From scratch
I got married in the spring of 2000, about a week or so after graduating college. A week after the wedding I moved to another continent. That meant, I went from a single Europen student semi-living with her parents (adjacent apartments) to a working wife in an American small town within a month. You can say I am familiar with change. Everything I know about being a wife and mother in practical terms, like where to shop for what, how to cook for two and how to cook for kids and what recipes fit for what occasion is deeply colored in stars and stripes. I now "returned" to Austria, but in many ways it certainly doesn't feel like returning since very few things from my previous life here remain.
For example, I am now having a hard time using the recipes I've accumulated over those ten years. Anything Mexican or Mexican inspired is mostly out. Seafood is in very low supply. Some recipes will work but then there is one ingredient not available and I just don't bother. I will have to build a new repertoire here, which I'm also excited about, but on some days I wonder why keep doing this to myself every ten years...
One of the things I had brought along to the US and - thought at least - I kept was my love for eating and making desserts. In that order. When it comes to desserts, I will always proudly say I am from Austria. In the sweets department, we've got everyone beat. I remember, shortly before the wedding, Lincoln sent me an email saying his mother wanted to know what cake we prefered for the wedding reception, the one she was planning for all the American relatives and friends who couldn't make it to Austria to the wedding. He wrote: "Yellow, white or chocolate"? A perfectly normal question for an American. But I wasn't, so I started laughing, typing back: "What do you mean? What is a yellow cake? Tons of cakes and tortes are yellow. What is a white cake? Are there only three kinds of cake (PANIC) in the US?" I thought there must be some kind of confusion. Who calls a cake by its color? What about other dishes? "Did you want your meat square, round or oval? Would you like a yellow, green or brown side with that? " What nonsense. Silly Americans.
Lincoln ended up making that decision. Once we moved it all became clear within a few weeks. Not that I still didn't think it was strange. I was used to different categories, all cakes had names, like Black Forest Cake, which exists in the US as well, or Sachertorte or Bananenschnitte or whatnot. I just could not see the point of this color coding. Nevertheless I embraced American baking... cookies, brownies, cinnamon rolls. I do not discriminate on principle.
Back to now. I was planning Veronika's birthday party, which was to take place at my sister's, who has a big yard. I asked Veronika what kind of cake she wanted and she said she was fine with anything. I found myself poring over different Austrian recipe books, unable to find what I wanted. Something simple, no frills, moist, one kind of frosting. Stuff kids will eat. Turns out I didn't want an elaborate Altwiener (old Viennese) monster of a cake with complicated creams that take 15 steps and cake batters that need to be wined and dined in order to behave. After looking through all the books of my mom's extensive selection I realized what I really wanted was YELLOW CAKE. With chocolate frosting. And I went to Allrecipes and launched the browser (All my American recipe books are currently on a boat in the middle of the Atlantic) and grabbed the highest rated yellow cake and a semi-Ganache (half butter, half cream plus chocolate) and whipped up that yellow cake. There. All my European snootiness wiped out by ten years of American reeducation. All the kids ate it with delight.
And now what? The point of this story is nothing except that I love discovering these bits and pieces of change, past and current. They are souvenirs, like the sand in your toes the day after you got home from vacation. It's comforting. I was there and it stuck to me.
I love this!! :D I *personally* am a weirdo I suppose, because I've always thought the "white" and "yellow" cake thing was weird. And I found out about Sachertorte a few years ago and have had it once or twice. (An american version, no doubt. But still, YUM.)
What a lovely delicious post. Have you ever made No-Bake Cookies? This has got to be a very old-school American cookie recipe. Many people have it passed down from the older generations. We are munching on some tonight. :)
Lindsey, I've made them. Lincoln is a big fan. I like them, but they're not on top of my list and I'm not even sure why. I mean, chocolate, peanut butter, oats... what's not to like? Maybe i just need to eat them more often ;)
Lovely story!!! Say Happy B'day to Veronika!
Dinka,
I love, love, love your posts. I have been meaning to comment on a few of the latest ones but just haven't.
All the stuff you have posted with the move and getting readjusted to living in Austria, it all resonates with me so much.
I have always had the same feeling. I married in 2001 and was living with my parents in Vienna at the time. Then moved to Connecticut to live with my husband Mike. So in a sense I have never been an adult in Austria. You know, someone who lives in their own apartment, makes their own meals, goes grocery shopping, pays their utility bills, all that stuff.
So it's always been kind of "scary" to me thinking what it would be like to move back to Austria. I mean yes it would be exciting too but weird in lots of ways too. Because I wouldn't really be coming back to my old life at all.
Now when I go and visit and stay with my parents, it's more like going back to my old life for short periods (a week or two). Staying with my parents, having my mom cook for me, no worries.
But if I went back to actually live there it would be a whole different story.
And so many of the recipes I have aquired and things I am used to now would be very different.
Anyway, sorry I am rambling. I guess what I am saying is: I love your posts because I can sooo relate.
Thank you, Hanna :)