Looking at Kitchens and Remembering ...

We work in our kitchens. We store our foods in our kitchens. We often eat our meals in our kitchens.We make a bazillion memories in our kitchens and  we ALWAYS seem to end up in our kitchens whenever we throw a party.  I think it's safe to say that the kitchen is the hub of any house or apartment. I've had eight kitchens over the course of my 50+ years. Each one has its share of memories linked to it; each one can be conjured in my mind's eye if I close my eyes and concentrate on the space. When I think about it, each kitchen's design played a major role in my decision to live in that apartment or buy that house. And speaking of design ... this post has a few links ... right click and open them in a separate page and you will be able to listen and explore the post at the same time. I'm just sayin', if you were wondering.

My ears perked up when I heard this story on NPR -  NPR - A Kitchen Revolution Aimed at Freeing Women  .   The name of the story alone caught my attention because I can honestly say that I don't feel the need to be  'freed'  from my kitchen. So I listened to the story and became intrigued with the newest special exhibit at MOMA, in NYC - MOMA's Special Exhibition - Counterspace  .  Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a junkie when it comes to art museums. Now,  let's put together an exhibit about kitchen design and The Museum of Modern Art - one of the premier modern art museums in the world. This is a recipe for ... a recipe for... a blog post! I will be visiting the Big Apple in a couple weeks and, you guessed it, this exhibit will be high on my list of must do's. 

After exploring the link for the museum, seen above, I became a bit nostalgic for a German treat that Silent Bob and I were introduced to several years back.  So, in honor of The Frankfurt Kitchen, today's food offering and our yummy breakfast is German Apple Pancake. This recipe comes from Fabio, a young man who came to us through the Freudenberg Tanner Program. Fabio hailed from Stuttgart and visited us during his summer break from gymnasium classes. As a gift to us, he made this German pancake for us the day before he returned home. He said that it was one of the first things that his mother allowed him to make as an after-school snack and weekend breakfast. As he was making it, he agonized over one ingredient that we did not have and that he could not explain in English. Much later, I learned that that ingredient was vanilla sugar, which comes packaged in small envelopes and is available in every German market.

Vanillin Zucker...  It does add to the flavor of the dish, a simple confection of fluffy batter with carmelized apples at the center of the recipe. It's minimalist ... a spartan recipe that is so typically German ...  and so completely satisfying.  The sprinkling of confectioner's sugar on the pancake is just a perfect way to present it. Yum!

This is an easy and special-looking plate. It's browned, crunchy outer crust is a puffy bite and the apples are a sweet tart flavor bomb. So good, or as they say in Germany, 'Lecker!'  Try it, if you have never heard of it!  Have a nice cup of tea or coffee on the side and perhaps some scrambled eggs and it will be a breakfast treat! Leave out the eggs and you have a nice slice of sweetness for kaffeetrinken!

German Apple Pancake - printer friendly version

PS. I'll take pictures at MOMA and get back to you on the exhibit ... unless you get there first!