Raising the bar...

The quest to use the buttermilk turned into the afternoon spent in the kitchen! There really isn't anything I'd rather do...

I ended up only making two dishes with the buttermilk because every dessert I found that called for buttermilk also called for something I didn't have.  So in my quest on the internet to use up ingredients that were in the fridge I came across a cheese and chocolate pastry!  Sounded so good! And I had everything I needed... well except the puff pastry.  I've always bought puff pastry but I googled "how to make puff pastry" anyway.  I came across an article about making "rough puff pastry" aka the short cut version.  http://www.finecooking.com/articles/how-to/rough-puff-pastry.aspx 
Why not? I set out to make my own puff pastry.  And it worked... it worked very well! I have to say I'm pretty impressed because you can see the layers and everything ;) Now, I certainly won't make it every time I need it, but for things like pastries it would be worth the extra effort!
I guess you want to see the final product...

Besides making beautiful pastries (if I do say so myself ;) I made "American" pancakes for the girls! Francesca really like them.  Charlotte wasn't interested in eating in general. But I think I liked them the best!  Tasted like home! I also fixed dinner... Buttermilk pecan chicken, mashed potatoes and broccoli! Both AnneMarie and Michael were so glad to have the help.  AnneMarie has decided that I have raised the bar for future au pairs! What will they do if the next one can't cook?  

Real Quick

Since I seem to have so many follower ;) I feel the need to throw a quick update out there.  I say quick because well it's after midnight and I should really be asleep...

I forget where I left off.  Sunday I had a nice lunch out with an au pair from Finland. She was very nice.  I hope to hang out with her again.  She doesn't live too far from me.  I actually took the car out! It was kind of fun (and a little scary) to drive in a foreign country.  Lucky for me they drive on the same side of the road as us.  Side note: They drive a lot more manual cars over here and so Michael has decided that will be his new project... teaching me how to drive a stick shift! um... I don't know what I think about that yet!

Other than that Sunday was mostly spent working on travel plans for when my mom and friend come to visit! I'm so excited! We are going to Paris and Rome... it will be a wonderful week of travel!

Story from yesterday... so I walk upstairs and into the kitchen and Charlotte comes in and says hello.  Then she runs upstairs and says "Mommy, Jessica is here!" HAHA.  I live in the basement, but I guess since she didn't see me all weekend "out of sight out of mind." I'm glad she was excited to see me as this doesn't happen very often!

Today Francesca was supposed to have a friend come over to play in the afternoon.  I thought that would be great.  Sometimes friends make it easier because they are more entertained.  Anyway, the girl did come over and seemed really sweet.  She wasn't really talking though.  About 45 minutes in she breaks into tears and says something about Momma (good thing that word seems to be universal).  It is then that the nanny tries to explain that the little girl doesn't speak French, or English... only Luxembourgish!  No wonder she wasn't talking and was really upset.  I would be too placed in someone else's house where no one speaks my language! (Kind of reminds me of my first few days here... hahaha). I comforted the little girl the best I could and the nanny called her mom.  She ended up going home.  Next time I'll at least ask what language the child speaks ;)

Tomorrow: Music group in the morning... and trying to use up buttermilk.  They bought some for the pound cake last week and I have a ton left.  It's going bad so my project is to see what I can make with buttermilk.  No normally this wouldn't seem like a big deal but... not only do I have to incorporate buttermilk but I have to then deal with all the conversions and lack of my usual ingredients... did you know they don't have brown sugar over here? I'll let you know what I come up with :)

Trier, Germany!

Here are some pictures of my bedroom...










Yesterday I got on the bus at 8:08am :)  I met up with Anna (from Sweden) on the bus and we headed to the city.  We ate breakfast at a little cafe!  Then we headed to the train station.  I was glad she was with me because I had never been to the train station before.  We met up with 5 other Sweedish au pairs and took the train to Trier.  It was about a 40 minute train ride.  We walked around and looked in shops.  Saw the Porta Nigra - a 2nd century Roman city gate.  We also went inside a Cathedral.  Ate lunch at Pasta Pasta (not very German, not my choice) I wasn't so sure about the German food anyway... lots of sauerkraut and sausages.  I did however get an apple strudel pastry to go.  We stopped for ice cream even though it was cold.  My ice cream cone was served upside down to me... but I turned it right side up to eat it... not with the spoon they gave me.  We took the train back to Lux late afternoon.  It was great day and so nice to hang out with some new friends.  I'm hoping we get to do some traveling together real soon!

Anna and I stopped Auchan on the way back.  It is kind of like Walmart inside of a shopping mall.  They had an American section that was well... depressing.  There were oreos, beef jerky, peanut butter, and a lot of condiments.

Took the bus back home and spent the rest of the evening relaxing!  Today I'm meeting another au pair that lives in a near by village for pizza!

Let's try this picture thing again :)

Porta Nigra