Artist In Profile: Fritz Koch-Gotha

As in previous years, I'm crafting a homemade 'zine to tuck into my childrens' Easter nests this Sunday!

This year, they will feature mini-prints of these richly coloured and very funny illustrations by Fritz Koch-Gotha.  I have carefully scanned and touched up the colours to share the illustrations with you here.

I hope you love them as much as I do!

"Easter Egg Painting Class"...the girl rabbit in the centre
having a meltdown because she's broken her egg is so funny!

"Off to School"...the brother bunny blowing his nose on a
cabbage leaf ...KG's imagination is vivid...

"In the Classroom"

"Class in Prayer"

"Musical Interlude"

"A Family Dinner".  Father Rabbit seems to be an
Army General...HA!

Which of these is your favorite?

I can't quite decide...

Instant Date Night: Crispy Stuffed Flatbread + Champagne

We put it in our calendar.

We sourced special ingredients.  Ones our children probably definitely wouldn't like.  That's how we knew they were special ingredients...haha...

Jamie Oliver's Egyptian Stuffed Flatbread, with a side of champagne

The two of us had a marvelous evening (after our two littles had been tucked in) chiffonading our herbs, seasoning liberally with za'atar, and considering our luck in finding the 1930's champagne cups at a German Canadian retirement home bazaar before Christmas.

(To be sure: Jamie Oliver delivers here again!  We made our flatbread with beef, and figured a slice of halloumi would be a treat of a stand-in for a vegetarian.  His trick to DIY press these into shape is pure genius.)

Saint Stories

This week I've had the pleasure of working on a commissioned piece of art...one that I learned something from!

I've long admired Maximilian Kolbe,  a Polish friar who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in Auschwitz.  The man who bought the painting of Saint Max then asked me if I would do a matching piece for him, one of Edith Stein.

Stein was born Jewish in Germany, became an athiest in her teens, then by way of her theological studies, converted to Catholicism.  Nazi legislation kept her from teaching during their rule.  She fullfilled a dream by joining the Carmelite Order and then sought protection in the Netherlands.  Despite this, she was arrested in 1942, taken to Auschwitz and died there in a gas chamber.

These are the portraits I painted of St. Max and St. Edith:

 

 

I am glad to be reminded of the honour and sacrifice some people have shown.  It is an especially great reminder during this pre-holiday season, where we can so easily get caught up in things that really aren't important.  Slowing down with a brush, arranging the paint carefully to create her likeness, I thought about Edith Stein's life and death, which made me love my life just that much more.

 

German Farmer's Lunch

I'm out of the closet with my German food obsession.

Evidence here, here and most recently here!

So when the Hausfrau family is at a farmers market and there's an award-winning Mennonite sausage for sale, we are for sure buying some.

Ergo,  my new breakfast of champions! 

Ingredients:

sliced cured + smoked sausage of choice
sliced scallions...as many as you like
eggs

First, fry the sausages + scallions with a quick spash of olive oil until you see light brown and crispy loveliness.  Swirl in and scramble as many eggs as you are hungry for.  Easy on the salt (enough in the sausage!) but pepper to taste.




PS: extra good with 1516 lager!

I promise to ease up on the bavarian gastronomic posts...it's feeling a little rich...even to me...
 

Soft-Baked Pretzels & Raspberry-Mustard Dip

I'm sure you are getting your haus ready for Oktoberfest, like we are here.

In case you are in need of inspiration, here's a quick and easy soft-pretzel & dip idea!

So I usually use my secret bread recipe for any number of uses but today, I turned it (actually a pizza dough recipe...) into pretzels.

After I let the dough rise according to the directions, I divided it into eight equal portions, then rolled each portion into skinny snakes and twisted them following a pretzel-twisting youtube video (easy to find...embrace your own favorite technique!).  I brushed each doughy twist with a simple egg wash and sprinkled them with coarse salt before I shoved them into a 450F oven for 10 minutes.

And don't think I'd leave you liebchens without an über-easy dip for your soft-pretzels! :  2 tbsps of your favorite mustard mixed with 2 tbsps raspberry jam!

You're welcome!...Please don't leave this festive time uncelebrated...life's too short, you know?

PS:  For if you need an alternate use for your pretzels, try this little game...

from the 1979 edition: Das macht allen Kindern Spass

 

The Lake District

We live very near to a small chain of lakes in BC where we like to go with the children on weekends.  There, things make sense...what really matters is all laid out infront of us.

These photos were all taken on our most recent stroll at Burnaby Lake. 

Brilliant March freshness...

'In the faded forest sounds the call of a bird,
which seems so meaningless in this faded forest.'   - Rilke

Looking forward to the week ahead!

A Very Preschool Christmas

Oliver has been loving his mornings at preschool nearby.  He gets himself dressed with enthusiasm, straps on his little backpack and says goodbye without looking back!

On the last day before Christmas break, Oliver handed out cards he'd coloured himself to all his little friends!

Method:

LAST Christmas when Oliver was three (and I was very pregnant with Charlotte), we did lots of colouring and drawing.  I often pulled long sheets of white paper off a roll, fix tightly to the coffee table and let him have at it.   On one occassion, I drew a few holly + berries with a black sharpie and let him doodle in and around them with felts.  I took this photo with my basic Canon:

I played with it in my photo editor to brighten, sharpen and remove a pen lid that got into the shot.  Also in the editor, I added a Christmas greeting and Oliver's name.  I had the final product printed at a local printshop, then stuck the photos to blank postcards.  As a final flourish, I taped a small fruit-flavoured candy cane to the back and drew a curly ribbon through the top corner of each card.   Oliver distributed them with such pride!  I use this method often to include a Oliver's (sometimes accidental) artwork into my collection of note and greeting cards.

Also this week, we are reading a very sweet German Christmas story book from the mid-80's called "Am Heiligen Abend" . Oliver is very excited about the days to come!

from "Am Heiligen Abend"

The Homemade Advent Calendar

This is my Advent calendar:

My mom made a huge one of these (after her own pattern) when I was small.  Every day my sister, brother and I used to attach another ornament to it until it was completely decorated, just in time for Christmas!  My sister and I made smaller ones for ourselves before we left home.  The little replica reminds me of my childhood at Christmas.

This week I have a short to-do list that likely resembles everyone elses:

• wrap gifts
• write + mail cards (the International mailings have gone out long ago, of course!)
• produce a batch of christmas treats (apricot lovelies and lebkuchen delights this year, I think)
• get out for walks while it's dry and light out
• tidy the childens' rooms...this is more or less the neverending daily task though...

The anticipation and tidying really is the most lovely part of Christmas...

The Euro-Vase

I've now made various colours and sizes of these vases for Christmas gifts:

I got the idea to crochet little "jackets" to wrap around empty baby jars from my current fave euro magazine:



It was ludicrously simple.  I'm a very basic crocheter; my basic stitch turned some wool (scraps that I combined to make faster work with a larger crochet hook) into a rectangle to wrap around the jar.  I did a rectangle in about a half hour.   When it wrapped around the jar tightly, I transformed the rectangle into a tube by sewing the ends together.  I could have pulled the little sweater onto the glass at that point but noooo....I finished off the top by crocheting on a border (thanks for the tip, mom!) and leaving the ends long to tie them in a decorative bow.

Are you a basic crocheter and need a slew of last minute presents?  This might be a little project for you!

p.s.  this also marks Charlotte's graduation from the jarred pear sauce to actual pears... 

Christmas in Germany

Whenever I am lucky enough to come across one of these, I snap it up faster than you can say "pfeffernüsse".  So far, I only have two, both found at the local German Canadian Seniors Home book sale.

Children's Lexicon
1970 and 1959 editions

The books feature busy pictures of everyday life, including traditional European holidays.  These are the ones depicting Christmas:

Christmas 1959...

...and in 1970.

There are several notes to make here.  These are historical depictions...I'd be curious to see the picture of the 2011 German Christmas...much different again, I'm sure (I hope!).

But let's take a side-by side look at my favorite idiosyncrasy in these two pictures: 

In the span of 11 years, fathers have gone from tender and
helpful in 1959 (attending to the setup of the nativity) to a
removed smoker in 1970!  Suit-wearing at home apparently
did NOT go out of vogue.

I think Mr. Hausfrau falls somewhere in between these two guys...not so much smoking and removed...but I DID recently get a string of pearls from him!

What Are The Germans Up To?

I think I like this song.  The video features excellent bermuda jeans with knee socks on a bike which is kinda awesome...and a foodfight which might be romantic in Germany.  I don't know.

old-skool german pick-me-up dinner

So I cook to relax...it makes me feel good.  Luckily, my husband and son like to eat my attempts!

The week is only partway through and we're both having a bumpy week at work.  The cure-all at our place: old-school comfort food.  I tried to turn the "feel sorry for ourselves" boat around by cooking this last night:



rotkraut, cornmeal spaetzle, garlic wurst


It did the trick.  Some toy-ship building followed dinner, which Oliver was thrilled with, and then a British murder mystery from the local library for the mister and I.  All is well.

Oh, don't get me wrong; I'm not THAT kind of hausfrau!  Here's the fine mess that remained post german-meal-making: