

My yawns are growing in their intensity and length and making me squint so as to no longer be able to see what I am typing… Yup… they are that intense. Oh… Five in a row… queuing me to stop here.

Dust Bunnies and Japanese Mothers... Don't know which one is more interesting

Today I received another gift: a tv. The receiver is in and I have about 300ish channels…It felt good to hold a remote :) In my initial channel flipping I discovered that just like back home Germany has a variety of awkward infomercials and its own version of Judge Judy, an odd artsy channel, and a variety of programming all dubbed into: German… go figure… I discovered the BBC World News channel. And some other English channels even Al Jazeera.  The most I got out of them was that in Japan there is a network of 5000 mothers on Twitter who check for proper radiation levels in the places their children play in… And Germany is trying to decide whether or not to help Greece… I’ll have to do some more channel exploration when I have time.

Another day… more meat and more fish… I am getting better preparing the schnitzel :),  prepped another tenderloin, transferred to Garde Manger to prep salad items, went back to trim fish and duck breasts, back to make antipasto. Then left to enjoy my afternoon break with a quick introduction to my tv ( this is when I discovered the riveting information about the Japanese mothers) and walked over for coffee at a friend’s house. We sat outside in the sun on the grass and were joined by another girl from the hotel. The two of them talked quite a bit in German and it was funny how often I was able to know the subjects involved in the conversations and yet have no context. Only thing I was able to fully decipher: food.  They saw the effort in my face and then translated. It was refreshing, the coffee delicious, and the sun energizing. German language or not it was lovely and so good to get out.

For tonight Saucier was full of people so I worked the desserts station. Took some time to learn the new words but it was fun to quenelle sorbets and send off plates of chocolate mousse. The chef of that station speaks almost perfect English… communication was flowing and made for a good night of jokes and sweet treats. The waiters and waitresses had a little more time and attempted to speak English to me throughout the night. I don’t know what to expect for tomorrow, but it is my last day before my “weekend”… Allow me to dance a little in my seat. I plan on sleeping in reeeaally late :)

On my walk back from my coffee date I noticed a subtle change. The trees are starting to turn. I walked a little more and saw an entirely orange tree... the one next to it: going yellow. Fall is starting and I didn’t even see it sneaking up. I am excited to see a red version of Alps and I think I have somewhat acclimated to the weather. It is still cold but when I walk back at night I’ve been skimping on the number of jackets / sweaters…. I can see my breathe, but it isn’t as bad.. or maybe it’s my new pair of “Ugs.” Here my mother is wincing for I know how much she hates Ugs.. but I got them on sale and dispite their lack of elegance they definitely keep the toes cozy. Last week when we walked to Sonthofen we had a mini shopping spree… some scarves, the Ugs, and some sweaters as well as a handy dandy little backpack to make carrying everything up the hill a little easier. Oh and a broom… I don’t think I mentioned that? If not ignore, but yes, we bought a broom to share. We had to buy it before our dinner so it was slighty awkward sitting at a table a long broom handle on my right, but the store would have been closed and we were hungry. Only downside we didn’t get the dust pan I know I can get a piece of cardboard or the one in the laundry room downstairs, but the bum in me is piling it all in a corner for now. I am somewhat intrigued to see how big I could make it…hmmmm.... quite intrigued

Hiccups

I was sitting outside during my break.  I made myself a cup of tea with my new pot and green mug, munched on a few cookies, wiggled my shoes-free toes, and closed my eyes. Ignoring the front door 2 steps away, the little cigarette butt / trash shoot at the corner of my “porch-ish” area, and the smell of fish I can’t seem to ever get off my hands. It could have been FL: Caedmon’s Call in my ears, sunshine, feeling hot and starting to sweat… except no lizards or ants, or random unwelcome bugs. I probably should have taken a nap or washed my floors, but it felt too good to leave. I soaked up as much as I could as long as I could because I know there won’t be many days like this for long.

 Someone decided to have a party upstairs… Almost went up but my bed had too much of a pull and I passed out. “Yay,” for successful sleep. I woke up a little earlier and popped into the shower. Hot water and good face scrub and I was quite a bit more alert than yesterday. It’s been an interesting few days in Saucier. The chef was coming in later so one of the interns was in charge… She didn’t speak much English, had me work on schnitzel and mirepoix and then sent me over to Garde Mange to help someone else. Saucier has been great and it’s also been frustrating. I know there is so much for me to learn, but the job needs to be done faster and the English / German barrier is defiantly the main hiccup. One moment I am standing around feeling like I am taking up space, next minute I have a knife in hand terrified and a few minutes later I am keeping up with the line. It’s the chopped liver moments that drain my gusto to return after my 3 hr break. At least I get to see the Alps in their full glory surrounded by fog in the morning and brightened with sunshine in the afternoon.

But the night work round… Not so good today. It started off pretty well. Set up the station and had a smiling German by my side… Then the plating started and everything just went downhill. We were working on the middle course together. Six components and fairly simple to put together, The downfall: communication. I completely understand why the guy wasn’t talking…he was focused and I was a background noise. I understand the language barrier, but it shouldn’t be a problem if both people follow a pattern and system…. That didn’t happen and when I asked questions I didn’t get a yes, no or even a head nod. I felt like quite the dweeb. They were all talking to each other and I was left to put together the few words I did know. Things to do and no flow to do them. With the organization went my joy. I know, I know I should have shrugged it off and moved on, but It was one of those nights I just stayed annoyed and frustrated. I allowed myself to simmer and here I am sitting, happy to be out of the kitchen but singed from the disappointing results.

Oh well 

 But tomorrow is a new day. Another 8 Am… more meat, more fish and a chance to make up for today. And hopefully something more interesting to tell.

Losing the Fear of Meat

I don't know how much I'll be able to write in the next few days... My free day is Thursday and it feels like it will never get here.

I am really, really struggling to sleep at night. I keep getting up and looking at my clock and its usually 4:30-50 zone AM. It isn't people partying above me or anything like that, it is just me and my tossing and turning and trying to get myself to pass out. Yesterday was my first day of the new shift time. Show up at 7:45 work till 1 then come back to work at 4:45 and stay till close.Yes you have time to take a little nap in the afternoon... but that little nap doesn't help me now that it is half past 11 and I ain't a bit tired. Normal if I am as tired as I have been lately I knock out once I hit the pillow, but currently..... nope. nada. squat... just me, in bed, unable to sleep or get comfortable. I don't even have anything specific on my mind... it is just aimless wakehood...... and it needs to stop.

The morning shift is annoying since it is the morning… but it actually does go a bit faster since there are 3 breaks. One for breakfast at 8:30, a break at 9:30 or 10 (depending on the job), and lunch at 11. During the breakfast break everyone gathers for a daily meeting on what needs to be done… I twiddle my fingers and try to keep my eyes open since I don’t spraken zie dueche… Lunch comes all too soon and I am not really hungry but if I don’t eat, by 12 the stomach will be protesting in the middle of more onion chopping. So I eat… Go back… Finally finish the work of the day.

I am not a pretty sight in the morning.... oh but especially this morning. I opened my eyes right after getting into bed and "bam!" it was 7. Brutal. I was dressed in minutes and zombied my way down the hill. Even the Alps didn't have their usual effect on me... They were just tall pieces of rock and I wanted my bed. I sounded like a man when I could clear my throat enough to talk... Everyone looked at me like I had risen from the dead or something.... "You look tired today." "Why aren't you smiling?" Delightful questions like that to remind me: 1) How tired I was and 2) How crummy I look. It did does wonders for your self esteem... But self esteem aside, I finally got a start to my morning with 3 large pieces of cold meat. Imagine my joy.

I couldn't feel my fingers after 5 minutes but yesterday I had to trim and prep 25 veal tenderloins. Veal is much easier to visualize than beef. At first I was nervous but after some analyzing and repositioning I got the work done and when finished the chef gave me an impressed facial reaction... It felt good to know where to put my knife and the direction I was supposed to be headed. Yay for not sucking and yay for impressing the chef by not sucking :) the next job was to trim up a beef roast some fish prep, some cleaning then onto the bloodless work of chopping onions into a lovely brunoise.... AKA fine dice.

            One of my greatest pet peeves in the kitchen: someone showing me how to chop onions. I’ve had 4 people show me their methods so far, and today I got to see two more. There are several ways and several knife maneuvering options. I happen to have a very long chef knife and like to use two different knifes to get a good fine dice. The proof is in my results and I think I do a pretty good job of it. During my preferred method one chef looked at me like I was crazy and told me to only use the chef knife... Okay. Fine. So I use only my chef knife to awkwardly get through what my pairing knife would have done in a 3rd of the time. Whatever... But side note my chef knife is not the "sharpest one in the drawer" and feels very uncomfortable (I have a blister to prove it). I am well aware of this fact and though I had someone sharpen it the other day it is in worse shap than I brought it in… I did not want to risk messing it up even more.. SO… because my chef knife is not at its best I must slightly saw the onion.. instead of slicing it like butter… Another chef comes by... Another onion chopping demonstration (Me: "Thanks"). But your knife is dull ("No, really??) You should use your steel ("yeah, I did") So I get it out and show him... back to chopping onions. Chef comes back... "sharp knife helps yes?" ("Yeah... if it was sharp...The steel did nothing sir. I need another knife for this job…") Each onion took painfully long, but somehow I finally got my 3 liters worth and cleaned my station to avoid any further onion work.

Around one I had officially lost power. I tried to be of assistance, but there wasn’t much good I could do except stand and blink a lot. Finally I was free to go,had a piece of cake, returned to my room, showered and took the most glorious nap. I was planning on getting up for some coffee and more cake (The german cheese cake of course), but nope, sleep was what I needed and finally able to get.

I woke up a new person, ready to fillet anything… well not quite anything, but you get my drift. Tonight I was given the job of watching the grill / flat top. I don’t slice meat or cut meat or fabricate meat… and I defiantly don’t really cook much meat either. I don’t know my temperature: I just stick my knife in to peek if it is still rare and then eat it. I know I need to learn so I took the challenge with a good warning to my chef, “Just so you know, I don’t really know what I am doing.” Despite my fears, the night went really well. I only overcooked one schnitzel, but that was easily replaced with a new one. Once again it all comes down to flow and timing and I was really happy to be able to keep up (the slowness of the night added to my gradual learning :) ) I’m actually starting to lose my fear of meat. I know I have a lot of work to do, but this alone is incredibly encouraging and I am starting to really enjoy this new station… Though I cant wait for the 1 pm start to come back…it is part of why I came and a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do…