Marburg - a lovely weekend with the loveliest person in my life

Ah, yes. I have not written for quite a long time. Fact is, I have too much to do, and some logistical problems...

But in no way there has nothing happened.For instance, I went for a lovely visit to Marburg to meet with my lovely magic troll. And, while not everything we did is for the public;-), we also went on a nice little foraging troll stroll.

The path led into the foothills that offer a beautiful view of Marburg castle. It is funny, many of Germany´s greatest poets, such as Rainer Maria Rilke, Clemens Brentano, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Friedrich Schiller and many, many more have lived or visited this city. And, visiting a pub concert on Friday at Molly Malone´s Irish pub, I got the impression that at least folk music and romanticism is alive and well still. More so, I have the feeling that every inch of city, university, and, even more so, the woods, breathes the spirit of poetry.

This is a photo by the magic troll that shows a bit of the atmosphere. There is poetry in the autumn, too.

And as we came up the hill, the little one whining, complaining and on the verge of tears (because I was going too slow;-)), we saw this chainsaw carving sculpture standing in the middle of nowhere, which someone obviously had made just for the fun of it.

Into the woods we ventured, to the site of an old market garden.

Recently it had burnt down, and it lies in ruins. There is a very strange air about the place, with car wrecks silently rotting there (and, of course, polluting the ground in the process), with the plants growing wildly. It is strange that we are only accustomed of our pet plants growing tiny... and suddenly you are faced with a giant Thuya tree and flower "trees". It is as if nature would strike back there, and violently. The place will rot, and the plants, once enslaved, will destroy the ruins, unto they will lie submerged in wreckage, beyond recognition. I would wish this fate will befall some big-term crop seed corporations selling former ABC weapons as herbicides, too, if I was allowed a wish, but I am not.

The woods, made from alien plants, lay utterly peaceful.

 Then it was off into the deeper woods, foraging for bay boletus and other ´shrooms,sloe berries, quince and rowan berries. At a hunting stand in the middle of nowhere, we rested, and had a cuppa tea. Note the deranged portion of our little camp belongs to me;-).

 I simply love this picture. Funny, how it´s always the weird things I love, like the tip of her nose bending into the kuksa, and her look following, and then the pupils of her eyes go up, and then she smiles. I am right grateful for every hour we are able to spend together. We also did a bit of Ömpf-troll watching, and she made a sketch of the little fellow we observed, and I gues it´s already onlineon her facebook account. Just search Triona ni Erc on facebook;-). I know she will hate me for this...;-).

And this was the outcome of the day:

We made a great dinner, with a topinambur cream soup I will remember for years to come, it was that tasty, and it was not me who made it;-), and some deer stew with quince and parsnip, with a delicious chutney of rowan berry and quince. NOMMMM!!!!!

No apple for a change;-)

 So, there are apples everywhere in my home. In my bathroom, in my pockets, beneath the heaps of clothes, in my drawers, in my rucksacks, in my cellar. So I needed a change.;-) Checked the pine schnapps elixir I set on in spring. I always make it stronger in the beginning. These are three handful of green pine cones, let to rest in refined sugar for three days. Then I took some 38 % brandy and let it rest until now. I will take one third of the extract and fill up with fruit schnapps (Obstler). To make a "spagyric essence" from it, you can take the pine cones, let them rest in sugar for three days again, and then reduce by cooking as done with the plum mousse. Then you can project the Obstler fruit schnapps / pine cone solution on the mass and let rest for another three weeks... cheers;-).

Preparing quince for drying: I took out the pips and had some length of paracord lying around;-). Fitted them on the cord, so that they have no contact with each other. makes for a nice, fresh smell, too;-).

 Had no paracord left, so these had to be dried this way: Clean sheet underneath ( you can also use kitchen paper), and no contact to each other. Flip over every other day!

 Dried St. John´s wort and ladie´s mantle herbs.

 Quince candy in the making. Liberally daub with refined sugar (brown one will do nicely, too;-)). When the juice runs off, you can remove the quince rings from the jar (I use plastic yoghurt containers), and set on a dish to dry out at room temperature. If you do this at 50-75 degrees Celsius in the oven, the sugar will caramelize... and... *ggg

 Rum pot Fimbulmyrk style;-). Took brown crystalline sugar, RUM;-) and put it in a jar that stood ajar at the time by incident;-). Then I put in whatever would not fit into jam and marmelade and other schnapps: Blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, sloe, rowan berries, quince, aaaand.... APPLE.:-)
I´d put in pears, too, but I am hoggish with pears;-) so none survived.

Plus some cinnamon, cardomom, nutmeg, cloves and a tiny bit of black pepper.

MUST I explain what this is?*g

It´s sloe brandy;-). Made with brown crystalline sugar and 38 % brandy...