Kase und Wurst

Or, cheese and sausage. Which are definitely something that German's adore. After Bread and beer, which are their first loves.

It is harvest time here, my favorite time of year. At the market yesterday there were plums, squashes, heirloom tomatoes of all shapes and sizes, orange, green and red peppers, curly chilis, mushrooms harvested from the forrests- 6 or 7 different kinds, salad greens, corn, cucmbers, etc. and of course, bread, beer, wine, honey, candles,  chicken, eggs, cheeses (cow, sheep and goat), cured meats(mostly pork), pork, cow, lamb, wild boar, wild deer, and elk meat, And to eat: fresh pressed cider (susser), half fermented cider (most), hard cider (raucher), new wine (federweissen), zwiebel kuchen, flamm kuchen, grune sosse with potatoes, wurst, fresh fish, waffles, cake, coffee, ice cream, did i mention wine and beer?

Here is a view of the market from above courtesy of the internet.

I met my friend W yesterday afternoon at market and we headed straight for the Zwiebel Kuchen, which is a bit like a pizza crust- this one is sourdough- with lots and lots of onions and sour cream and quark, and bits of shinken, which is cured pork cut into little bits, and we drank Federweissen- which is the new wine from this year's grapes and it is all cloudy white, a bit sweet and grapey tasting and delicious. W and I are a perfect match at market, we are both completely snobby about our food, and we both like the same growers. After our lunch, we went to buy bread from our usual stand- The Winter Bakery- and then over to the fabulous milcherei, or dairy, called Herbert's Muehle- please do look at the website even though it is in German because the pictures are beautiful. They have extraordinary cheese- organic (bio) raw milk (roh milch) from Cow, Sheep and Goat. They have Lacaune sheep and Zebu cows. Then we go to the Metzgerei, or butcher, Bauernhof Frank. Bauernhof means farm. They have elk salami, so I had to try some and it is, of course, delicious. And then I had to buy some. At an organic butcher I also bought something called "nuss schinken" nuss means nut and schinken is a dried smoked cured pork similar to prosciutto.

Here are the grapes, apples, cheese and meats I bought along with  melon from the biodynamic shop that Nic works at. In the middle, is a Merlin goat cheese with a white rind, like brie, only it isn't (moaning sounds are heard upon eating), sheep roquefort (oh my god), and middle aged goat gouda. Elk salami and the nuss schinken.

I should say two things here, one is that I have now been to the market enough that I am starting to know where I like to go to get my things, one place for vegetables (more on that in a bit), two for cheeses, one for dairy, one for eggs, two for cured meats. I am still learning and trying new stalls, but so far I feel good about the people I visit, because they are people. And in two or so of the stalls that I frequent they are starting to recognize me. Which means I am beginning the wonderful process of knowing my growers and farmers and they are beginning to know who I am. I think I can finally talk to one of the people at the dairy and ask for wool!

So, the plums (kwetsche for nic's birthday cake), vegetables, and mushrooms (Steinpilze or Boletus) I purchased from a couple who have their own sausage, bread baked in a wood oven, pickles, jams, vegetables, wild mushrooms (maybe 7 different kinds), and then apples and plums etc. from a friend who grows fruit. The man is from the states and speaks english with a beautiful southern twang, maybe from Tennessee or Kentucky or Arkansas. His wife is German. He says that when the war was over, or when he was done with it, in '71 there were no jobs for him in the states, so he stayed here. We three speak a mixture of German and English together and they are really wonderful people. They have herbal lemonade each week that they make themselves as well. Everything is clearly hand made and on a very small scale, rather like Nic and I want to do some day. And they remind us of the folks at the Santa Fe Market, making their own things to sell and being very humble and beautiful about it. I am going to try and get a picture of their stand next week and I'll add it to the post when I do.

What a blissful day at the farmer's market. Here is a picture of Nic's birthday bouquet that W bought for her. Calendula and Oregano! Tschuess!

Life Partners

Excuse me for not writing in a week, but haven't felt the need to say anything. Now I want to write a bit about our Lebenspartnershaft, or Civil Union, because it is coming up two weeks from tomorrow and we are busy planning it and preparing. This is the completion of many ceremonies we have been blessed with over the last year, since leaving the zen center and being in the bardo of our transition here to Germany and into partnership. Friends have given us blessings on their land from many traditions- peruvian shamanism, Cherokee, Buddhist- and in many places- New Mexico, Maine, Eastern Canada, Connecticut. We have been blessed by many friends and loved ones all wishing us well and showing us their love and support. These have been so important to me, and the love and spirit from them still holds me close.

Quite an amazing thing to prepare for a thing such as this. I can't even imagine what it would be like to have a whole hetero wedding in a white dress, etc. We're not having a seating chart, for example. Although, when my sister gets married it will be one of those. She taught me, for example, that straight girls watch wedding shows on t.v. and pick out their dresses and rings before they even know who they are going to marry. I know not everyone does that, but I didn't know anyone did that. All the same, so much more nervousness and questioning than I thought would arise bubbles up in my consciousness. Somehow making it legal makes it feel more like stuck than partnered. But of course being with her is exactly what I want. I had to turn the whole concept around and see that being together actually includes everything, that it is not the ending of things or the ending of opportunities (nothing specific here, just vague fear) but actually includes everything- including separation and death. Then I can easily agree to exploring this great adventure together. I am so curious about what will happen and how my life will unfold. And mostly, I  just don't believe myself when i have a weird thought that starts with never, or always, or what if. I just drop it and move on to something else because I know it is a fabrication. 

We are getting partnered in the old Synagogue here in Grosskrotzenburg, which is to say the place that was the Synagogue before Krystal Nacht. The uncle of a friend of ours actually stole the Torah to protect it ( He was not Jewish) and the S.S. found him running out of the Synagogue and were going to kill him, so he faked an epileptic seizure. They left him alone and he brought the Torah to the Rabbi a day or so later. It is now a space for cultural activities and ceremonies. As we went to Auschwitz this year and brought the names of the people from this town that were killed, it is meaningful to us that we will be in that space. 

Yesterday, we met with the woman who will conduct the ceremony, Frau Amberg, and discussed the specifics. I made the mistake of referring to her as du, which is the informal form of you, rather than sie, which is the formal. well, speaking another language has its risks. I only hope I did not offend her too much. I'll have to figure out how to apologize before the ceremony. We will have one more ceremony before the ceremony, which is about the nature of our relationship- stepping as adults into our partnership and honoring one another's uniqueness and gifts as well as our togetherness in partnership. The morning of the ceremony, we'll go out onto the land with two people who will facilitate the ceremony of the basket with us. Then, we'll have the partnership ceremony in the afternoon at 3. My mother will sing at the beginning of the ceremony and my sister at the end. We are going to read a few poems and there will be the actual vows and exchange of rings. (Nic always says- finally we get to wear our rings!) Afterwards, we will have sekt (champagne made with grapes not from the region of France called Champagne) and little snacks and cake and coffee. Once our life settles a bit and things are more relaxed, we will have a bigger party for all of our friends and family. But for now, it will be small and intimate. 

So there you have it, a Life Partnership in Grosskrotzenburg, Hessen, Germany between two women, an American and a German. Apart from the paperwork and the internal dialogues, it has been quite easy so far. And apart from the fact that I still don't really know what I want to wear, I think everything is organized. I'll give you the update after the fact.

Pickles and Sardinia

OK, I promised you something happy after the genocide and human atrocity lesson, and then I gave you more rant about eating and fasting and meditation. I thought it would be good to complete the piece about the fast. Now, for the fun part.


We were talking last night over the dinner table about the sauerkraut and pickles that nic's mom would make with her mom. They would have these big crockery jars and fill them with fresh cut cabbage and salt in layers, or with cucumbers for pickles it was the same but with vinegar, herbs, and water. Then, a clean plate would go on top of it and a stone on top of that. Then, it was put it in the cellar and to wait, "for a specific amount of time" till it was sour. The pottery she was referring to is called "Dippe", which is slang for the word pots Topfen and is made of gray earthenware and has usually mostly blue painting on it. We still have some at the house, they are currently used to put plants in plastic pots inside for decoration.



Anyway, Mama said a lady would come to the house and grate all of the fresh cabbage for people- that was how she made extra money- she'd bring a board with a knife blade set in it and put it over a cloth on the ground and slice up the cabbage. I could just imagine her fingers flying!

Here is my friend M's pickle recipe. I'm going to try it and let you know how it turns out. Also, I'll keep you posted on the mustard pickles.

one quart pickle slices or spears
1/4 cup whey (which you get by leaving raw milk out at room temp till it completely separates into curds (solids) and whey (the yellowy clear stuff)  or if you don't have whey they said to just use one more tablespoon of salt
2 tablespoons dill snipped
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon mustard seed
and the rest filled up with filtered water to 1 inch below the top of jar

then seal them with lids and let them sit out for 2-3 days then transfer to cold storage, no water bathing or canning stuff needed

We saw the most beautiful documentary on the Barbagia region of Sardinia- i want to go! Firstly, it looks like New Mexico, which I am sorely missing these days. Except it is an island and has the sea. Here is a picture of the Costa Smerelda.



It reminds me in many ways of  the horse culture of the nomads of Tuva and M- except in Sardinia they are sheep people, and they stay put. Their suits are based on the traditional shepheard's suit (which a family of tailors still makes with a foot pedal sewing machine), their dances are the same quick steps that the sheep run and the music is sung at that tempo. And the songs are so beautiful, they sound a bit like the songs from georgia and the balkans, but in sardinian and with the sea in them. They are polyvochal braids of sound called "cantu a tenore"and accompanied by the Launeddas, a reed instrument requiring circular breathing to play. The music was included as a part of the UNESCO "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" Here is  a picture of singers from Oliena. See the black jacket? that's the shepard's suit. The cantu were traditionally sung also by women, but now are sung only by men.



Every year there is a festival in Orune for Madonna della Consolata. Folks who have left the village or the island come back to celebrate and honor her. Men cook huge vats of lamb stew and pasta and sauce. The women make the beautiful bird shaped cookies that everyone gets when they come out of church, the pasta, the bread, and run the whole thing. Pecorino Romano, made of Sheep milk and stews from lamb and fresh made pasta. yum.

old guys singing Cantu a Tenore



Some of the dancing with a beautiful song:


Here is some of the music sung by young people. Surprisingly, young people are really learning the dance and the singing of Sardinia.