Friday, March 30, 2012
Wonderful Meals and Friends
Under Construction
March 26 Dinner with Coltons
March 27 OGC Spring Feast Italian Style
March 30 Dinner here with Wells
March 26 Dinner with Coltons
March 27 OGC Spring Feast Italian Style
March 30 Dinner here with Wells
The Offenbach Ward Relief Society Birthday Party, March 27
I would like to share this fun Relief Society Birthday Party idea that I put together for the Offenbach Ward. Maybe you can use it sometime in your ward. I called it Recipes For Wisdom. It was a cooking demo class through the ages. On the long table, I laid out all of the cooking supplies for five recipes through the ages. The "cooks," dressed in period clothing, took turns telling their touching stories as they demonstrated how to make the recipes.
Included are the stories and recipes that I put together as "bouquet" handouts in the basket. We decorated with primroses. Afterwards, we enjoyed eating the foods from the recipes that had been demoed. Other sisters had prepared the food at home and brought it to share. There was a great spirit in the presentations, and we had an enjoyable and uplifting evening.
My name is Elizabeth Simpson Bradshaw, and I grew up in a beautiful home in England. I married well—twice in fact, but sadly, my husbands both died. I joined the Church in England, and because of persecution from my relatives and friends, I boarded the Horizon with my five children to set sail for America in May of 1856. I had a strong testimony of the gathering in Zion.
When we got on board the ship, I was terrified to see a row boat approaching with my two brothers. They came aboard and said to me, "Elizabeth, please don't take these little children at this time of the year and go to those God-forsaken Mormons and to such a despised place as Utah." They told me that if I would get off the boat, I would never want for anything, and they would gladly care for me and my children for the rest of our lives.
I met my husband, Ken, on a blind date in 1936, and we got engaged at Christmas. There was no money for a stylish wedding. We found a tiny place to call home. Ken's mother helped us out. She would drop off a half pound of hamburger and a few potatoes on her way home from the market. That would be our dinner. The Depression was literally a depressing time, and it was easy for many to give up hope. But I lived through it and learned from it, which is true of any trial that comes into our lives. Want to know what I learned?
I learned not to be afraid of hard work. I had to get out and find my own way and not depend on others.
I learned how to raise my own food.
I am my mother Elisabeth Roegner. I was born in Stettin Germany which is now Poland. In the closing months of World War II, Stettin became one of the last cities of defense on the Russian front. Women and children had to leave. I could not go with my family as they left. I was in the weather service and had to leave with them. All we tried is to go West away from the advancing Russian tanks and the American and British fighter planes, bombing us from the sky.
We reached the British occupied area of Germany which was North Germany, and we were happy when soon after that the war ended. But then of course, Germany got divided, and the rest of my family was in the Russian zone in East Germany. Because I was so homesick for my family, I went all by myself the long way to Weimar to find them. I hitchhiked or walked until I finally got there. When my mother saw me, her mouth stayed open wide, as if she had seen a ghost. For a long time she had believed me dead, because she was told I was killed. She was so shocked and almost took a heart attack. Then of course we were so happy to be together and thanked God again and again that nothing terrible had happened to either of us girls making our way to our mother. The wall was not up yet, but there was a so called green border through the woods, and the Russians with their big dogs tried to arrest or kill anybody they could find there.
We always tried to find work at a farm or in a hospital kitchen in order to be able to be paid in food which we could take home to our mom. That is how we survived those terrible hard times. Also, we tried to live in places where the church was. That is where I met and married my husband. We then moved to Magdeburg, where his parents lived. In the year 1959, we tried to escape to West Germany. My husband was a school teacher under the East German government. When he was seen playing the organ at church, they threatened him that he would lose his job. That was the sign for us to try to escape in order also to bring up our three children in the gospel in freedom. We came up with a plan that my husband would take the eight-year-old son, and I would take the three-year-old twins. We pretended to go to different places by train and later meet up in West Berlin. One time I was caught, and ended up in jail with my twins. The next morning I had to swear an oath that I never wanted to leave the East zone and could go home again. Two weeks later, we tried it again, and this time we succeeded. We then had to go to a refugee camp and had to survive many trials there. But finally we ended up in Hannover and started a normal life in the West.
I know with all my heart that Heavenly Father protected us and put opportunities in our way so that we could become a free family and enjoy the blessings of His Church in full measure. I am very, very thankful!
120 gram soft Butter or Margarine
125 gram sugar
3 eggs
Pinch of salt
4 drops of lemon oil
200 grams flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 Tablespoons Milk
Included are the stories and recipes that I put together as "bouquet" handouts in the basket. We decorated with primroses. Afterwards, we enjoyed eating the foods from the recipes that had been demoed. Other sisters had prepared the food at home and brought it to share. There was a great spirit in the presentations, and we had an enjoyable and uplifting evening.
Recipes For Wisdom
2012 Relief Society Birthday Party
Story One: Elizabeth Revel (Emma Smith's Nurse ), Early Church History Era, USA (Sister Moore)
I knew Emma Smith very well. She lived almost thirty-five years after the martyrdom of her husband, Joseph Smith. I am Elizabeth Revel. I was her nurse in the last hours of her life. Surely only an elect lady could have written the words that she wrote in a letter to her husband Joseph, who was a prisoner in Liberty Jail:
"Was it not for … the direct interposition of divine mercy, I am very sure I never should have been able to have endured the scenes of suffering that I have passed through … but I still live and am yet willing to suffer more if it is the will of kind Heaven, that I should for your sake. … No one but God, knows the reflections of my mind and the feelings of my heart when I left our house and home, and almost all of everything that we possessed excepting our little children, and took my journey out of the State of Missouri, leaving you shut up in that lonesome prison.”
Our dear Emma. She was no stranger to loss and grief. She especially mourned the deaths of her three babies, yet her testimony endured to the end. A few months before she died, she bore her testimony, saying: “My belief is that the Book of Mormon is of divine authenticity. I have not the slightest doubt of it.” "I know Mormonism to be the truth; and believe the Church to have been established by divine direction.”
I was with Emma when she died. She seemed to sink away, but then she rose up and stretched out her hand, calling, “Joseph! Joseph! ,” just before she passed. A few days earlier Emma had told me that Joseph had come to her in a vision and said, “Emma . . .it is time for you to come with me.” “As Emma related it, she said, ‘I went with him into a mansion. One room was the nursery. In that nursery was a babe in the cradle. She said, ‘I knew my babe, my Don Carlos, that was taken from me.’ She sprang forward, caught the child up in her arms, and wept with joy over the child. Then she asked, ‘Joseph, where are the rest of my children.’ He said to her, ‘Emma, be patient and you shall have all of your children.’ Then she saw standing by his side a personage of light, even the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Recipe: Homemade Butter in a Jar
Shake your way to fresh butter and buttermilk.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
Heavy cream
A jar with a lid
Preparation:
1. Fill a jar halfway with heavy cream (baby food jars work great for small batches), and screw the lid on tight. Bring to room temperature.
2. Shake the jar up and down until the cream thickens and begins to stick together.
3. Then, open the jar, and pour any remaining liquid into another container; this is the buttermilk. Everything else is butter.
4. Knead the butter under cold running water for several minutes to work out any remaining buttermilk (otherwise the butter will spoil quickly).
5. Knead in salt, if desired.
6. Refrigerate.
Story Two: Elizabeth Simpson Bradshaw (English Sister on Martin Handcart Company)
Zion Exodus Era, England to USA (Sister McKee)
My name is Elizabeth Simpson Bradshaw, and I grew up in a beautiful home in England. I married well—twice in fact, but sadly, my husbands both died. I joined the Church in England, and because of persecution from my relatives and friends, I boarded the Horizon with my five children to set sail for America in May of 1856. I had a strong testimony of the gathering in Zion.
When we got on board the ship, I was terrified to see a row boat approaching with my two brothers. They came aboard and said to me, "Elizabeth, please don't take these little children at this time of the year and go to those God-forsaken Mormons and to such a despised place as Utah." They told me that if I would get off the boat, I would never want for anything, and they would gladly care for me and my children for the rest of our lives.
But a servant of the Lord had pronounced a blessing upon my head and promised that should I take all of my children to Zion, my posterity would never want for bread.
After six long weeks at sea, my little family arrived in Boston, Massachusetts. We went by train to Iowa. Then we packed our few belongings in a wooden handcart and joined with the Martin Handcart Company. We were prepared to walk the thirteen hundred miles across the United States to Utah. With unwavering faith, we started off, late in the season, but as severe storms bore down upon us, and as we watched our friends suffer and die, our hearts became heavy. Along the way, we buried fifteen brothers and sisters in one grave.
When we reached the banks of the Platte River, many of our company were too old and weak, or just too small to cross the river. I watched my oldest daughter, Sarah, just 19 years old, go back and forth across that icy river to carry sixteen people across. I took my youngest son, Richard, upon my shoulders and started to cross the river, but I was swept downstream. I could hear voices calling, "Let the boy go from your shoulders, or you will both be drowned.” I refused and struggled on. Finally I reached the steep bank on the opposite side. Others helped us out of the water, and I bore witness right then that God had protected and saved both of us.
But conditions only grew worse, and our food had to be rationed. My share of flour was one level pint per day for all six of us. Our clothing and shoes were in rags. We struggled on through the snow, wind, and storms, covering only a few miles a day. At last, to our great joy, we saw a team of men who had come to meet us—and they had brought food! They helped us get to Salt Lake City. We lived in a small log home, with a dirt floor, and sheepskin coverings on the beds to help keep us warm. But we had arrived—with all of my children safe! And never in my life had I been more grateful than to have a roof over our heads. I taught my children that even if they had but one piece of bread, to ask the blessing of the Lord and to thank him for it. For this was the Lord’s promise to me, that should I take all of my children to Zion, my posterity would never want for bread.
But conditions only grew worse, and our food had to be rationed. My share of flour was one level pint per day for all six of us. Our clothing and shoes were in rags. We struggled on through the snow, wind, and storms, covering only a few miles a day. At last, to our great joy, we saw a team of men who had come to meet us—and they had brought food! They helped us get to Salt Lake City. We lived in a small log home, with a dirt floor, and sheepskin coverings on the beds to help keep us warm. But we had arrived—with all of my children safe! And never in my life had I been more grateful than to have a roof over our heads. I taught my children that even if they had but one piece of bread, to ask the blessing of the Lord and to thank him for it. For this was the Lord’s promise to me, that should I take all of my children to Zion, my posterity would never want for bread.
Recipe: No Knead Bread (2 Loaves)
Add 1 Tablespoon yeast and 1 Tablespoon sugar to 2 cups warm water. Let bubble.
In another bowl, mix 6 cups flour with 2 teaspoons salt
Add yeast mixture to flour mixture.(This will be a wet dough.)
Let rise in bowl until doubled.
Put on greased baking sheets (or glass pans) and let rise again until doubled.
Bake at 425 Degrees F. for 10 minutes.
Lower temperature to 375 Degrees F. for another 15 minutes.
Brush with butter.
Remove from pans with spatula while warm.
Story Three: Etheleen Shell, Depression Era, USA (Sister Dearing)
My name is Etheleen Shell. I grew up in a farming community in Mayfield, Utah, and we always had plenty. But the Great Depression changed that. I remember the day--October 29, 1929, when the U.S. stock market crashed. Utah was hit hard. Unemployment went to 36 percent, the fourth highest in the nation. One third of our banks went under. People were constantly in debt and lined up waiting for a bowl of broth or a piece of bread from a soup kitchen. A coke cost a nickel, but very few of us could afford that kind of luxury. To complicate things, we had a terrible drought with unusual high temperatures. Never before had so little rain fallen during a growing season. Soup was a common meal, as we could stretch it out to last several days. Shall we make some stone soup today--with a few vegetables?
My name is Etheleen Shell. I grew up in a farming community in Mayfield, Utah, and we always had plenty. But the Great Depression changed that. I remember the day--October 29, 1929, when the U.S. stock market crashed. Utah was hit hard. Unemployment went to 36 percent, the fourth highest in the nation. One third of our banks went under. People were constantly in debt and lined up waiting for a bowl of broth or a piece of bread from a soup kitchen. A coke cost a nickel, but very few of us could afford that kind of luxury. To complicate things, we had a terrible drought with unusual high temperatures. Never before had so little rain fallen during a growing season. Soup was a common meal, as we could stretch it out to last several days. Shall we make some stone soup today--with a few vegetables?
I want to tell you how the Great Depression affected my life. Gifts that were once excitedly ripped open, were now carefully opened so the wrap could be used over again. A ball of string was made up of hundreds of shorter pieces tied together. We made skirts out of printed chicken feed sacks and flour sacks became our underwear. We put cardboard inside our shoes as we wore holes in them. One Christmas, the only gift for all eight of us was a white-frosted Christmas cake and an orange in our stockings.
I met my husband, Ken, on a blind date in 1936, and we got engaged at Christmas. There was no money for a stylish wedding. We found a tiny place to call home. Ken's mother helped us out. She would drop off a half pound of hamburger and a few potatoes on her way home from the market. That would be our dinner. The Depression was literally a depressing time, and it was easy for many to give up hope. But I lived through it and learned from it, which is true of any trial that comes into our lives. Want to know what I learned?
I learned not to be afraid of hard work. I had to get out and find my own way and not depend on others.
I learned how to raise my own food.
I learned to be grateful for the good things that came my way, like these vegetables grown in my garden.
My motto was: "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without".
I saved everything.
I saved everything.
I learned to appreciate the little things in life, and not to expect a whole lot.
I learned to trade things such as my sewing skills to get other things that we needed.
I learned to make household repairs.
I learned to trade things such as my sewing skills to get other things that we needed.
I learned to make household repairs.
I learn enough knowledge of medical care to take care of myself and my family.
I learned to watch over my neighbors and ask if there was anything that they needed or anything that I could do to help.
I learned how important it is to stay close to my family. I learned how important love is.
I learned how important it is to stay close to my family. I learned how important love is.
I came to know that life can be wonderful—that it is up to me to make it what it is.
But what really got me through, was staying close to the Lord. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn’t had the Gospel in my life. I learned how to pray with a contrite heart. I learned what it is to have real faith and trust in the Lord, no matter what my circumstances. I learned that God loves each of us and watches over us.
But what really got me through, was staying close to the Lord. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn’t had the Gospel in my life. I learned how to pray with a contrite heart. I learned what it is to have real faith and trust in the Lord, no matter what my circumstances. I learned that God loves each of us and watches over us.
Times can be tough, but like you, I can be even tougher, as I rise to the challenge. Joseph Smith said, “Never be discouraged. If I were sunk in the lowest pits of Nova Scotia, with the Rocky Mountains piled on me, I would hang on, exercise faith, and keep up good courage, and I would come out on top.”
Recipe: Vegetable Soup
250 grams vegetables, your choice, chopped
300 grams potatoes, chopped
1 onion chopped
750 ml. chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Stir fry the vegetables in small amount of oil for five minutes.
Add chicken stock
Simmer until ready to eat.
Story Four: Elisabeth Roegner, Post World War II Era, Germany (Sister Blacoe)
I am my mother Elisabeth Roegner. I was born in Stettin Germany which is now Poland. In the closing months of World War II, Stettin became one of the last cities of defense on the Russian front. Women and children had to leave. I could not go with my family as they left. I was in the weather service and had to leave with them. All we tried is to go West away from the advancing Russian tanks and the American and British fighter planes, bombing us from the sky.
We reached the British occupied area of Germany which was North Germany, and we were happy when soon after that the war ended. But then of course, Germany got divided, and the rest of my family was in the Russian zone in East Germany. Because I was so homesick for my family, I went all by myself the long way to Weimar to find them. I hitchhiked or walked until I finally got there. When my mother saw me, her mouth stayed open wide, as if she had seen a ghost. For a long time she had believed me dead, because she was told I was killed. She was so shocked and almost took a heart attack. Then of course we were so happy to be together and thanked God again and again that nothing terrible had happened to either of us girls making our way to our mother. The wall was not up yet, but there was a so called green border through the woods, and the Russians with their big dogs tried to arrest or kill anybody they could find there.
We always tried to find work at a farm or in a hospital kitchen in order to be able to be paid in food which we could take home to our mom. That is how we survived those terrible hard times. Also, we tried to live in places where the church was. That is where I met and married my husband. We then moved to Magdeburg, where his parents lived. In the year 1959, we tried to escape to West Germany. My husband was a school teacher under the East German government. When he was seen playing the organ at church, they threatened him that he would lose his job. That was the sign for us to try to escape in order also to bring up our three children in the gospel in freedom. We came up with a plan that my husband would take the eight-year-old son, and I would take the three-year-old twins. We pretended to go to different places by train and later meet up in West Berlin. One time I was caught, and ended up in jail with my twins. The next morning I had to swear an oath that I never wanted to leave the East zone and could go home again. Two weeks later, we tried it again, and this time we succeeded. We then had to go to a refugee camp and had to survive many trials there. But finally we ended up in Hannover and started a normal life in the West.
I know with all my heart that Heavenly Father protected us and put opportunities in our way so that we could become a free family and enjoy the blessings of His Church in full measure. I am very, very thankful!
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6
Recipe: Sister Blacoe’s Cherry Cake
120 gram soft Butter or Margarine
125 gram sugar
3 eggs
Pinch of salt
4 drops of lemon oil
200 grams flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 Tablespoons Milk
The dough will be baked in a round spring pan (26 cm diameter). Oil the bottom, but not the sides and fill the pan with the dough. Then add the contents of a jar of cherries on top without any liquid.
Bake at 175 C for 40-50 minutes
Story Five: Modern Day Era, USA (Sister Colton)
In my marriage, I gladly gave myself to living the Lord’s plan thinking that my first husband was hanging on to the iron rod as I was. But I was to discover that my husband had been hiding a dark secret and living a private, separate life of drug and pornography addiction. If I had known what was coming, I would have turned around and run the other way. But no such second sight--there was no reversing the course. This was something I had to walk through.
My devastating divorce turned my whole world from color to black and white. I was so sad. Sometimes it was hard to imagine a world of vivid color: the brilliant gold and deep greens and sky blue. It was hard to believe I would ever feel that much happiness, or ever see such color again. But I held onto that memory…took it out and dusted it off occasionally, just to remind me what it had been like…before—and to hold it out as something that could happen again.
I had been a stay-at-home mom of 6 kids, and was feeling totally unqualified in my late forties to reenter the work force. All of these realities would sink in and I would suddenly find my heart rate increasing, my breathing speeding up, and my mind freezing. I went back to work as a teacher. I don't know what I would have done without a special sister in the gospel, who had also experienced a divorce. She buoyed me up when I felt like I was going under.
Because of the divorce, I lost my beautiful home. I closed the door to my home and my once happy life. But I continued to hold fast to the iron rod, and as you know, the Lord blessed me and my children. Something wonderful did happen. Dave came into our lives, and what a joy and blessing he is. All I can say is "and they lived happily ever after."
Victor Hugo said: "Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake."
My devastating divorce turned my whole world from color to black and white. I was so sad. Sometimes it was hard to imagine a world of vivid color: the brilliant gold and deep greens and sky blue. It was hard to believe I would ever feel that much happiness, or ever see such color again. But I held onto that memory…took it out and dusted it off occasionally, just to remind me what it had been like…before—and to hold it out as something that could happen again.
I had been a stay-at-home mom of 6 kids, and was feeling totally unqualified in my late forties to reenter the work force. All of these realities would sink in and I would suddenly find my heart rate increasing, my breathing speeding up, and my mind freezing. I went back to work as a teacher. I don't know what I would have done without a special sister in the gospel, who had also experienced a divorce. She buoyed me up when I felt like I was going under.
Because of the divorce, I lost my beautiful home. I closed the door to my home and my once happy life. But I continued to hold fast to the iron rod, and as you know, the Lord blessed me and my children. Something wonderful did happen. Dave came into our lives, and what a joy and blessing he is. All I can say is "and they lived happily ever after."
Victor Hugo said: "Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake."
Recipe: Egg and Cheese Casserole
4 c. day old bread (cut into bite-sized pieces)
2 cups shredded cheese
2 1/2 cups milk
10 Eggs
1 t. dry mustard or ½ t. wet mustard
¼ t. onion powder or 1/8 c. grated onion
Salt and pepper to taste
Grease 9 x 13 pan. Place bread in bottom and sprinkle with cheese. Beat eggs with milk, onions, and spices. Pour over cheese. Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 325 Degrees F.
Bake for one hour.
The Temple and the Spring Ronnenburg Festival
On Friday we enjoyed going to the Temple in Offenbach. There was a peaceful and loving feeling there. Afterwards, we went out to dinner with all of our Senior Couples here.
The next morning we headed for the Ronnenburg Festival and had a great time enjoying the crafts and activities from old Germany. When we got into the castle area, for some reason, one of the entertainers escorted us to the front, to be the "bride and groom" to enjoy the festivities.
We love the medieval costumes and all the warm greetings we see among friends.
The crafts are so unusual and beautiful.
The next morning we headed for the Ronnenburg Festival and had a great time enjoying the crafts and activities from old Germany. When we got into the castle area, for some reason, one of the entertainers escorted us to the front, to be the "bride and groom" to enjoy the festivities.
We love the medieval costumes and all the warm greetings we see among friends.
The crafts are so unusual and beautiful.
Kate's Visit to Germany Part I
On March 16, we picked Kate up at the airport and threw our arms around her. What a joy to hold her again and have her here! We dropped a few things off at our apartment and then headed toward Berlin. On the way we stopped at a castle in Wartburg, situated on a 1230-foot precipice overlooking the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. According to tradition, the castle (Burg) got its name when its founder first laid eyes on the hill and exclaimed, "Warte, Berg -- du sollst mir eine Burg werden!" ("Wait, mountain -- you shall become a castle for me."
Kate got us in, and we waited in the garden for the tour to begin.
The tour group was mostly German men and the tour guide spoke only German. He could have been an actor as he spoke in a loud, dramatic voice. Kate and I kind of hung out in the back of the group. Once inside the castle, the décor went from plain to extravagant.
The Theater
The Hall (love the lights)
We journeyed on to our Hotel de Ela in Berlin and stayed together in a very large, high-ceilinged, quaint old room. We had a private bath down the hall. To get in and out of our room, we had to unlock a huge set of French doors. That made any trips to the bathroom during the night not too quiet.
We got up early, ate breakfast in our room, and caught the Ubahn into Berlin. We first crossed the Oberbaumbrucke, a lovely old bridge leading to the old Berlin Wall.
We explored the Berliner Mauer East Side Gallery, an international memorial for freedom stretching over a mile along the east side of the Berlin Wall on Muhlenstraße in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. The Gallery consists of 105 paintings by artists from all over the world, painted in 1990. It is possibly the largest and longest-lasting open air gallery in the world. We were very touched by the messages of freedom we viewed as we walked along, that were expressed both in words and art, such as this message:
"Many small people, who in many small places, do many small things, that can alter the face of the world."
I particularly loved this quote "Thoughts are like traces of birds in Heaven," as I have always taught my students that "Thoughts are like little birds. You need to catch them, or they will fly away."
In Berlin, we enjoyed the architecture, both old and new.
We explored the Holocaust Memorial, a memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe. I felt grateful that my great grandparents had already left for America, but I know that we probably have relatives who suffered greatly.
It was soon time for ice cream, and we found the most heavenly display.
We hopped on the Ubahn and were fortunate enough to spot a flohmarkt, and Bob and Kate decided it was a must for me. It was just closing, so I rushed through ahead of them and found a beautiful black German style sweater with silver buttons and a new doilie for my quilt that I am making.
Isn't this a beautiful display?
We headed back to the hotel and along the way enjoyed some interesting sculptures.
We found a wonderful little Italian Restaurant, Trattoria Abaruzzo, and enjoyed a delicious meal of pasta. We left so full, that we were ready to fall asleep.
The next morning we headed for Leipzig, about 200 km south of Berlin. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centers of learning and culture in music and publishing. Leipzig later played a significant role in instigating the fall of communism in Eastern Europe through events which took place in and around St. Nicholas Church. There was some kind of inaugural even going on with lots of police, so we just drove around.
On the way home, we visited a delightful little town, Dinkelsbuhl, where we enjoyed a delicious doner kebab, a Turkish sandwich, that we searched for high and low along the way in every city for Kate.
Lonnie especially enjoyed the window shopping--hearts galore!
We headed for Rothenburg ob der Taube, an old walled city called the "Red fortress above the Tauber River".
While Bob was taking care of the parking, Kate and Lonnie were ambushed by paparazzi in search of a photo shoot.
Rothenburg ob der Taube is a very large town to explore. People live here and go about their daily business, while tourists, like us, ooh and ahh over things that they live with everyday.
Of course, we couldn't leave out the wonderful arts and crafts.
We tried these Schneeballen cookies, but they weren't very tasty. They were very pretty but looked better than they tasted.
We cruised the rest of the home, tired, but never lacking for deep and wonderful conversation, and stopped at the Kartoffelkuche for a tummy warming dinner.
The next morning we got up, ate a bite, and caught the Ubahn for downtown Frankfurt.
We walked around the Ziel where we say an amazing street artist, and then walked over to the more historical sites in Frankfurt, the plaque for the commemoration of book burning, and the Roman ruins.
This little pigeon had only one foot.
We watched the boats on the Main River.
That evening we went to a quaint German restaurant, Webers, and enjoyed a delicious dinner.
As we walked out, I took a parting shot of this landmark tower next the Webers, that always leads us home.
The week flew by and the next morning was our last together for a while, so before going to the airport, we headed off for a few more adventures. The neighborhood bakery was a must.
Kate got a specially wrapped treat.
Then we headed to the historic Ann Frank houses, where she lived before moving to Holland where the family went into hiding. Both of these houses are in our neighborhood, one within walking distance. It's wonderful to think about her once playing in our neighborhood.
I have always loved Ann Frank and have read her Diary many times. I love this quote:
"How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment, we can start now, start slowly changing the world."
Ann Frank, Age 14
I know another girl like that, who is off to change the world.
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