Triumph of the Zucchini

Yesterday I achieved another small triumph: zucchini bread! Oma Jutta brought over a bushel of zucchini from her garden, and we had no idea what to do with them all. The children don´t like zucchini fresh, baked, or pan-fried, and there was no way the rest of us could eat it all on our own. So I suggested making bread. Torsten got very excited and said "yes, do that!" And he mean right away! I was still cooking lunch, and he was googling recipes on line for me to try! I was kind of excited, too, and soon was working on what seemed to be a fairly simple recipe. It was in English, but with U.S. units so I had to spend some time converting them to metric measurements. The ingredients are also a bit different here. Baking soda is basically nonexistent, so I had to make up the difference with baking powder. I couldn´t find teaspoons, so I just guessed using the palm of my hand as a measuring spoon. They also use vanilla sugar instead of extract, so again I just made something up and tried it. The oven was a whole different story. Converting from Fahrenheit to Celsius was no big deal - I´ve already started to get the hang of that. But the oven has a strange fan in it that makes it cook differently, so I had no idea what to guess for temperature and baking time. I picked a number and crossed my fingers, checking it every now and then and dropping or adding a few degrees if I felt like it was cooking too fast or too slow. After over an hour of staring in the oven and listening to the family get excited about the smells coming from the kitchen (no pressure!), I took a deep breath and lifted the bread from the oven. With a hungry crowd around me, I sliced into the bread - and it was perfect! I have never had such success with zucchini bread in my life! It seems like I would always have an awkward gooey patch in the middle, or the edges would be too dry, etc., but it was the perfect consistency! Not too moist, not too dry, and still warm and wonderful. I was so proud to set out some dishes to give the family warm, fresh bread at tea that afternoon. Now I still have about a dozen zucchini left, so I need to either come up with some new ideas or make several more loaves of bread!

Last night on the way back from my German course, I nearly stepped on a hedgehog by my garden house steps! I had no idea hedgehogs lived here, and it took me a while to remember that they are basically harmless and won´t shoot me with spikes like a porcupine. I went and told Torsten and Claudia, because I wasn´t sure how common they were in these parts. They didn´t know the word for hedgehog, so it took a couple minutes of charade gestures and awkward descriptions ("little animal... spiky, curls into ball...")to explain what I wanted to tell them! They, too, were excited and came to look. I guess hedgehogs used to be quite common, but have been dying out now due to road traffic. The poor things curl into balls when they are afraid, instead of running. Which is a great defense against most things, but sadly not for large vehicles... I am hoping this little hedgehog has a nest in our yard, and that I´ll see her again soon! Maybe in daylight next time.

Today was rubbish and recycling day, and I emptied mine for the 1st time since arriving last month (4 weeks today!!!). I was amazed at how little trash I have. I only had a tiny bag, smaller than a little bathroom waste basket, and it mostly just had my massive amounts of red hair that I collect daily from brushing and showering! Now that I think about it, hair probably should go in the compost instead... But it made me so happy to see the waste area, with huge barrels of plastics and paper recycling, and crates for glass bottles and jars (which we get paid for!). And then hiding in the corner was the family´s little trash can with the non-recyclable waste. So much can go into the recycling or compost bin, and it makes me happy. I also like how normal it is here. Back home, people were always admired and praised for earth-friendly habits, but here people don´t even think twice about it. If you acted impressed, people would think you were crazy! I hope these are habits that I can maintain when I leave Germany next year. It is something I always wanted to be better at, but we didn´t really have the best infrastructure back home for these things. Once I get them started, though, I hope it will be fairly simple to continue.

Well now, I need to go start cooking some lunch. Today will be super long again - Claudia won´t get home until nearly 9:00 pm!! I have to put the kids to bed and everything... I hope it all goes smoothly.