Thursday, 27th November 2008

Soon we are going to open the first door!

I am enthusiastic – it´s snowy! Not only the eyes of the kids are sparkling – nope, even we the grown-up are sentimentally touched.
Next week the advent season begins. “Only four nights more and I can open the first door of the Advent calendar”, my daughter says full of expectation. For me it´s  different. Only four nights more – and the pre-Christmas-stress will start. Visiting of Christmas parties, baking of the traditional Christmas cookies for us and the rest of the family as well, buying and organizing the Christmas gifts, packing them, decorating outside and inside and so on and so on.
But honestly speaking: I do like the so called “time of contemplation” very much, even with all that hectic and stress. I do like all that beautiful decorations, Christmas songs where you go and the Christmas markets everywhere. Out of the many, many Christmas markets around my home village I do like most these one in Schwabing/Munich, Dießen and of course the “Bergweihnacht” in Türkenfeld.

As an Advent calendar should be definitely part of the pre-Christmastime, I have designed for you a nice “Table Talks Advent calendar” with many links concerning Christmas.

Coming now to my new recipe. As you know the food during winter time differs sometimes from the light summer food. And as I prefer the low-calorie food I am going to present now a cabbage salad - a side dish matching with roast beef, baked potatoe and herbed quark (these recipes I will present at a later date):

Directions:

1. Cut green cabbage thinly. Then wash and blanch it.
2. Dice garlic. Then mix salad dressing with salt, pepper, sugar, garlic and caraway – then add oil.
3. Mix cabbage with the dressing.
4. Heat oil in a pan. Add bacon bits or diced ham and roast it gently.
5. Add bacon or ham to the cabbage and mix it.
6. Serve it while bacon / ham is hot.