This morning we went to see the Lippizaners at morning practice. Mostly this was an event I was pushing through. I thought that we should take the family to see the famous horses perform after living there as much as we have. I'd seen a performance once by myself, but not even Rob had been to see them. Our former student Sarah, is here for a while, and we dragged her with us, jetlagged as she is, down to the Hofburg palace to see it. I'd sent Rob down earlier to get tickets. It was mayhem for him, buying the tickets and saving the seats from rabid Italians, and mayhem for us, trying to cross town and get to the seats in half an hour with the three boys and the stroller. It happened. We made it. The Lippizaners trotted around to their music, and soon enough the kids had named the horses: Whiffle (pure white), Smoky and Buddelbär, who was their favorite. They lasted for about an hour and then we left. It was definitely as much as kids could handle, but I might try kids on the ...
I finally got up the nerve to try my own Mohr im Hemd. This was the dish that we always ordered if we found it on the menu. It translates as "The Moor and His Shirt" which is so politically incorrect that it isn't easy to find, even though it is a traditional Viennese dish. It is a steamed pudding, like the Christmas dessert I grew up on and it is very moist and very chocolate, though not as sweet as an American dessert. It was successful enough that Rob had me make it twice more in the same weekend. Happily, after learning how to make it, I feel less guilty about eating the stuff. How often does that happen? Here is the recipe I used, as opposed to the top secret family recipe that I don't even have, or the recipe from my Austrian cookbook that asks for 'gratified butter': MA's Mohr im Hemd 3 bread rolls, crusts removed and cubed 1 c milk 3/4 c unsalted butter 1/4 c sugar 8 oz best and darkest chocolate you can find 8 eggs 1/2 c sugar 1/2 c walnuts, ...
A Halloween Guest Blog from the Professor Because we are evil to the core, your humble Professor and Mary Ann stay up nights thinking of all the different ways we can ruin our kids socially. We eat vegetarian fare from the Moosewood Cookbook, we listen to Brahms and Faure and Stawberry Switchblade (only MA on that last one), and we do not do TV. Our final fiendish plot (inspired by Michael Chabon and Dr.Who) is to put our kids in our own nosatalgia warp. Instead of exposing them to Avatar (loathesome) and Justin Bieber (what the @#$% ?), we hook them up with Bill and Ted (Prof), The Scarlet Pimpernel (MA) and, as can be seen in these Halloween shots, we have introduced them to Star Trek. Awkward Family Photos, here we come! It all started with Sebi. He is half Vulcan, it seems, and on any given day he already looks uncannily like the young Spock in the most recent Star Trek movie. All he needed for the full transition: some ears, of course, and the appropriate haircut by our favorit...
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