I had a request to post some of the recipes that I learned in my culinary classes this past month. This is by far my favorite and I'm drooling as I write it and planning to go get the incredients later today. Enjoy, I know I did.

Creamy Roasted Tomato & Basil Soup
1 pound ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1.5 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 cup chopped yellow onions
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 14-ounce canned plum tomatoes, with their juice
1 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 quart chicken stock
½ cup of heavy cream or half/half (optional)
1 bottle of your favorite wine
1 loaf of your favorite bread
1 favorite friend (optional)
1. Pre-heat oven to 400 F. Toss together the fresh tomatoes, ¼ olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread tomatoes in 1 layer on a baking sheet and roast for up to 45 minutes. A convection oven will speed up this process, if you want to speed up this process.
2. In an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, sauté the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons olive oil, butter, and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes or until the onions start to brown.
3. Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken stock. Next add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet. Your option to peel off the skins at this time.
4. Bring to boil and then simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Open your favorite bottle of wine, and begin sipping it while enjoying the incredible aroma of this soup. Your house will smell like an Italian kitchen.
5. Pass through a food mill, not you, the soup, silly, fitted with the coarsest blade. I prefer to use a hand-held puree blender immersing it right into the stockpot.
6. For those that aren’t watching their hips grow, add the ½ cup of heaving whipping cream while blending.
7. Taste for seasonings, and add appropriately. (not sure what that means or how to measure, but have another glass of wine, and figure it out) Serve hot or cold.
8. This only yields 4 servings, so you might want to double it and then simply refrigerate or freeze any extras. However, most likely, if your friends taste this, you won’t have any leftovers.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Last week Saturday we (Cathy, brother Pete & Sharon) were sitting at my first Camp Randall Badger Football game freezing our arse's off but having a great time. But let me back up to the start of the day. The Great Dane Brewing Company was our kick-off spot with some delicious Bloody Mary's and IPA chasers. What a great micro-brewery and the location was perfect......100 feet from our car and 120 feet from the Bucky Badger Shuttle Bus.

Our seats were in row 22 section Q, which happens to be right next to the 'rowdy' student section of thousands that did not sit while the game was being played. Jumping and yelling and screaming was done by all. (along with the student section)

With a dismal looking half-time score of 21-7, a few fans retreated to the warmth of the local pub. Not us! We braved the sub-zero climate (Celsius that is) and of course stayed for the infamous 5th quarter. The Wisconsin band has become nationally famous for its post-game celebration called the Fifth Quarter. Win or lose, fans sing, dance and cheer the band as it plays traditional favorites like "On Wisconsin", the Bud song, and "Varsity".

Those that braved the cold were not disappointed because the Badgers came roaring back scoring two safeties, a field goal and 3 more touchdowns in the second half for an exciting 35 to 32 win over the Minnesota Gophers.

Our chartered limousine, the Bucky Bus, returned us to The Great Dane where more beverages and food was enjoyed by all. It was truly a memorable experience that might best be summed up with a song: On Wisconsin, On Wisconsin, Plunge right through that line, Run the ball clear down the field, boys, Touchdown sure this time. On Wisconsin, On Wisconsin, Fight on for her fame, Fight fellows, Fight! Fight! Fight! We'll win this game.

If your travels ever take you to Madison in the fall, a Badger Game Day experience is a must-do. You will not be disappointed in the pre-game, post-game, and game.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Let’s talk about Food! One of my favorite subjects. Some of you know that I have been taking some culinary classes, and last night I attended a fantastic 4 hour class on Soups & Sauces. Loved it.
Those that know me, know that I love to make bacon wrapped beef tenderloins and what goes with that? Béarnaise Sauce. Last night, while learning how to make hollandaise sauce, I asked the Chef about Béarnaise sauce. Using fresh tarragon, we then put a twist on it, using a burgundy wine to enhance the flavors.
We (plural because there were 12 of us in class) also made three kinds of soups: French Onion, Mushroom Sherry, and Creamy Roasted Tomato & Basil Soup. The T&B was clearly my favorite and fun to make. We roasted some of the tomatoes, and even used some canned tomatoes. One of the lessons we learned was to create something with what you have on hand. If you can’t get fresh tomatoes in Wisconsin in February, you make do with your pantry stock.
We also made a cranberry chutney, an excellent alternative to canned jellied cranberries you might find on the Thanksgiving table. I wanted to learn alternatives, so I added diced apples to my concoction. Pineapple, mango, raisins, dates, and many other fruits can be used. Once you learn the base, you can let your imagination fly. That’s my style.
Another cool thing about the class was to learn culinary terms such as chinois, bain marie, emulsions, and sharp knives. A spotted the first aid kit as soon as I entered the kitchen. Moraine Park Technical Institute in Fond du Lac has a really incredible culinary program. A recent addition allows up to 20 students to learn/cook at the same time. It’s that large. Video cameras capture those things you don’t want captured. (while cooking)
Oh, the pics. Wisconsin is known for its Friday Fish Fry’s. I think it’s a law that you have to eat cod, haddock or perch on Friday, and I have no problem with that. This particular photo was taken at Wendt’s On the Lake, an excellent place for perch, a few weeks ago. Pete, Sharon, Cathy, and myself are seen enjoying the condiments that compliment perch. (aka: Bloody Mary’s with a beer chaser)
The other photo is one of my favorite meals at home: Bacon Wrapped Beef Tenderloin on the grill served with ….. Béarnaise Sauce, before I knew how to make it from scratch.

Guten Tag mein Freund Herr Stenz!
Ich nahm dieses Foto an einer meiner Lieblingsbars in Zärtlichem du Lac, Dem Hinterhof-Grill. Im Foto sind mein Freund-Don, John, Kay (der schöne Barmann) und natürlich ich selbst.
Passieren Sie bitte dieses Foto zu Sigi und Marrianne und bedanken Sie sich bei ihnen außerordentlich für die schönen Bierkrüge. Ich genieße sie außerordentlich. Ich kann nicht genug für Ihre großzügige Gastfreundschaft Ihnen danken, während ich in Obreheim war. Es war ein großes Vergnügen, Ihre Freunde, besonders Sigi zu treffen.

Herr Rosenauf

Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Dollars & Sense.
On a recent trip to Baltimore, I noticed how many people bought a $2.00+ bottle of water only to learn they had to dispose of it as they attempted to go through security. Not sure what part of “NO LIQUIDS” they didn’t understand. (that’s another issue)
So what can the “smart investor” do in such a travel situation? Answer: It’s ok to carry an empty 0.5 liter bottle. I have to thank a young friend of mine who showed me a ‘new’ product. Crystal is one of several of the makers of individual Kool-aid like mix. It’s a small package of a drink mix that costs less than 10 cents for a 0.5 liter serving. Just add water once you get through security. I recently found a similar product called Wyler’s Light for about 6 cents a serving. Now that sure beats over $2.00 for airport water. And it tastes pretty good. It’s one of many ways to save that $1.50/day that you need to retire.

Sunday, October 12, 2008
Erica Lynn Cirincione (the gorgeous bride) & Aaron Christopher Speight (USC fan) exchanged vows today and I had the pleasure of attending this event in Fallston, Maryland.
What a fantastic East coast day with temperatures around 70 plus degrees and gorgeous views from the reception overlooking the changing leaves on a golf course. Amazing!
One of Erica’s relatives, Michael, sang “Amazing Grace” and it was awesome. I also was most pleased to see Ray & Jeanne Diberardo at the wedding & reception and got to catch up on 5 years of life. (Ray was the project manager in England on the EDS project) It was a short & sweet trip for me, flying in on Saturday and returning to Wisconsin on Monday. Thanks to Robin for putting me up or putting up with me. (both)
Thanks to Erica & Aaron for the pint glasses that every guest received. Cool gift and one that will be used, daily. I wish A&E the best and hope they solve my German based wedding gift.

Monday, October 6, 2008
The big travel day from Frankfurt to Chicago! Now those that know me, understand that I get to the airport early. I don’t run in airports, I read and relax. Now that’s exactly how the morning began. Rick had me to the airport in plenty of time, 4 hours early. Perfect. The ticket counter for Air India wasn’t even open, yet. When they did open, I was near the front of the line. I checked in and proceeded toward the gate. After the usual passport and security checks, several times, I arrived at the waiting area, calm , relaxed and prepared to continue the book I was reading. Oh, it would have been so good if the day continued with such a pleasant pace. But, oh, I was wrong.
When they called a dozen of us to the podium, I felt a knot in my stomach. Then the dreaded words to any frequent international flier, “We regret to tell you that your plane has been cancelled.” Oh, it gets better. “The next flight isn’t until tomorrow and you have to go back to the ticket counter to pray.” (not pay, pray)
Now I’m not sure how many of you have had to go through security in reverse, internationally, but it really isn’t fun. How do you tell the passport person who asks how long you are going to be in the country, “Hopefully for less than an hour!” They don’t enjoy humor, believe me.
I arrived at the ticket counter to find that there were about a dozen others waiting in a line that would make a snail proud. Rumor swept through the line growing behind me that American Airlines had a flight leaving in less than an hour, direct to Chicago. Cool was my first thought, and almost my last.
The woman in front of me was also intending to get to Chicago and the agent put both of us on the transfer ticket and told us to hurry in order to catch the plane which we learned was boarding. To get from the ticket counter in Frankfurt to the gates, is quite a process filled with many obstacles. One of them was the fact that the woman on my ticket did not have the sense of urgency that I did. Second, when we rounded the corner, near security, 100 other people were in line in front us. They also did not have any sense of urgency. Did I mention that I absolutely hate to run in airports? (rhetorical)
With a few minutes to spare, I arrived at the gate which fortunately was still boarding. As the gate agent checked my boarding pass, she asked “Where is your ticket?” My response did not impress her. “Some other strange lady has it and I have no idea where she is!!”
OK, I did get on the plane and was grateful, for a few minutes. Did I mention that one of my pet peeves is sitting in a middle seat for 9 hours? (rhetorical) Augh! It’s times like these when you discover that perhaps you lack a valuable trait called patience. Severely. But I survived and arrived safely in Chicago within 20 minutes of my original flight.
Was the long week in Germany worth such an airport adventure? Absolutely!!!
I hope you have enjoyed these recent additions to The Travels of Juan Marcos!

Sunday, October 5, 2008
Ok, we were determined to make another attempt to get into the big tents, so after some breakfast and packing, we headed back to the festival and were pleasantly surprised. We were able to easily get into three of the tents and the photos I show are examples of these tents. What an atmosphere! One culinary delight of the festival was the 19 inch sausage/bratwurst seen in one of the pics above. We had to sample one last Oktoberfest Beer before heading to the airport in Frankfurt, which we thought was only 4 hours away.
We were wrong. Seven + hours later and numerous traffic jams, we arrived at the Hahn airport, to drop of Robbie and David, only to learn that we had just missed Robbie’s flight by 10 minutes. Robbie got another flight, but it didn’t leave until 6am the next day, so Rick and I said our good-byes to David, and with Robbie found a hotel a few minutes away.

Saturday, October 4, 2008
After a nice German breakfast, we put together a game plan for the day. Rick was headed out to meet a friend of his. Robbie and David were headed back to the festival to see if they could get into a big tent, and I planned to do nothing. (are you surprised?) I did some Wall Street homework and added some thoughts and pics to my blog at a local internet café.
I then headed towards the town center to check out the sights and the infamous Glockenspiel. Oh, and the Hofbrauhaus, the world’s largest bar/restaurant. Hitler held some of his meetings there.
The lines were huge, even at noon-thirty. I called Rick and let him know my location and sat down to people watch. When Rick arrived we decided to have a beer at Munich’s Hard Rock Café, across the street from the Hofbrauhaus. When David and Robbie showed up they were intent on getting into the Hof. They returned a short time later and said they found a back entrance. We jumped at it and indeed we got into a fantastic place. I will attempt to capture a bit of the atmosphere with my pics, but you really have to be there. Enjoy.

Friday, October 3, 2008
Yeah! The big drive to Munich today. About 360 kilometers or 3 hour drive. When you can travel over 100 mph on the autobahn, it doesn’t take long, even with road constrution. Thanks to Rick who did all the driving and knows his way around Germany.
Got to our hotel called the Comfort Hotel Munchen City-Center on 33 Landwehrstrasse., and David went to the train station to meet his buddy Robbie who is studying in Rome for a semester. From our hotel, the festival grounds were a 6-7 minute walk. The train station, 5-6 minutes. Town center and the Hofbrauhaus, a 15 minute walk. How cool is that.
Our first Oktoberfest for three out of four of us. What an experience! Over 6 million were expected during this festival, and we attended the last weekend. I have never seen so many people in one place.
Rick had managed to get tickets to one of the smaller tents (350 people) next to the Hacker-Pschorr tent. Appropriately named the Chicken tent. Each of the major breweries in Munich has a tent and there are 14 large tents. Rick went through a travel agency in California and the two young ladies, with the green ‘Got Beer’ tee-shirts, in the picture are Ashley and Anne with Ludus Tours. We were gladly welcomed at their table. Each table seats 10-12 people.
For comparison, if you don’t have tickets to get into the beer tents, you probably won’t get in. If you get your tickets 10-12 months in advance, you might pay 40-50 euros each. If you were to find some now, expect to pay over 300 euros and as high as 500 euros for ONE ticket. (1 euro = $1.50)
The atmosphere in the tents is undescribe-able, so I won’t even try. You must experience it for yourself. The singing and cheers and dancing is something to behold. Quickly we were swept up in the festive mood and joined the chorus.
If you pictured Oktoberfest with young buxom maidens carrying 6 large steins of beer, you would be soooo wrong. (They carry ten) Each stein holds a liter or 33 ounces of beer. Included in our fantastic roasted chicken dinner were two of these steins, each. Ooftha! They might just make a nice souvenir.
Rick and I are talking about organizing a group in 2009 or 2010 to return to Munich for this festival. If anyone reading this has some interest, please let us know. The details will unfold as we enjoy yet another liter of brew.

I'm attempting to capture the horrible time we're having in Munich and at Oktoberfest. I'll let you guess for yourself. Cheers!

Thursday, October 2, 2008
Task: Pickup David at the airport in Hahn, which just happens to be the German word for rooster. (Huhn for chicken) We also picked up a young couple who needed a ride to Mannheim after which we headed to Heidelberg. We had to have a beer at the Hemingway Bar. A couple pics of from Heidelberg and then we headed back to Mosbach/Obreheim, where Rick lives.
We had to give David a taste of a German brewery, so back to the Mosbach Brauhaus. The two tall glass cylinders of beer are called giraffes and each holds 3 liters. It was an early night.