Schnitzel

I wanted spatzle, but didn't want to put forth the effort. I've been thinking about comfort food a great deal these days and wanting ulany kluski (Don't grade my Polish spelling here!). And kluski led me to spatzle. I was very pleased to discover how similar they are, but the spatzle has more teeth, a sturdier creation if you will. Wanting the spatzle made me think of schnitzel. And the schnitzel made me think of the schnitzel at The Bavarian Inn in Eureka Springs. When I was a wee lass, Tony and Jarka Bloch always made us feel so welcome and they were good friends to my parents.

While I didn't have any veal just laying around the house, I did have some lovely pork cutlets and some pent up frustrations. The pork cutlets were made thinner, tastier, and more tender by my frustrations. Fun! But I still wanted kluski. I chatted with mom this evening had a few really good ideas... Combining her ideas and some of my own, I came up with dinner. And I must say, it was a damn fine dinner.

In case my sister is reading this, I have provided the recipes below. Tree, it didn't take any time at all to toss this all together. Maybe 25 minutes. I know Grandpa Doug would love this meal. I hope I get to make it for him soon.

Schnitzel

What you need:

pork cutlets (or veal if you can stomach baby cow - yum!)
salt and pepper
flour
eggs (as many as necessary)
bread crumbs (I used panko as I only had Italian bread crumbs, silly Kat!)
oil for frying
lemon wedges

What you do:

1. Get some plastic wrap and your meat mallet. Wrap one or two of the pork cutlets (or you can use a boneless chop, you'll just have to pound a bit longer and a bit harder...) in plastic wrap (this keeps the bloody bits of meat from flying all over the kitchen and keeps your meat mallet nice and tidy) and beat the crap out of it. Well, till it is about 1/4 of an inch thick. Place them on a cutting board. Salt and pepper both sides.

2. Heat your oil on a medium high burner. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees and get a plate or pan ready for the schnitzel. Grab the pork (or veal) and dredge in flour. Dip in egg (2-3 beaten). Press into the breadcrumbs. Place in the hot oil.

3. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes on each side until golden. Place on paper towel covered plate or pan and keep in warm oven.

4. If you would like to go the extra step, fry an egg for each plate or serving. You may have noticed that I made one sunny side up and another fried, over easy (I'm still learning to eat things that stare back at me or jiggle.). Top the schnitzel with the fried egg, sprinkle with cracked pepper, and toss on a lemon wedge. Yum!

Kluski and Onions

What you need:

A pound of kluski (Amish made is good and available at most grocery stores...)
1/2 stick of butter
2 small onions
caraway seeds
salt and pepper

What you do:

1. Boil the water. Dump in the kluski. Cook to your preferred doneness.

2. While kluski is boiling, slice onions and saute in skillet with 1/2 stick of butter. Yum! Butter! Toss in some caraway seeds for an interesting flavor.

3. Once kluski is cooked and drained, toss with onions, butter, and caraway. Serve hot.

* Note: this is one step from lazy pierogi. Toss in some cabbage and viola... Or some rinsed kapusta (Sour kraut for my non Polish readers!).

The Library

The library is a quiet and dark place. Just like a library should be, I think! It is probably the second largest room in the house with the basement "playroom" coming in first. The library is adjacent to the dining room and the foyer and most likely served as the formal living room. It is a large rectangle with two windows on the exterior wall. There are no overhead light fixtures or wall switches. Perfect for nine six feet tall book cases and then some.

I'd like to say that the library contains all of our books, however there are two bookshelves in John's room and two in Orion's room. And if I recall correctly, there might be two or three boxes of books left in the garage. (And a whole bunch more in my office at school!) At one time I could give you a precise number of books owned, but not any more. With every move I have given several boxes away. With every trip to Half-Priced Books in Overland Park a few more books find their way home. To limit my habit, I try to purchase only hard back books. This new approach is working and my book whoring had slowed considerably.

In addition to the innumerable books, the library contains two comfy chairs a floor lamp, a roll top desk, the dissertation table (ugh!), and a lot of tchotchke. One of my favorite items is pictured left, a wind chime from S. Korea that Tree and P.D. sent to Orion when he was born. Below are some additional pictures of the library.

(Letter writing central)

(Children's literature corner)

(Wall of books and dissertation table; view from the dining room)

(Looking toward the foyer from the dining room)

With the dissertation and so many of my favorite items residing in the library one would think I would spend more time there. I wish I did.

The Dining Room

Just about 18 months ago we were lucky enough to find an abode large enough to house all of our 'stuff' and even luckier to have several great friends help us move.

Over the past year and a half, my mother has asked me on several occasions to share pictures of my house. And honestly, I would love to. My only problem seems to stem from the fact that the entire house is never clean enough for pictures at any one time. Even when we have company, there's a room or three that is piled high with a disturbing amount of crud. In fact, much of the dissertation is in a box behind a large chair in the library at this very moment.

It came to me one day, after putting up my new china cabinet actually, that I could take pictures of each room, shortly after it is cleaned, and not worry about the rest of the house. Eventually I will photograph the entire house and family and friends far away will know what my house looks like.

Now, on to the dining room. The dining room is one of my favorite rooms in the house, yet it is rarely used. As far as dining rooms go, it is rather small. The oak table that I inherited from my mother (First it was my mothers, then my brother's, then it was my sister's, until she gave it back to him and he later gave it to me with the instructions that I could only have it if I promised not to bring it back!) is about four feet in diameter. The dining room is just big enough to fit this table with four chairs. The room shrinks a bit when folks are sitting at the table.

But what the dining room lacks in size it makes up for in storage. In fact, the amazing number of closets in this house just blows my mind! The dining room has two, built-in, dish or china cabinets. They are located on the outside wall and frame the dining room window. The cabinet to the left of the window is picture here on the left. You can see my aluminum canister set as well as my aluminum cake plate. The cabinet to the right is an exact replica.

The one on the left contains my Visita Alegre china that I purchased at an outlet mall in Lebanon, MO several years ago to the tune of 90 cents a piece. Fortunately I found a setting of eight pasta bowls, salad plates, cups, and saucers. I even found some nifty serving pieces. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to locate a full size dinner plate. So I use these brightly colored, make me happy plates, as my pasta ware. The top shelf contains a couple of my teapots, my Japanese dish set from Pier 1 that I found at the Salvation Army for $7 (W00T!) and a couple of very nice, treasured Korean pieces that Tree and PD brought to me several years ago. The bottom of this cabinet contains odds and ends: pickle and relish trays, Jewel Tea pieces, and a set of 12 Corelle dishes Crazy Daisy.

The open part of the second cabinet, located to the right of the window serves as my liquor cabinet (too dusty to be pictured!). On the shelves below you would find a collection of glass pitchers as well as an impressive collection of Corelle baking dishes of all sizes. Above, you will find assorted glassware. Left you will see a picture of my Grandma Josephine's Candlewick glasses with some Boopie pieces tossed in. What a treat. Not pictured are some gorgeous, heavy glass, orange goblets that my friend Shannon found and bought for me one day when we were adventuring south of town.

In one corner of the dining room there is a seven foot bookcase crammed with some of our cookbooks. This bookcase is just right of the pocket door that leads to the kitchen. To the left of that door is the new china cabinet. Due center along the back wall you will find my highchair from my childhood currently being used as a plant stand.

The walls of the dining room are decorated in primitive art from well known artists like Grandma Fran and Katherine Mangione. Funky plates and pottery also decorate the walls. Perhaps this is one of my favorite rooms because so many of my favorite goodies and memories are stored here.