Scowl, Nu?

Tonight’s Dinner: Maccheroni with Spicy Salami

Ingredients:
500 grams Maccheroni or Rigatoni
1 Head Fresh Garlic, minced
Big knob of Butter
Cooking grade Olive Oil
4 Roma Tomatoes (eiertomaten), in large dice
Handful of Fresh Basil, julienned
100 grams Salami Piccante, cut into thin ribbons
1 ball Buffalo Mozzarella, cut into large dice
100 grams freshly grated Pecorino Sardo
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Put the water for the pasta on for a boil.
At the same time, over low heat, combine the oil, garlic a little oregano, red pepper flakes and butter. Let it heat, but do not let the garlic brown.

5 minutes before the pasta is done, add the tomatoes.

3 minutes before the pasta is done, add 1/4 of the basil and all of the salami. Stir lightly but do not let the salami or tomatoes dissolve.

Drain the pasta, then combine with the sauce, the rest of the basil and the mozzarella. Grate Pecorino Sardo over the pasta, stir and serve.

Makes enough for 4.

This afternoon, we went to Schliersee to visit a friend and head to the first Waldfest of the season.

Waldfests are local festivals held all throughout the Tegernsee region every summer. Shooting clubs, dancing clubs, Trachten clubs and all other local clubs throw the festivals as a large fundraiser. At this one, there was fresh Hofbräu Tegernsee beer from holzfaß for 4,60€, chickens roasted over wood and coal, radish and all of the typical beergarden/festival foods. The vibe was fantastic, the weather was muggy and my allergies were in overdrive, but it was a great way to spend the afternoon. Still, it would be hard to find another truly Bavarian way to wile away a lazy Sunday afternoon.

June 23, 1990. Elizabeth Park. West Hartford, CT. We went, we scared some ducks, ate some ice cream and somewhere in the mix ended up getting married.

Here’s to us.

This is more a reminder for me than for anyone else…

Chicken Agli-Olio

500 Grams Thick Spaghetti, Bavette, linguine, cooked Al Dente

400 Grams Chicken Breast, seasoned with hot pepper flakes, dry basil, dry oregano, black pepper and olive oil and pan-sauteed under medium heat- don’t let the herbs burn!

Remove the chicken, turn the burner down to 1

Cut the chicken into slices and then cut those slices into halves. Return to the sautee pan. Add 2 tomatoes, diced; small handful of roughly cut fresh basil, small-diced fresh garlic (whole head), black pepper, big piece of butter, splash of white wine and splash of olive oil. Wait until everything starts to meld together. Add freshly grated Grana Padano or Parmasan cheese. Thicken with small amount of Helle-Soßenbinder (use a pale roux if not available).

Pour sauce onto drained pasta, incorporate, serve. Makes enough for four, maybe more.

On the spur of the moment, we bought tickets for tonight’s Sting concert at Königsplatz. How was it? Read on…

Though it had been raining all day, the clouds broke 15 minutes before we had to walk over to Königsplatz, which we took as a good sign for the evening. Even the Generic Opening Band (you know, typical hippie-ish woman-fronted band that left less of an impression on me than my ass does in the couch) was… well.. they were quick. And we were able to get a beer from one of the beer dispenser – a guy with a keg of beer strapped to his back. Becks supplied the beer as well as the dozens of mobile vendors, similar to how a local wine merchant supplied the white wine via portable back-strapped kegs. But enough with the weather, the opening band and the refreshments. On to the show.

Foreplay, like Tantric Sex.

Sting came on promptly at 8:30 and launched into one of his more new-agey songs, followed by another, and another. Then he greeted the crowd, introduced the band, and welcomed us all to the show… in German, which was a nice touch.

More Foreplay, again, like Tantric Sex.

Sting then launched into song after song. How many songs? I’m not sure. His songs were not really distinct – one ran into a jam session that ran into another song that ran into a jam session that ran into another song. I mean, musically the composition of the music was fantastic, the players – especially the keyboardist – were outstanding, and the electronic show complimented the music perfectly.

Getting Excited Yet?

After about 45 minutes of playing music that really didn’t seem to get anyone really hot and bothered, Sting launched into Roxanne, the classic The Police song that everyone loves. The crowd was jumping… then suddenly it was little black spot… then… wait a second… he turned Roxanne into a The Police medley ?!? Wait now, it’s a jam session. No, now he is just saying Roxanne over and over and over and over and over.

And over.

And over.

Nope, Still Foreplay.

Back into another 30 minutes of middle-of-the-road ultra-safe music. Whatever edge he had when he was in The Police was gone. Though technically he was interesting, musically, it was just blah-blah-blah.

Are we going to climax any time soon?

Like the Tantric Sex that Sting is a proponent of, the concert seemed to go on and on and on but never really hit a high point. Even when he sang “I’ll Be Watching You” as part of his first encore, it felt like he was holding back, and when he came on for his second encore set, we decided that it would be better to hear it from the street as we walked the few blocks back to our house.

Just give me what I want, damnit!

After the concert was over, I realised that the only songs anyone responded to were his famous ones – especially The Police songs – but they were few and far between. In fact, for most of the concert, people seemed slightly detached – not disrespectfully so, but they seemed to be at times bored of what was going on. I know we were.

Was it good for you?

Am I happy we went to the concert? Well, I’m glad we were able to spend a few hours in the fresh air, and the music was palatable. If I knew it would be this lukewarm, would I have bought the ticket? Probably not.

Sting? More like Stung.

Sigh.

Time for a quick story here. Went out to our favorite cocktail bar for drinks tonight. It was a very fast night, only 2 hours, and at the end we asked (of course) for the rechnung (bill).

The waiter then asked, in German, how many drinks did we have… and for the two of us, for some reason I thought I had 4 cocktails and Janet had 3 (before you cry alcoholic, these drinks are very light on the alcohol – but expertly made) – so I said 7. Ok, I was wrong – it was 3 each, but I didn’t realize that until we were walking home. Oh well, only a few Euros, and we love the place anyway, so no harm done.

Then came the cost. Between the noise of the bar, and his pronunciation, all I could hear was “zwei und …something… fünf… something”. Not sure exactly what he said, I gave him a 50€ bill, knowing that would cover it, figuring that 7 drinks at 6€ a piece would be 42€ – so it should be something close to that.

Now, in Germany, usually you would hand over the money, and say how much the waiter should take. If I had heard 42,50€, which was the amount he said, I would have said 46€ (normal tip would be 3€, great tip would have been 4€ – so a 3,50€ tip is right on considering it is one of our regular places). Instead, I gave him the money and figured I would get the change, check how much I got back and quickly calculate the tip. I got 7,50€ back but before I could tip him, he was wishing us a good weekend and heading off. I had to call him back give him a 5€ bill and say “Drei Euros, bitte” (take 3 Euros please), and then in a moment of good will, as he thanked me and turned to walk away, I gave him a fourth euro because the bar was slow so I thought I would make up for the lack of tips he would be receiving.

I don’t know – it just felt off. I screwed up the drink count, messed up the payment, and had to call him back twice to give him the tip that I wanted to. If I just heard the “zwei und vierzig fünfzig” (42,50) I would have just said “sechs und vierzig” (46€) and walked away feeling fine. Instead, I just feel – well – disappointed that I made so many mistakes in such a short time period.

Even when you feel like everything is coming together language wise and culture wise, sometimes you just feel like a stranger in a strange land.

Then again, at least we didn’t underpay or undertip.