We have officially moved down into the basement for the foreseeable future- It is currently over 85 degrees with Friday forecasted at 93.  Which normally wouldn’t be so bad, it’s not humid here at all and the evenings are cool, but we have no air conditioning in Germany.  None of the Germans do actually, it’s just not hot enough long enough to warrant the expense.  


So we now have a blow up mattress in the poker room, which is about 20 degrees cooler than our bedroom upstairs.  It’s kinda fun, like a little sleepover downstairs, and the animals love it cause now there is a big beg in the cool room for them to lounge and sleep on, which they are of course taking massive advantage of during the hot days.  


But for some delightful news now…  we found quail at the fish monger on Saturday!  Teeny tiny cute tasty birdies, four of them!  Woohoo!  (They have a few other specialty items on occasion at the monger, not just fish)-  It’s the first time I’ve seen them for sale fresh, not frozen, anywhere around here and they were just calling out “EAT ME EAT ME!!”  


So we made them yesterday, and no the recipe isn’t in the World book, but it was awesome.  Braised quail with poblanos, saffron, and chorizo-  We didn’t use the chorizo, didn’t feel the need for the extra fat.  Plus one animal protein is quite enough for me.  Holy hell I gotta tell you, it turned out great and was way easier than I thought it would be, you just have to snip off their wing tips, necks and tails and you’re good to go.  And the whole tiny birdie on your plate thing is uber fun too!  Here’s the link to the recipe for anyone game enough to try it-


Hahahaha game, oh I kill myself…


http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Braised-Quail-with-Poblano-Chiles-Saffron-and-Chorizo-15501


FYI the German word for quail is wachtel, pronounced vak-tel.  


And cherries are now in season.  There are three cherry trees lining the field we take Meg for a walk at in the evenings (and two pear trees and a peach tree apparently, who knew?), and the farmers are ok with you picking a few if you can reach them.  The trees are pretty tall, so you have to jump and even then you can really only get one or two, but they’re worth it.  They are the best tasting cherries I’ve ever had!  They have them now at these little fruit stands in Heidelberg and downtown Schwetzingen (our town) in bins where you can just take handfuls at a time, well and pay for them obviously, but they’re absolutely delectable.


Note for those interested:  If you want the flavor of sausage in something but don’t actually want to use meat, add a touch of fennel seed and you’ll taste what you’re looking for as it is one of the main seasonings in most sausage.  It’s a great trick if you’re looking to make something a little lower in fat or just lighter on calories but still want that particular tang in your dish.