Boys Make Meals

Since our return to Germany and my putting in many hours of work in Frankfurt, I've started turning to the boys for meal preparation. For 5 euros, they'll prepare the entire meal including setting the table. This is great for me--suddenly, I am not the funnel through which everything has to go before the next task gets done. If Nick is preparing the meal, I can quiz Patrick on French vocabulary; if Patrick is preparing the meal, I can drop off Michael at soccer.

We've also been eating better. The fish sticks meal was from a children's cookbook; if you look closely, you'll see the mashed potatoes are a pirate island with broccoli trees, and the fish sticks are a raft. Michael contributed the flags for the rafts! Patrick is quite the amazing hamburger maker; Michael asked today if maybe one day Pat might work at Jeffrey's in Menlo Park:)

Over the past weeks, they've made chili, Schnitzel, lentil soup, Frikadellen, spaghetti with meat sauce, homemade pumpkin soup, leek-and-potato soup, lasagna, and a not-so-successful chicken cacciatore.

Tonight Nick and Patrick have gone into Frankfurt to watch "The Social Network," so looks as if Michael and I will have to come up with something ourselves. Michael, let it be said, is cake maker extraordinaire. Almost every Sunday we've had a cake he's made!