Life: Idiotropic

... which translates into very excited girls who absolutely adore their grandfather and lots of opportunities for them to show off in front of the camera.

Aahhhhh.... never need an excuse to go to Maastricht. I'd live here in a heartbeat. Would bike into town from my old brick house on the outskirts, stop at my favorite cafe for a caramel cappuccino, then visit my church bookstore. It's just lovely, relaxing, and absolutely never boring.

So, here's a couple from my day... the lady by the statue that I thought was interesting and a couple photos of my beautiful little Elise - quite a ham in front of my camera.


This was a beautiful sunny day doing the "tiffany route" - a bit of this and that - touring my favorite city. Starting at the Vrijhtof, walking to the Stokstraat quarter by way of the Blanche Dael coffee roaster, meandering past a couple old churches and down a really cool wall lined alleyway towards the Jeker quarter, then walking back to the Hellspoort along the old wall and garden area. Coffee at Coffee Lovers and a scoop of gelato were our rewards to a walk well done. Mmmm.

Friends in town lend a reason to revisit places that I love, but don't always find the time to see in the day to day routine of kid stuff, volunteer stuff, and housekeeping. So, with Jessica here with her family (I've known her since the 4th grade!!), I decided it was a good reason to head to Aachen for a stroll.

Photos 1: One of the things I love about Europe is the contrast between the old and new, the priceless and the tacky. Europe gets glorified a bit by those who haven't been here yet. It seems so beautiful and ornate - so perfect and elegant - and yet, you get here and see McDonald's and Burger King, Micky Mouse and Levi's, American style carnival rides blaring American rock and roll... and tacky carnival candy sold at 10X it's worth. There's beauty here. There's history and mysticism and lore. But people are people, kids are kids, and every where, even in front of Charlemagne's great Dom, people will gather at the carnivals, ride the kiddie rides, and treat their little ones to something sweet. Some things are just universal.

Photo 2: My little Elise on the carousel - a firetruck, I think. One ride. A little bit of fun for her and Sam in our day of touring the old city.

Photo 3: A seasonal treat and sign of autumn. A sweet hedgehog made of printen cookie (Aachener Lebkuchen) and slivered almonds.

Photo 4: Legend has it that the when the people of Aachen needed a church, they didn't have enough money to build one, so they signed a contract with the devil that if he helped build the cathedral, he'd get the soul of the first one who entered. The clever Aacheners sent a wolf in a wig into the cathedral first, tricking the devil, so he rushed in to grab the wolf, then realized that he was tricked and hit the walls in anger losing a thumb in the right lion's mouth when he was trying to open the door. People say that you can still feel the devil's thumb stuck in the lion's mouth if you stick your finger in (yet I have my suspicions). I haven't tried it... may be on the next visit.

Photo 5: F is for friends and fun and flowers... These sunflowers are gorgeous! Jess bought them for me from a flower stand just in front of Aachen's Rathaus. They were almost as tall as Elise with the stems on, so I had to take a few photos. Beautiful girl, beautiful blooms.

September 4th - Luci turned 6. It doesn't seem right. She's always wanted to be my baby and I still think of her as my tiny cuddly girl even if she is causing mischief half the time. Yesterday we went grocery shopping and she took a little red coffee stirrer and put it into the stream of the drinking fountain to drink water that way. That's typical Luci. Inventive, creative, and finding her own way to do things.

Her birthday was on a school day so I brought cupcakes. Chocolate with chocolate frosting - her request. For dinner she wanted Top Ramen. Hmph. Tiara had sushi on her 6th. Top ramen is not my favorite. So the rest of us had angel hair with Gorgonzola sauce.

Her cake was a 4 layer cake with alternating layers of chocolate and yellow cakes filled and topped with whipped cream and fresh strawberries - a hit with everyone except Tiara who thought it had too much whipped cream and Elise who doesn't like strawberries.

September 8th - Elise attended her first ever dance class - a very nice mix of ballet and tap. She LOVED it and was very attentive. I think I've found another ballerina in my mix of girls. And since, every day she asks if it is a ballet day. She's hooked.

September 12th - Open house at GKES - we went to the classrooms to see the kids, the rooms, and to meet the teachers. I wish I could remember the songs that Luci sung. One was about foods and the days of the week. The other one was about short vowel sounds... like "Short i sounds like icky sticky, i i i." Too fun. Arianna had homework - or at least it felt like it. Three full pages of questions that the kids had to answer to be able to pick something from the treasure chest. Boring.
September 10th - Arianna lost another tooth. Now she has 3 holes in her mouth.
September 13th - Tiara attends her first football game. Go Lions!! Final score: 54/18

September 14th - Today. Luci's birthday party at the swimming pool in Brunssum. We arrived along with a bunch of people we didn't know. Hmmm... was supposed to be a private party. Thought for a while that the pool had double booked until the manager showed up and pulled out the other ladies form - her's was supposed to be next Sunday. But, it worked out and we all had a great time. The more kids, the more fun anyway.



Luci wore her flippers and goggles and swam underwater. She's getting a lot stronger with her swimming. Arianna practiced snorkeling and diving for sticks (not at the same time). Elise swam with Kirk and played in the little pool. Tiara and I sat out, socialized, took pictures, and watched.

Now I have company coming tomorrow, my IWC night on Thurs, my dad coming on Fri, and a trip coming next week, so this might be it for a while... BUSY week!!!

The first half of this week was a blur of errands and tasks as I plunged headfirst into the many volunteer projects that I'm juggling this year. The strange photo to my right is part of the "Double Dutch" bar in the Dutch NSU (National Support Unit) here on base. Each country has a NSU. Some are just an office. Some are purely administrative. And some, like the Dutch one, have full bars and party rooms. I particularly like the strange wooden shoe/let/head hat rack on the right.

Being on the base a lot for meetings means that I'm around more to have lunch with the girls and take photos for the yearbook which I'm doing again this 3rd and final year. Arianna is posing between her friends, Martina and Gavin. Martina is a new Italian student this year getting a crash coarse in English, but doing better every day.

Tuesday night I baked blueberry muffins, a treat I took to the first IWC board meeting of the year and the first one I've led as president. The meeting went well and I'm really excited about the possibilities this year.

I used a recipe that I got from a friend in Oklahoma years ago. And they were good - not too sweet.


Ingredients:
2 eggs beaten
1 c. milk
2 T. melted butter
1 1/5 c. brown sugar
3 c. flour
2 T. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
4 T. flour
3 c. blueberries (I used frozen)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 F.
Mix eggs, sugar, and milk. Then add melted butter.
Sift together dry ingredients and combine with wet mixture.
Toss blueberries lightly in flour, then gently fold them into the batter.
Grease and flour muffin pans, then fill them 2/3 full.
Bake at 425 F for 12-15 minutes. Test with toothpick.
(I like to sprinkle a little coarse sugar onto the tops before baking)

Faces: Bronze, stone, and plastic... all ladies, and all unique. The doll was special in her placement at the antique stall among a hunter's trophy and an old wooden hat form. The bronze is part of an almost full sized statue near a water fountain... count her fingers. She has more than 5. And the lady in the garden has seen better years, I'm sure, but among flowers, a maiden is always at home.

I spent 6 1/2 hours today at the Tongeren antique market wandering among the treasures, admiring, and questioning the extraordinary and the strange. Utilitarian can be beautiful and fun, so my eye fell on a variety of old coffee grinders and scales today as I compared prices - some decent and some extreme. One vendor saw my Canon and started a lengthy conversation about cameras, lenses, and macro photography. He likes to photograph flowers and bugs in the morning when the dew if heavy and the bugs are slow.

No visit to Tongeren is complete without a visit to Babs, so we stopped and spent a few minutes with her over a glass of wine.

All in all a good day... I found several things that I would love to have in our home when the dollar doubles in value and several things that I did take home today simply because I liked them and they were a good deal.

May be you've heard of "The Bite" events as in Bite of Portland, Bite of San Francisco, etc... where some of the best restaurants put of tents and serve small portions of some of their star dishes. Well... tonight Kirk and I went to the Preuvenemint - essentially The Bite of Maastricht with 31 food booths ranging from caviar to Korean, Dutch to Italian, coffee, gelato and so much more... it was amazing.

Music played all day and into the night from the stage in the Vrijthof that was surrounded by enormous hanging floral arrangements and dozens of sunflowers all around the stages edge. We heard American rock and roll, German folk music, and French ballads while we were there. People crowded around the stage to watch with small bottles of wine topped with these funnel shaped tops making it easy to drink straight from the bottle. Couples dance at the event entrance. It was crowded, but not uncomfortably so... I enjoyed the sun, the ambiance, and the people watching.

These weren't just booths. Some set up with to-go style food that you could walk with or eat at outdoor patio areas near by and others set up mini restaurants complete with stylish tables and chairs, decor similar to their restaurants decor, flowers, and one had a chandelier and branches with floral vines hanging from the elevated tent ceiling. Atmosphere changed completely from booth to booth and it was really fun to see. We started with Korean - something Kirk misses from his time in Osan. He greeted them and said goodbye in Korean and for our interest, Kirk got a free bit of extra kimchi. It was relaxed and casual. From there we went to Moods with tall white tables - modern and shiny like patent leather and long benches that were soft round cylinders of black leather - sheek and modern. Kirk had a delicious Thai curry soup. I had scampi with sundried tomatoes and salad (a taste in a very small cup with an over sized toothpick to eat it - no fork). From Moods we shared a scoop of sangria sorbet served on balsamic vinegar marinated strawberries and mascarpone cream. Wow. A phenomenal flavor combination.

After moods we had Thai - chicken sates in peanut sauce and lumpia served from a stand with only outdoor seating. A patisserie caught our eye, so we did a quick stop there to taste some too-too decadent desserts served in tiny clear bowls. Then we went to Tom Miessens with bright wine themed art on the tent walls, tall round tables, and large silver bowls filled with ice and chilled champagne bottles. We each had a glass of wine and shared a cheese plate served with good bread and strawberry jam and I learned that those overly stinky cheeses are delightful when paired with a thin layer of sweet jam. The combination makes each part better.

Full, but with 5 coupons left, we toddled toward the ice cream tent, but I just couldn't bring myself to order ice cream. I was too stuffed and didn't want to feel heavy. So we opted for coffee at Coffee Lovers - the perfect end to our afternoon out. The coffee was perfect and mine was served, happily, in a real, full-sized, coffee lovers ceramic mug. A nice touch of class and the perfect comfort food.

Tiara got her new finalized schedule today (she's in 8th):

Period 1 Language Arts
Period 2 US History
Period 3 French 2 (High School Class)
Period 4 Spanish 1 (High School Class)

~The above classes constitute an "A" day. Each class meets for roughly 90 minutes. She only has these classes on A days.

Period 5 Algebra 1 (High School Class)
Period 6 Integrated Science
Period 7 Health/PE (alternating quarters)
Period 8 Seminar - a study hall/reading time which ends up being extremely valuable. This is the time all the teachers are available to meet with students. Students can do homework, get extra help, make up exams and go to their teachers with questions.

~ Periods 5-8 are all 90 minute classes that Tiara has on "B" days. A days and B days alternate all year, so she only has, for example, French, every other day. It works. She likes it.

So far she loves all her classes.... either because the teacher and class are wonderful, or she has a friend in that class. :)

Still at AF North International School... she'd stay 'til graduation if that were a choice. A great school. I love that it's completely fenced in, has a gate with guards, and, of course, that it's international. I think the mix of cultures is enriching.

Of course, the little girls are getting international as well. Arianna has an Italian girl in class this year who didn't speak a word of English a week ago when she started. Luci's in class with a Danish girl and Spanish girl who both attended last year and speak English very well. Elise will go next week with a bunch of Italians. (Love those parties - great food!)

Yes, I still have them. My life really is so much more than cultural tidbits, social events and recipes. The kids are the laughter in my days. So here, they are in all their glory... from lost teeth to biking solo, Tiara's first day of 8th grade, Arianna's first day of 2nd, and Luci's first day of 1st. Elise will start next week.

Arianna lost one tooth the week before the hospital and the other the day I had my surgery. Her smile now is absolutely adorable and I think she knows it. She's smiling extra, I think, just to show off her stunning grin.

And now, suddenly, both Arianna AND Luci can not only ride their bicycles without training wheels, but they can do it confidently. Kirk's taken them twice to Burg Trips to ride. The last time they rode 8 miles! Even little Luci kept up! Amazing!

Tiara had her first day of school one day ahead of the others. This is one of her many self portraits and one that she took that day. My grown up 8th grader - she's happy to be back in school and so far, likes her classes quite a bit.

Luci and Arianna started 1st/2nd grade the next day (last Tuesday). They were both excited and happy. Their bus is bus 5 - a city bus that is used by the Americans for this school. The kids were greeted by Dr. Emerson, the principal. I need to ask what was written on the card. He had that held up for all the kids - and he was wearing a large red clown nose.


Finally... from today. Elise saw the poor little mouse trapped on Tinny's basement stair, threw her full bowl of (thankfully) dry cheerios in the air and ran inside to me crying and screaming that she saw a rat and she was scared it was going to run up the stairs and bite her. Arianna and Luci joined the onlookers while I threw down two cheerios for it to much on. We could hear the crunching as he ate them. He was cute.

I got a Keds box and scooped him up in that. He stood up on his hind legs and sniffed when he saw me. Adorable. We took him to the back yard, sat in a circle around him giving him space, and watched him nibble on weeds, sniff, poke his nose up here and there, and burrow through the grass near us for about 5 minutes until he finally ran off into the neighbor's yard. Mice are fast. I couldn't get good photos. But he could have easily come from a Beatrix Potter book. Quite a dashing fellow. You see the Cheerio? Look below and slightly right and you'll see his beady black eye. It really did look like a single shiny glass bead. So perfect.

In my first post-op week at home I was home feeling as if I were under house arrest and teasing Kirk about it though I do appreciate his care of me. Instructions said no driving for two weeks which he interpreted as no sitting in a car in any way, shape, or form for at least two solid weeks. The little girls did vacation Bible school and my big girl enjoyed her last week of sleeping in.

On Thursday, Kirk went back to work... and you know the saying... "While the cat's away..."

I was well behaved, mostly, but resting gets boring. In the afternoon I heard Tinny come in and talk to the girls, so I went down to investigate. "Tinny was looking for you." So, I went through our courtyard to her place and instead of finding Tinny, who was at another neighbor's house looking for scissors, I found her niece, Alicia, tying ribbons around roses.

12 red roses sat in the bucket in Tinny's sink bound together for something later. 12 large white roses laid across the table in tangles of bright yellow wired ribbon, their ends already cut on a nice diagonal. So, looking for something to do and thinking that the tying of ribbons was well within my allowed activities, I sat and helped tie pretty yellow bows on the remaining roses neatly trimming the ends. When that was finished they brought in 14 gold luftbalons, big, helium filled, and clinging to the ceiling. That's when the fireworks came out. Yep. Fireworks and balloons. We took what seems like a really long time, paining our fingers by twisting the ends of large sparklers onto the balloon string in two places so that each balloon had two sparklers hanging from it. Some only held one, so just about the time we had finished poking ourselves with those thick wires, Tinny found a box of small sparklers. And we all three immediately took off all the big sparklers and put the small ones on. It was finished. I went home and Tinny promised to ring my door bell so I could come and take pictures of the balloons. Spaeter. Later. When it's dark.

15 minutes later the doorbell rang. It wasn't dark. I didn't see Tinny, but Finny was outside with another couple I didn't know. The tall man linked his arm in mine and invited me, Elise, and Luci (who had come outside too and without shoes) to come to the party. Ok. I ran inside quickly, told Tiara where I'd be, slipped my sandals on, and went. The party was at the house at the opposite of row of houses we live on - a whole 20 feet away. The side yard was set up with a large tent under which about 8 long, narrow tables with benches were set. People filled most of them already drinking and talking with each other. I sat down at one, then scooted into the end as people began to fill it. Finny, Kirt (the old man who lives in the house by us), Tinny, the hairdresser (Tanya), the couple in the big house (Paul and...), and the man with the white dogs sat at my table.

Tanya and Paul spoke a bit of English but everyone was friendly and tried to converse with me making me feel a lot less of an outsider. Young girls walked around serving drinks. Elise and Luci had Fanta. I shared theirs. Tray after tray of broetchen halves went by with mettwurst (raw ground pork) with onions, schinkenwurst, salami, cheeses... all with a thick smear of butter. The kids at some. I waited. Tiara was home cooking dinner.

We talked about wine from the Ahr regions. Tanya asked where I was from and I learned that almost everyone at my table had a relative somewhere in the states. The man with the little white dogs folded his napkin into triangles and then held it up like a bikini and everyone laughed. He started a conversation with me about ouzo. Strange, but ok. I can talk ouzo.

Kirt is the man next door who lives alone with his miniature pony, Bonzai. He's 79 with dark skin. Short with slightly tired shoulders. He is rarely seen without his thick cigar and he drinks schnapps - and only schnapps claiming that a shot in the morning and a shot in the afternoon has kept him healthy for years. This is the man who still stands on top of his ladder with a chainsaw to trim his 8' hedges and stood on top of his new awning when he was building it. May be schnapps is a health food. So Kirt sat at the end of the table listening, contributing just a little, and smiling with unnaturally white, perfect (I suspect false) teeth the entire evening, a cigar cocked out of one side of his mouth allowing him to continue to drink shot after shot of who knows what. Someone would take the bottle. He'd jovially yell, and one of the girls would fetch it for him. Tinny told me later that the men carried him home at midnight. She was walking back from his place at 9 the next morning checking in to make sure he was ok.

I left to check on the kids after a couple hours, but within a half hour the doorbell rung again... it was time for the singing. 12 school friends had gathered. Can you imagine??? You're old enough to celebrate your 50th wedding anniversary and 12 of your closest school friends are there singing? It's amazing. People stay in these villages for a lifetime.


Two ladies dressed up as the anniversary couple. Alicia played the small boom box inside the old fashioned looking crank organ and turned the crank as if she was playing it. The school friends had their white roses to give and we all sung "Rut Sin De Ruse" loudly until our lungs couldn't take it anymore. I don't know if it was badly typed or some strain of old German, but the spelling isn't what I've learned.


Soon the sparklers came. The school friends all gathered in a circle and lit the fireworks letting a few balloons go at a time. Then we all gathered (even me) in a half circle singing another well known song to the couple of honor. Soon after (it was around 10), I went home.

I heard Tinny come home after 11 laughing loudly with her friends. The party continued until midnight. That was the only portion that I was a part of, but the celebration continued. A 50th anniversary is a special thing in a small town.

On Friday the Mayor of Geilenkirchen came to their house to bring a gift from the city and to spend an hour visiting. Then in the evening there was a special anniversary mass at the church in Gillrath.

On Saturday all their family and friends gathered once more - this time for dinner at Haus Hammacher. It was a very nice dinner, Tinny said. She was there for about 6 hours.

She came over before the party to show me this balloon. It was a gift from 3 neighbors - the second neighbor to their left (Tinny), the second neighbor to their right, and the second neighbor in front of them. They put a wedding photo inside then filled the balloon and over 200Euros in 5 Euros bills, confetti, and smaller balloons.

It's tradition, says Tinny. It's beautiful.

Got sprung from the hospital "early" Sunday afternoon after 5 days instead of the suggested 10. Have spent a couple days trying to "behave myself" by not working too hard. It's not my cup of tea.

And, sadly, sitting too long in my office chair just hurts - a sure sign that I probably shouldn't be doing it. And, I have an article due Monday which kind of takes priority over the blogging thing...

So, I did take notes - lots of them - partly out of my need for memories and details of the curious hospital stay, and partly out of complete and total boredom.

That being said, the notes will be put together into something readable in the near future along with photos of Arianna's new smile and Luci fearlessly riding her bicycle without training wheels.

:) T

P.S. I can't sweep, vacuum, load the dishwasher, bend over much, drive, or pick up much heavier than this cup of coffee, but I CAN push down the button on Tiara's camera, and so, out of boredom, curiosity, and the fact that my coffee ended up on the mid-floor windowsill and I was too tired to walk up or down a flight of stairs, I started a funny little game of taking pictures of my coffee. This is what I saw reflected in my coffee today. It's a brass colored lamp on our mid level stair landing that our landlord says in "original," but, the house was built in 1907 when electricity in this way probably wouldn't have been here and not with this wiring. So, may be original means after the war - after they returned from Saxony to find their house a mere shell with the windows and doors blown out from the heavy bombing that occurred here. Rats and ash covering the floor. There's a story here. I may tell it in my next cup of coffee.

I actually have some things to report... a lovely brunch with friends from which I have a new recipe to share... an incident with a lost wallet and meeting the Dutch man who found it... and an experience with the local hospital which I will have more to add in the next week or so.

Tomorrow I'll be heading to the hospital in Heinsberg for a hysterectomy which has been a long time coming and will fix all the nit-picky gripes I've had these last couple years. Here, they like to keep you a while, so it looks like a 5-7 day stay for me. Yippee. So, I'll be fine sitting in my shared room catching up on my reading and having some forced rest.

Prayers are welcome.

~Tiffany

So it's a regular Friday night and we're meeting a bunch of friends for Wall E, the new Pixar film, at the Foroxity Theatre. I love the Foroxity because there is a narrow table right behind each row of chairs, so you have a nice ledge in front of you for your popcorn, bitter lemon, or cappuccino... in Tiara's case, the Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

I have my huge purse with my little wrist purse tucked inside... I take out my little one when I go get drinks for the kids, then set it down on that convenient little ledge in front of me. The movie starts. There is no dialogue the entire first half of the movie. The kids love it, but I'm ready to pull out a book and a pen light. For a good movie I'll stay for the credits, but by the time this one was over, I was ready to bolt for the door. Elise was sleeping in my arms. I grabbed my purse, my girl, and headed out. My little red wristlet sat on the ledge in the dark.

So the next day I'm getting ready to go to Schinnen... the kids are ready, I'm ready, I have the list... it's time to grab my keys and go. Keys in hand... purse. No red purse. Gone. Checked the car. Emptied my big purse. And then the terrifying AH-HA moment happened when I knew exactly where I left it. 2 debit cards, 2 credit cards, 2 military identifications, 2 driver's licenses.

I called the Foroxity. They checked the Lost and Found. "Sorry, Ma'm."

So I went into this auto-pilot crisis management mode. Files came out, and the phone was in use. I triaged the list of creditors and called them in order of importance to protect. Canceled one, then two... Asked Kirk to call the base. I was to file a police report with the Dutch and German police, file reports on both bases, then go through the grueling process of getting new IDs. That's more painful than the credit cards.

The kids were rerouted into play mode. I spoke to the Dutch police and had the station address. Tiara was set to babysit for however long it would take for us to get this done. We were minutes from walking out the door and I thought... let's check just one more time. I called the Foroxity again and got the same girl on the phone.

A man had called the Foroxity a few minutes ago. He was Dutch. He found my purse, but since it was an American's purse and had "important papers" inside, he decided to take it home instead of trusting it to the theater staff. The theater employee was incensed. She said she yelled at him telling him they had a safe. He didn't leave a name or number. I'd have to wait.

Late that evening the base called to tell us that the Geleen police had it. The left a number which led me to another number... and I eventually tracked it down. They are closed on Sundays, but I could pick it up at 3 anyway. He spoke little English, so we spoke mostly in German, then English, and a bit of Dutch for pleasantries.

Sunday Kirk is working. I have the kids. We drive to the police station - arrive 15 minutes late. I stand at the locked door and call with my cell phone. "You're late," he says in English. "Yes, I know. My GPS took me a strange way." In German he replies that because I'm late I must hand over my oldest daughter. I paused, then laughed and he laughed too, then opened the door.

Everything is there except for 10 Euros cash. Glad I didn't have more. "Thank you." We're speaking German again which surprises me because the Dutch usually speak English extremely well. Then he tears the piece of paper that had photocopies of all of my ids. Written on the back is a name, an address, and a phone number. Mr. Schlemmer. This is the man who found my wallet and so here is his address. He lives just a few blocks away. If I'd like to stop by and say thank you. He started to draw me a map.

Is this normal?? Do people normally visit the honest folks who return lost or stolen things? I'm a woman alone with 4 daughters... but I'm in the Netherlands... it won't hurt to drive there. May be he won't be home.

We got there, parked, and got out. Followed the numbers around to 149, looked up and saw a man smoking on the top floor balcony. I waved my little red wristlet. "Did you find this?" I yelled up. "I just wanted to say 'thank you." He smiles, stands, then asks if we'd like to come up. All those safety alarms go off. What would Kirk say. Is this safe? "Oh, no thank you. I just wanted to thank you." "I'll come down." Deep breath. Tiara is worried. The little ones are oblivious, but I can see that look in T's face. And then he's there, a tall, thin, middle aged man with the darkened wrinkled skin of a smoker. Loose clothing, but not horribly dressed. Smiling. He says he found it on the floor with the contents spilling out, so he scooped it up and took it home. He invites us up again. Come have a drink.

How do I get out of this? I don't. "Ok, just for a moment. I can't stay long." The entry is filthy. It's an old disheveled building. There's a sink covered in grime and some buckets on the ground. We're walking up extremely steep narrow stairs and I'm thinking about how I could run down these with a kid tucked under each arm if I needed to. We get upstairs and he opens the door to an absolutely beautiful, completely modern apartment. And it's clean. His old dog licks us. The girls are taken with him. He points to his computer. "I tried to find your phone number on google, but couldn't find it." He tells me about his search and all the people he called to try to reach me. We make small talk about family and jobs. He has a wife and two teenage kids. They're building a large home nearby. "This is temporary," he repeats several times during our visit. I don't have a drink and don't stay long. Within 15 minutes, we were making our way again down those stairs. Thanking him again.

We turned the corner, saw my van in the near distance, and I let out a deep breath. Relief. Not that my wallet is back, but we're walking casually away from what ended up being a very benign encounter.

I wonder how normal this is. The policeman seemed to think it was routine. This is not America.

Missing my friends who I hadn't seen in a while and not able with the girls out of school to run off and have one-on-one coffees with them all, I had a "Hello Brunch" the week before my surgery to reconnect with friends, relax and enjoy a nice morning, and to swap recipes. I really honestly don't choose my friends for their cooking ability, but I kinda always luck out with friends who are not only really fun to hang out with, but could fatten me up in a heartbeat with all their treats. So, here are two recipes... one from my friend Rita - the only truly savory item at the table and one that we all wanted more of. The other is the treat that I made... a recipe from Cuisine at Home.

Rita's BAKED POLENTA WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE,
MUSHROOMS, AND THREE CHEESES

Ingredients:
1 tbs fruity olive oil
1/2 small yellow onion - chopped
2 large garlic cloves - minced
1/2 medium red sweet pepper - chopped
1/2 lb mild Italian sausage - casing removed, crumpled
1/2 lb fresh crimini mushrooms - thinly sliced
4 C milk, broth, or water (I use milk)
1 1/4 C yellow cornmeal - preferably stone-ground
1 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh sage
1/ 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 C Ricotta cheese
1 C Shredded Gruyere cheese
salt
freshly ground black pepper
dash of red pepper flakes or 1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper
4 tbsp butter melted
4 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
tomato sauce (optional)

Directions:
Saute onion, garlic, and sweet pepper in olive oil. Add sausage and cont. cooking till meat changes color. Stir in mushrooms and cook for a few minutes. Set mixture aside.

Heat up milk slowly and add cornmeal, stirring briskly to avoid lumping. Cook for a couple of minutes till cormeal is very thick. Remove from heat and add herbs, red pepper flakes, and Ricotta and Gruyere cheeses. Add sausage mix., combine well, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle with melted butter and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Pour mixture in a 9-inch baking dish and bake in 375 degrees for about 25 minutes. Serve with tomato sauce. (We didn't have the tomatoe sauce and didn't miss it.)

For the Crust:

• Preheat oven to 400 and coat a 9" tart pan with removable bottom with nonstick spray.
• Process 1 1/4 cups flour, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 t. table salt, and the zest of one lemon until combined.
• Add 1 stick unsalted butter, cold and cubed (1/2 cup) and pulse until the mixture resembles course crumbs.
• Blend in 1 egg yolk and pulse until the dough is crumbly.
• Press dough over the bottom and up the sides of the prepared pan.
• Bake until golden - 12-15 minutes, then cool completely.
  

For the filling:

• Mash together one egg white and 1/2 cup lemon curd (can used purchased), then whisk in 3 eggs.
• Combine 1/4 cup flour, 3 T. cornstarch, and a pinch of salt in a separate bowl, then gradually add it to the egg mixture. Set aside.
• Bring 2 cups whole milk and 1/3 cup honey to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat.
• Slowly temper the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture, then return it all to the pan.
• Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly 3-5 minutes.
• Remove from heat and whisk in 2 T. cold unsalted butter and the juice of 1/2 a lemon stirring until smooth.
• Pour custard into the cooled crust, cover, and chill until set, 4 hours.
  

To finish:

• Melt 1/4 cup apricot jelly and the juice of 1 lemon together and stir well. Use this to glaze the top of the cooled tart.
• You will need 1/2 pint each of fresh blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries and a few sprigs of mint. I couldn't get raspberries, so I used red currants (johanesbeeren) instead for their bright red color. Strawberries would be good as well.
• Scatter 3/4 of the blueberries over the tart. Sprinkle most of the raspberries over the tart. Top with all the blackberries, then fill in with the remaining blueberries and raspberries. Dab the berries with the glaze and garnish with mint sprigs and leaves. Best served chilled.
  

From Saveur Mag: (I only used about 1/2 of this for the tart, so you could halve this recipe and have enough if you don't want leftovers, but lemon curd is delicious on fresh scones)

Lemon Curd - 1 1/4 cups

2 egg yolks
1 whole egg
6 tbsp. sugar
1⁄3 cup fresh lemon juice
1⁄2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
5 tbsp. cold butter, cut into pieces

• Whisk together egg yolks, whole egg, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a medium mixing bowl until well combined.
• Set bowl over a medium pot of simmering water over medium-low heat and cook, whisking constantly, until thick, 8–10 minutes.
• Whisk in butter, a few pieces at a time, until completely incorporated. Transfer to a clean bowl, cover surface with plastic to prevent skin from forming, and set aside to let cool. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.