Happy Mother's Day

In the past few weeks my husband got a new computer with Vista, and is redoing our kitchen. Both of these exciting new ventures are conspiring to make cooking and blogging hard.

But - for Mother's Day I got an MP3 player so I can listen to books while walking and exercising. All that baking is taking its toll...

In the meantime, I have a friend who is in Europe. She wants to see some German recipes. I found my Meals With a Foreign Flair from 1963, Better Homes and Gardens. I found the 'Stout German Fare' and believe me, you'd be pretty stout after eating these.

This lovely picture shows us a 'Hausplatte':
Use a large oval plank or platter with a rim. (plank?) Border with Potatoes Duchesse. Fill center with Weinkraut; top with these: Corned Pig's Knuckles, Boiled Beef, grilled precooked Bratwurst, and cooked Knack-wurst.

Yum yum yum.

In case you want to try this at home, first buy some Tums, then try the recipe for Corned Pig's Knuckles:

Cover corned pig's knuckles (some markets will cure them for you) (Amy's note: these are not markets I wish to frequent) with fresh water, no salt. Add a small onion, cut in half and add a few peppercorns and bay leaves.

Simmer 2 1/2 - 3 hours or till tender; remove from water. Cook 30 minutes with Weinkraut. Allow 1 knuckle per person. (in case people are fighting over them?)

Honestly, I do have cookbooks with Mother's Day recipes and arrangements. They are all very labor intense and silly, just the way I like it with my cookbooks. But this recipe was worse, so I put it up.

What have you been reading? I'm reviewing a bunch of girl lit for Teenreads.com currently, and read a pretty good new Meg Cabot, and an interesting Blue Bloods series title from Melissa De La Cruz. I'm reading the latest Leann Sweeney adoption mystery, and also Fat Free and Fatal by G.A. MacKevett.

I hope you are all having a pleasant day, either as a Mother, with your Mother, or celebrating yourself!

More entries soon!