Traditional Czech Goose-- in the Netherlands.

I was graciously welcomed into my Uncle Ata and Aunt Heiny's house the first two weeks of December, and I was treated to a traditional Czech goose. I was so excited since I have never had goose.  Along with the goose we had bread dumpling (Houskove knedliky) and potato dumpling (Bramrove knedliky) sweet and sour red cabbage and for dessert maglajz. What the heck is maglajz I'm sure you are asking. When pronounced it sounds like mug-lice (at least to my ears) so it doesn't sound so appetizing, but having been served this wonderful dish by my beautiful late Babicka, I knew I was in for a wonderful treat. It is a layered dish that consists of spiced rum soaked lady fingers, hot pudding, apricots, toasted almonds, and topped with fresh whipped cream. I would treat you with a picture, but we were also drinking wine, so by the time we reached dessert I was done taking pictures. =-) Yeah, I had a great time... I will let my pictures tell the story.

First, let me set the stage. Can you imagine a cozier setting?

It is a winter wonderland outside. A cast iron wood burning oven heating the whole house, and the smells of roasting bird wafting through the air.
Aunt Heiny began by rubbing the 10 pound goose with salt and caraway seeds, stuffed 2 sliced apples inside and then placed it in the oven in a high sided roasting pan with 2 inches of water to cook for several hours.

Next she began the process of making the dumplings.

This is the base of the bread dumpling. She will add the cubed bread and proceed to form it into cylinder shaped dumplings. Then they will boil about 20 minutes a piece.

Now, the potato dumplings. She pressed the boiled potatoes through a  press. Next she will mix in corn starch,  2 eggs, cream of wheat, salt, and Wondra flour and also form into cylinders.

These will also be boiled about 20 minutes, but must cool a few minutes before slicing to avoid  crumbling.

Now on to the cabbage. The cabbage is shredded, mixed with diced red onion, diced apple, caraway seeds, white vinegar, sugar, and vegetable bullion.

I was slow on the draw when it came to taking a picture of the goose whole, but here it is presented with goose drippings to pour over the dumplings.

Can you say yum?!!!

Uncle Ata and Patrick as the meal begins.

I am now a fan of big goose. It is so rich and tasty. I even braved a piece of the stomach and it was good as well, maybe not the best piece, but good. It was a delicious meal, and I am so grateful to my family. I am blessed to have such a wonderful family. This was only a small portion of the trip. Let me remind you I was in the Netherlands, so we had a plethora of Dutch cheeses, beers, hot chocolate, french fries with their special mayonnaise, curry burgers, my Babicka's spaghetti (nothing like Italian spaghetti), kwark, stir fry, and all the clementine cuties my kids could eat. It was a foodie's dream. Every one-- GO TO THE NETHERLANDS! What a wonderful place, and what a wonderful trip!
Love you Kubalek Family, Vander Reest/ De Jong Family, and Overeem Family!
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The special mayonnaise used for french fries.

Now That's a Pizza -- Big Lou's

Ok, I know this is a little late in coming, but to my defense, I started this post at the end of November. My lovely son decided to get on the computer (I had to step away) and totally deleted what I was writing. So, here I am again, ready to tell you all about Big Lou's. =-)
First of all, Big Lou himself. He is not big. He is a  very friendly man with a great sense of humor. With this great sense of humor comes a pizza whose toppings weigh in at over 30 pounds. Yes, that's right- 30 pounds. This pizza is not for the faint of heart, and really, it is not for the impatient. You walk up to a sign warning you that it may take up to 2 hours to get your pizza. Luckily, we arrived before the crowd and it only took 45 minutes. It is also the most expensive pizza I've ever ordered at $70, but seeing how there were 11 of us, it was totally reasonable. So you may ask, 11 people, did you walk away hungry? At 42 inches, this pizza was more than 11 of us could handle... and that included 2 teenage boys. In fact, one slice was more than I could handle.

What you see in the picture to the right filled an extra large to go box... the to go box was bigger than any pizza I had ever ordered. I mean, whoa.
So let me tell you about the pizza itself. We ordered a four topping pizza, but we split the toppings with half pepperoni and half green olive, onion, and canadian bacon. Was it the best pizza I have ever had, no, but it was a good pizza.  Most things that come extra large tend to not be delicious, but this really was yummy.
Big Lou recommended his meatballs (with a straight face) and his alfrado, but the pizza was our mission.
Mission accomplished.