What was one of your first moneymaking jobs (other than babysitting or newspaper delivery)?
I worked in a bakery in Vienna, whenever I wasn’t studying at the university. I had seen a sign in the window of a famous coffee house and I wanted the job so badly. The Austrian kitchen is famous for its cakes and pastries. I got the job, and on my first day I was wondering if I would be allowed to eat a piece of pastry now and then.
“You eat as much and as often as you want to,” they said and I could not believe it. I was sure that couldn’t be. I asked again and they verified. “Go ahead…eat all you want.” What an invitation that was. I ate cakes until they came out of my ear. Cheesecakes, the famous Sacher Torte, the Linzer cake; you name it -I had it all and not just once.
I ate sweets for about 2 week, then I couldn’t stand it anymore. Just the smell of cakes and pies made me sick to my stomach. Until this day I don’t eat cakes or pies very often. I loved working there. Now you have me reminiscing.
What is your favorite month of the year?
September, is my favorite month. Then the summer heat is over and we can open the windows again. The air is fresh and crisp and the A/C isn’t needed. September is the months when nature paints the most beautiful pictures.
What three things in nature do you find most beautiful?
Trees, trees speak to me like. I love wildflowers and of course the mountains, that’s were I was born, that’s in my blood.
List at least five of your favorite spices? (excluding salt and pepper)
Dill – I love fish and European cucumber salad, it’s one of my most used spices in the kitchen.
Cumin – I like the taste of it in roasts and in Mexican dishes.
Curry – Austrian “Curry wurst” or Indian dishes. I love it either way.
Paprika – It gives dishes a tasteful “kick” without overpowering the original taste.
Chinese Five Spice – I just started to learn to cook Chinese and I love it. It’s not as complicated as I thought it would be.
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
Last week was wonderful. My husband quit smoking, we celebrated his birthday and everything that I had planned, worked out the way I wanted it to.
This week will be challenging, but I am looking forward to it. I am juicing for 10 to 14 days, I do that every year. The first days are always hard, but it’s so worth it. My yearly cleansing…so to speak.
What a fun challenge this was. If you would like to participate, just click >>>here<< and the magic online carpet transfers you to Cee’s Photography blog. 🙂
There are 2 things that jumped out at me.
First, your comment that dill is the most used spice in your kitchen. Very interesting! I NEVER use dill and now you have me wondering what I’ve been missing. Perhaps it’s time for some culinary experimentation.
Secondly, juicing. I’ve always been intrigued. Recommendations for a newbie interested in trying it for the first time?
This is going to be long 🙂
We eat fish very often and I use dill (fresh and dried) for seasoning on the fish, in combination with garlic, salt and pepper. I also make my own Tatar sauce, and we both like a mustard-dill sauce with fish. http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/dill_mustard_sauce.html
I use dill in salads, especially when I make European cucumber salad (http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/cucumber-salad-with-sour-cream).
If you like herbs like chives and parsley, then you might want to give it a try.
Juicing: I love it and try to do it once or twice a year; rebooting my system so to speak.
A guy in Australia made a movie called “Fat, sick and nearly dead,” and when I watched it (even though the title wasn’t too appealing) I all of a sudden understood what juicing really meant.
Don’t juice too many fruits, rather go with a vegetable-fruit combination. I love the mean green juice (Kale/Cucumer/Celery/Ginger/Lemon and Apples).
The first two days are tough, but then it gets easier. I always take it easy during the first days.
I have a juicer and a Nutribullet and prefer to drink my breakfast during the week. I use the bullet when I want a smoothie and the juicer when I want just a drink.
Sorry for the novel..but I did warn you.
Thanks Bridget. I appreciate the thoughtful comment. I’m going to look into all of these!!
You live in Smoked-Salmon-Heaven..you might really like it.
mmmm – smoked salmon …. 🙂
I worked in a fruit and veg shop – I stole peppers to nibble on! 😄
I’ve always been afraid to work around food of any sort because I would help myself too much,I don’t think I’d ever eat so much i’d stopped. You are better for it.
Only juice for 14 days? No solid food? Oh dear… I’d struggle 🙁 But I’m glad your OH has given up smoking. 🙂
No solid food. The first 3 days are a struggle, after that it’s easy. It does wonders for me.
Jo, I am sooooo happy that he kicked the cigarettes to the curb, I can’t even tell you.
A post I could relate to as we have a few things in common 🙂 Not the job, though. That cracked me up. I suppose they knew that you’d get sick of sweets pretty quick! My first one was waitressing in a diner at age 16. It served me well all through college too.
Yes, they knew I would eat myself out of sweets. 🙂 I served coffee and cakes as well, the tips were nice.
That autumn picture took my breath away. That’s my favorite time of year, too. When I was reading what you said about the bakery and eating all you want, it made me wonder if they do that with employees at fast food restaurants now. 😀
I don’t think so, people are too greedy now.
Your story with the bakery made me laugh- too much of a good thing is never a good thing! Hope the juicing goes well 🙂
The first 3 days are HELL then I love it. I do it every year and now its more important than ever.
Too much of a good thing is never a good thing. Words of wisdom! So true
I wish I could beam there for some right now!
If they ever invent beaming, that’s where we will meet. 🙂
A great post. My first job was delivering fruit and vegies to embassies in The Hague, Holland. I was fifteen and taken out of school because we were planning to migrate to Australia. I got the best and biggest tips from the US embassy and given hot soup as well.
Why did they give you hot soup?
Because, I must have looked miserable and cold riding the heavy delivery bicycle against storms and snow. The fruit and vegies were delivered to the kitchen at the back of the embassy. The kitchen staff were forever cooking hot chicken soup.
The tips they gave, allowed me to buy my first Agfa Clack camera. If you buy my book of memoires from Amazon (Almost There) you will see the many b/w photos that I took with that camera.
Nothing beats hot chicken soup. Oh Gosh I remember Agfa cameras, we must be both old 🙂
I can understand you about the cakes. You often find that when you work around something fulltime every day, you just can’t stand being around it outside of work.
I like what’s in your spice rack too; all choices I reac for fairly regularly.
Good luck to your hubby on quitting smoking. I’m going on 14 years now. Aside from marrying my wife, it was the best decision I ever made.
You my dear have good taste 🙂
14 years, wow that’s a long time. It has been 2 years for me and now I find it hard to believe that I ever smoked. I am so happy that my husband quit.
I loved your last sentence very much, I almost wish your wife could/would read it.
Thanks. No need to wish, my wife has heard me say this to others in her presence many times 🙂
What a great post. Your experience in the bakery reminds me of my first job- which I will write about and post if I can come up with anything interesting to say to the other questions. Loved yours, though.
Thank, Emilio. I can’t wait to read about your first job, did it have anything to do with photography?
Nope! I just copied the questions and am working on it.
I can attest similarly to the working with sweets bit. For a long time, I couldn’t bear sweets and still don’t like icing.
I agree with paprika, it gives such a subtle complexity. I really do love the enhancement a dash of paprika makes.
This week I’m coming up on two years smoke-free 🙂
Congratulations on your two year quit anniversary. If you are interested, I love to post guestposts form former smokers about their “smoking” history and how they quit.
I quit February 2014 and started blogging then. Many smokers seem to read my blog and my first posts, you can make a difference. Let me know!
Will do, thanks for the offer.
I would really appreciate it. Shoot me a comment or an email when you are ready (Fabric_magic@yahoo.com)
Loved your post. My mom worked in a bakery and she said the same thing, the pastries lose their appeal after awhile!
You did it this week. Sounds like my questions were all up your alley. I enjoyed reading your responses. 😀 Enjoy your juice cleaning.
I will enjoy it in a few days….for now I am just hungry, even the dog food looks good.
I remember my week in Vienna and the cakes. The most complicated thing was the coffee. They all had different names from the zwei spanner to the drei spanner and whatever. 🙂
The list of the Austrian coffee’s is indeed a long one. I miss the coffeehouses. I should write about it once. I found such an amazing video about the history of the coffee houses. Oh my….