July 12, 2019

Thursday last week

While you DU Cooks & Bakers were enjoying your 4th of July specialities, it was an ordinary Thursday for Germans, and to us, my husband's birthday. Most of the time we were in Berlin he didn't feel well, because the chest cold I'd caught the week before presented in him as fevers and fatigue. But there was a weekly singing to go to (he's a shape note singer) so that perked him up. I'd seen a Basque tapas place online that fortunately happened to be on the way to the singing, so off we went.

My husband had venison meatballs in a mushroom sauce, garnished with a sweet potatoe puree, I had garlicky shrimp on spinach risotto, our son had a mixed green salad with smoked trout and basil aioli, and we shared bok choy with romesco sauce. All tasty, the bok choy and romesco was an unusual and yet good combination, though it was very difficult to cut in small enough pieces so one did not look like a ruminant animal eating it My son and husband had Apfelschorle, which is a not terribly sweet apple spritzer. I tried a Campari and soda with orange. I understand why it's a popular summer drink, but it's quite bitter. (But now I've had a chance to try it!)

Here's the website of the restaurant: https://txokoa.de/ You can change the language to read it in English or Spanish as well as German.

It was great not to have to hear fireworks going off all day, and the newspapers and tv I saw made no mention of Trump's idiotic parade for himself, which must have been super annoying in the US.

July 11, 2019

Thoughts on eating in restaurants & buying groceries in Germany

We (husband, grown son and I) just got back from a 10 day trip to Germany. We spent six days in Berlin, then took the train to the small northern Bavarian town of Kitzingen, where I lived in the mid seventies, and were there two nights, one day. I kept a journal and noted most of the restaurants we ate at and the food, but wanted to share some general thoughts.

Berlin is a very dynamic, multicultural city. There are an enormous number of restaurants, representing many cuisines, especially Middle Eastern. With so many places to eat, it's relatively inexpensive to eat in restaurants, bakeries and cafes in Berlin.

In Germany, one usually just seats oneself in a restaurant. Usually though, if you exhibit some hesitation, restaurant staff will ask how many are in your party and seat you. The international signal that you're ready to order is closed menus. Every place we ate, they got each person's food order and then took drink orders, whereas, at least where I live, you order your food and drink at the same time. Sometimes, if we looked to be having trouble deciding what we wanted, they'd get the drinks first and then get the food order.

Both in Berlin and in Kitzingen, in ethnic and in German restaurants, the food was served very attractively. It being summer, many dishes were garnished with tomato and cucumber, and sometimes fresh fruit as well. It seemed that rather more care and attention was paid to presentation than is often the case in the US, especially in restaurants that are not high end.

Food in Germany is served piping hot. Not that you often get cold or lukewarm food it the US, but in Germany it was always really hot.

Our appetites may have been affected by traveling and touring, but we found the German portions quite large and often more than we could eat at a sitting.

I think in Germany people are more accustomed to sitting and enjoying dinner companions' company. In the US, the server tends to bring the bill as soon as they note you're finished (or in a busy place may even try to rush you a little), but we had to learn to either allow plenty of time for a meal, or risk looking like impatient Americans and ask for the bill.

We did do some grocery shopping. Food prices, at least in Berlin, seem cheaper for a lot of things than they are here. Beer can be had for 59 Euro cents for a half liter bottle. A kilo of Italian apricots was 1.49 Euros - California apricots had been selling for $2.99 a pound here in Iowa, so that's roughly four times the price. Much produce and other foodstuffs were "bio" (organic) and not that much more expensive than the regular kind.

There is a deposit on most bottles and cans of drinks - often 25 Euro cents, so it adds up.

I plan to talk about specific meals in the "What's for dinner" and breakfast threads, but thought you might be interested in my general observations.

May 24, 2019

MSNBC All In: Speaking to the issues that matter most to Iowa's black voters

https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/speaking-to-the-issues-that-matter-most-to-iowa-s-black-voters-60147781972?fbclid=IwAR0WRgpQCFa5Ly5Z-mhEaUhZdadz48C57zzphBNazUwUYXr089_e7mJPbs4

Trymaine Lee from All In talking to Mayor Quentin Hart and others in Waterloo about what candidates need to do for Iowa's black voters.

I was very pleased to see this because it may have put a few cracks in people's perception of Iowa as a monolith of whiteness. Also I'm a fan of Mayor Hart, though I think he has a pretty tough gig.

February 17, 2019

Iowa Senate District 30

We've got some interesting things going on with this senate seat here in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls area, so thought I'd try to catch you up on it a little.

Democratic Senator Jeff Danielson resigned from his senate seat Thursday, which he had held since 2005. The district is considered a swing district. https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2019/02/14/iowa-senate-democratic-senator-jeff-danielson-resigns-democrat-special-election-cedar-falls/2875742002/

My understanding is he resigned from the Iowa Senate because he is also resigning from his job with the Cedar Falls Fire Department. Not many jobs will let you have the time off to go to Des Moines and be in the legislature periodically. Apparently he has accepted another job in the Cedar Valley, but has not disclosed about it publicly yet.

Why did he resign from the fire department? Well, Cedar Falls has been using dual-trained (police & fire) public safety officers (PSOs). Many of the existing firefighters feel that is a much less safe way of protecting the public, and ten have resigned. The city says using PSOs is just as safe and saves money. For myself, it seems strange to me that so many firefighters feel so strongly about this that they gave up their livelihoods.

The most likely Republican candidate is the abominable Walt Rogers, who lost his house seat last November to Dave Williams. Both Williams and Bob Kressig, the other House representative from Danielson's district, have said they are not interested in the Senate seat. However, there are already two possible Democratic candidates: Amy Peterson, a UNI Special Education professor, and Tom Ralston, a local labor leader. As usual, Bleeding Heartland has great information: https://www.bleedingheartland.com/2019/02/16/two-democrats-running-for-iowa-senate-district-30-special/

A special district convention will pick the Democratic nominee on February 23. Rumors are flying that Governor Reynolds will opt to have the special election during spring break, to lessen the impact of votes from UNI students.