So the kids came yesterday to celebrate the New Year with us. Of course we had to do Christmas first. So, after sitting around for a while deciding what to do we came up with "just go ahead and start opening presents"!

Downloading this morning I saw we took 61 pictures and movies...are we nuts??? -Oh, NO, I don't want your answer on that one...or go ahead and give me your thoughts...if you dare!

Anyways, here are some of the highlights of yesterday!

Yes, I finished the stockings and they were hung by the fire :-)

Jason was mean to his dad...poured water in his mouth while he was sleeping...my, I would never do something like that!

Everyone gets presents...I just realized, there is no Kirsten picture...guess I had the camera all the time...

Army Soldier Snowman for Jason

Big box for Tiffany, and no, it's not that cold in our house, she just loves the scarf from Oma!

Jason must have gotten something he likes...he sure shows happiness!

Oh, and what does Dan get? A Z remote control car. Poor guy has been deprived all of his life...never got a RC car...didn't we get some for Jason?

Tiffany got luggage for all her upcoming travels! Bon Voyage and save returns!

And here is a present for both...a cookbook with Recipes of food we have been eating on their visits up here. There are more Recipes to come.

Here will be the first one. It is the Bush's cooking show!

Hint: If you don't want to stand in the kitchen by yourself invite the kids to learn how to make their favorite foods...it only works with new food though, as once they learn it they don't want to make it again :-)

So, we are having Rouladen and I thought I would just look it up on the web and see if my mom's recipe is the same as the rest of Germany...here is the info I found:

Rouladen

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Uncooked Rouladen

Rouladen (or Rinderroulade) is a German meat roulade consisting of bacon, onions, mustard and pickles wrapped in thinly sliced beef and then cooked. The dish has sometimes minced meat or only bacon and onion filling. Rouladen is traditionally served for dinner. Red wine is served with this dish.
The meat is beef, venison, wild boar or pork. Many food scholars agree that the original version was probably venison and pork. The beef rouladen common today has become popular over the last century. Beef shank is used. The thinly sliced meat is prepared with mustard and ground pepper and smoked bacon is placed on top. The bacon is semi-cooked first and the lard is saved for the searing process. The filling varies from region to region. In some areas ground pork and beef with pickles is used, in others only onions. The filling is added and then the meat is rolled up to a traditional elongated shape. A thread (traditional) or toothpick (modern) is used to hold the roll together. The rouladen are slowly roasted with carrots, celery and leeks until the meat is tender and nicely caramelized. The most traditional cooking method would include searing. The slow roasting takes between one and two hours depending on the regional preferences. Rouladen is turned once to sear even the opposite side. Red wine and a vegetable stock are added to slow the cooking process. The pan is then covered and placed on a raised iron mount in front of an open fireplace for the slow roasting period. The height of the iron mount and the distance from the fire will determine the temperature of the slow roasting process. The Rouladen are then removed and the pan is de-glaced with some red wine or vegetable stock. When the liquid is added, it loosens the flavor from the pan to make a sauce for the meat. This is reduced to a gravy. An easier method is to use a conventional oven at 175 degrees Celsius (350 °F). Rouladen are served with either German potato dumplings or boiled potatoes. Roasted winter vegetables are an other common side dish. In Hungary the dish is known as Szüz tekercsek (so called Virgin rouladen), filled with minced meat. The dish is often considered a food for common people, but this is incorrect. Rouladen is traditionally a celebratory food for the wealthy and upper-middle class. Original rouladen was eaten at the end of hunting season (mid-winter). Various different recipes can be found on the Internet.

And we cannot eat only meat, so I am making Red Cabbage to go along...as you can see, no helpers here...they don't like veggies it looks like!
And before we were able to take the pictures below, you might want to view this video of how we made them :-)