Germany and Switzerland

The last week of the conference went pretty well. There were some interesting talks, and I learned a lot. I gave my own talk on Tuesday and it went well.

Wednesday was a half day, and we took a trip to Switzerland to visit Rhine Falls. It was about a 2 hour bus ride. We stopped in Schaffhausen, the nearest town to the falls and went on a walking tour of the city. The city thrived back in the day as a result of the falls because people shipping goods, etc. down the river were required to take things out at Schaffhausen and move them on land until they'd passed the falls. Today it's a fairly quiet, small town.

A few random pictures:

A fancily painted house, one of the few left in the town.

A cool astronomical dial that shows you a bunch of stuff, including the phase of the moon, the time, etc.

I thought these sheep statues were funny.

From there we went over to the Rhine Falls. Here's our first look.

Taken from a closer, slightly less obscured view.

Me and the falls.

The Rhine Falls were pretty cool. We got to take a boat over to that island in the middle, and in this picture you can see the stairs we climbed to get a better view. With all the astronomers that were there and the small space at the top, we couldn't stay up there long, unfortunately!

Getting closer to the falls.

Me at the top.

Also, I heard people figuring out that the amount of water flowing over the falls is the same amount of metals that is infalling on this particular white dwarf star with a debris disk around it with material falling on it. What nerds! ;)

Back in Tubingen, toward the end of the week, the sun finally came out!

A picture of me and the flowers and river in downtown Tubingen.

I really like this necklack and I wear it a lot, but....well, has anyone ever seen Thoroughly Modern Millie? Ha!!

Deutschland!

This week (starting Friday afternoon) I am traveling to Germany. I am attending a conference in Tubingen, where I will be giving a talk on some of the results from my thesis on Tuesday morning.

Hopefully there will be more than one installment of the Deutschland 2010 series, but after today the week will get pretty boring. (I mean, boring from the standpoint of the blogosphere. From a scientific point of view it will be interesting...) We'll see!

In the meantime, I present the highlights of the first two-ish days.

First off, let me just say that I have dreams of being a minimalist. My goal for this trip was to pack light enough that I didn't have to check bags. This is an experiment, to see if this is sufficient. When I told my (now former) roommate Amanda that I was only taking carry on, she didn't seem nearly as excited as I was. She said to me, "That tells me that you don't have enough outfits." Well...like I said, this is an experiment, so we'll see how it goes. This is all the luggage I brought.

The trip began Friday morning around 7:00. I got ready and drove to a friend's house, where I'll be leaving my car while I'm gone. She drove me to the train station where I took the train to DC, then transferred to the metro where I met up with Amanda, who drove me to the airport. I flew out of Washington-Dulles, had a layover in JFK, then on to Frankfurt. My flight to Frankfurt was delayed 2.5 hours. Mechanical problems, switching gates/planes, etc. But we made it. Upon arriving, I took the train (yay European trains! How I love them!) to Heidelberg. (Many thanks to my fellow post docs, Veronica and Davide, for the recommendations!) I left my luggage in a locker at the train station and went out to explore.

Heidelberg is beautiful!

First stop: LUNCH! I went to this place V&D recommended, especially because they had a special on schnitzel on Saturdays! Yum!

I then went to a pastry shop my friend Kevin recommended, but this is what I found.... :( Maybe if I could read German, I could tell that the flier said, "We've moved across the street!" I don't actually know what it said because, um, I don't know German.*

* This fact has become painfully obvious in the last 48 hours. (But don't worry. Many people know English. They are, unlike me, very useful.)

My first view of the castle! (It took awhile to see it.)

I then walked up to the castle. Although maybe I should say HIKED up. The ramp that goes up there is steep! And continued up for, roughly, forever.

First stop in the castle is a balcony that gives you a lovely view of the city and the river. Here is it, in two parts, view to the left and to the right.


This girl walked up that hill in these shoes. I hope the boy she was trying to impress was impressed.

Random pictures from the castle.

(Cool sundial thing!)



Um, don't mess with this deer. (Creepy!)

Or this guy, who apparently had lions on his kneecaps.

And, of course, not to be missed in the castle: the largest wine barrel in the world. That's right, they're pretty proud of it too. One of my friends at work told me about this a few days before I left. Another friend said something like, "But if the barrel is that big, wouldn't the wine be kind of vinegary?" The response, "Yeah...why do you think Germans are known for their beer?" Ha!

Me and the top (/side) of the biggest wine barrel in the world.

Another cool thing you can observe at the castle. The stones have holes in them. They would put tools in those holes, and that's how they carried them.

Also, I learned by overhearing some guy on my tour talking to someone else, that the masons that shaped each stone would leave their mark on it, like a signature. Because they got paid by the stone, you would know who cut which one. Here's an example.

After running around Heidelberg all afternoon, I hopped on a train (did I mention how much I love Europe for their trains?) to Tubingen. It took about an hour and 45 minutes. Although I didn't mean to, I fell asleep, but fortunately didn't miss my connection or my stop.

The hotel was about a 20 minute walk from the train station. It was 20 minutes of this:

Pretty!

I remembered where I was supposed to turn because this street/path was named after my sister. Okay, a little misspelled, but close enough!

Then I was suddenly at my hotel. Yay!

They even left a chocolate on my pillow. (Mint? No way, this is Europe!)

And soon I managed to find dinner.

At first I thought this venue was just a sports venue/gym or something, not a restaurant. Well, it's both, and this was my view during dinner.

I decided to pass on the after-dinner rock climbing.

Sunday morning I woke up, ate breakfast, and headed out to find the church. It was about 2 km from my hotel, and I had to walk along a major highway to get there. On the way back I found the sidewalk.

The entire meeting was in German, which I don't speak, as we've already covered. I arrived during the opening hymn. (Love singing the hymns in other languages! There's something so familiar, yet so foreign about it.) Someone else coming in the same time as me shook my hand upon entering, and found out I was American and only spoke English. During the first speaker, he asked me if I wanted a translator. I said sure, and so he had Dennis, this German guy, come sit by me and translate. He apologized for his bad English, but he was actually pretty good. Then halfway during the second talk, I guess there were a few others who needed translation, so I was handed a headset, and one of the missionaries translated. (Great set up...you wear the headphones that have a wireless transmitter from someone speaking into a microphone; so the missionary sat in the back with the microphone, and you get the translation in real time. I think they use those for the Spanish branch back in my stake in Austin. But this was the first time I've used it personally, so it was novel!)

I didn't think I'd stay longer than Sacrament meeting, but ended up staying all three hours. An elder from Colorado came and talked with me for a bit, then offered to translate Sunday School for me. He has only been out for a year or so, so he's still working on his translation skills. Mostly what he did was give me a general idea of what was being said. I didn't mind, I wouldn't have had a clue, otherwise.

And I also went to Relief Society, but late, because after Sunday School I was talking to Dennis. Anyway, no translator in RS, but they did give me a partial copy of the lesson in English. Cool. People here are great.

Back to the hotel! On my way in, I ran into a bunch of people from the Texas group, who were just arriving. (And all super jet lagged.) We ended up getting lunch together.

I spent some time online, then took a nap. I woke up just in time to get to the opening reception only 45 minutes late. (Ha!) I saw lots of people I know. This particular conference is like a reunion, especially as it's held every 2 years and you see the same people there every time.

And now...sleep!

Chicken Tikka Masala and Naan

Several years back, I didn't really like Indian food. At all. I tried. Honestly, I really did. But I just didn't like it. (Except naan...but let's be honest. It's hard to mess up bread.)

They say your taste buds change every seven years. I don't really know if that's true, but I can actually stomach Indian food now, and there are dishes I actually like. I still don't usually actively seek Indian restaurants, but now at least have something to order when I do end up in one. Although one of my biggest problems is that I can never for the life of me remember what any of the dishes are called.

Several months back, one of my roommates got Indian food with her boyfriend and brought home leftovers. She let me try her chicken tikka masala and I liked it so much, I was determined to find a recipe for it. (And I had to have her remind me of the name probably four times, until I finally wrote it down. I've probably actually eaten it before, but couldn't remember the name.)

This weekend I made it for the second time. It is so scrumptious! On the side I made naan bread from scratch. Now this naan recipe is something. First of all, it tastes great, as good as the restaurant. Second of all, I think it's a bit of a miracle recipe because I read it and think, "There's no way those ingredients can make bread." But it does! Third, it turns out naan is really fun to make. I wish I had a big tandoor oven to cook it in, but I don't. But this version is pretty great actually.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Ingredients

• 1 cup plain yogurt
  
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• 4 long skewers (or however many it takes)

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
  

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and 2 teaspoons salt. Stir in chicken, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Preheat a grill for high heat.
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Thread chicken onto skewers, and discard marinade. Grill until juices run clear, about 5 minutes on each side.
4. Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and jalapeno for 1 minute. Season with 2 teaspoons cumin, paprika, and 2 teaspoons salt. Stir in tomato sauce and cream. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add grilled chicken, and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter, and garnish with fresh cilantro.

Notes

• Personally, I doubled the sauce. I just don't think there's enough! And I like having lots to dip my naan in.
  
• I mixed all the marinade and chicken in a big ziploc bag and put that straight into the fridge. Beats having another bowl to wash.
• I've made this on both a George Foreman grill and a grill pan. Both are okay, but I'd love to try it on a real outdoor grill. I wish the indoor options had better ways of letting the excess marinade drip off.
  
• For some reason I have a really hard time telling when the chicken is done...
• Also, I use fat free half and half instead of cream. And fat free plain yogurt. It tastes great, and I get to feel good about all the calories and fat I'm saving.
• I didn't really want this to be that spicy, so I left out all the hot stuff: no cayenne pepper, no black pepper (which I actually don't like anyway, regardless of the context), and the jalapenos. But if you're into that sort of thing, knock yourself out.
  

Naan

Ingredients

• 4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups plain yogurt
• (That's really it! Can you believe it?!)

Directions

1. Mix together flour, baking powder and salt.
2. Stir in the yogurt till the dough is too stiff for a spoon, then knead it in the bowl till it holds together well, adding more flour if necessary.
3. Turn it out on a floured surface and continue kneading for about 5 minutes till the dough feels smooth and elastic.
4. Form the dough into a ball and put it in an oiled bowl, covered with a towel, to rest for an hour or longer.
5. Take the dough out and cut it into 10 equal pieces. Form each into a ball and press the balls flat into round discs.
6. Heat a large frying pan or griddle, either seasoned cast iron or a good non-stick finish, and turn on broiler in the oven.
7. Take 1 piece of dough at a time and roll it out on a floured surface till it is about 8-10 inches across and less than 1/4 inch thick.
8. Lay it on the hot griddle and cook it over a medium heat for 4-5 minutes.
9. It will puff up in places or all over, and there will be some blackish-brown spots on the bottom.
10. Slide a spatula under the naan and transfer it to the oven, directly onto the rack, for a minute or two, just till it finishes puffing up into a balloon and begins to color lightly on top.
11. Remove naan from the oven and brush it lightly with melted butter if you like.
12. Continue this way with all the dough, stacking the breads into a napkin-lined basket.
13. Serve the breads hot, fresh from the oven, or let them cool and wrap them up.
14. To reheat, wrap them in aluminum foil, in packets of 4 or 5 breads and put them in a 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.

Notes

• Okay, I know this is like a bazillion steps, but it's really not as complicated as it sounds, I promise.
• You don't have to do the broiler step if you don't want to. I didn't. I just flipped it over on the griddle. The broiler step just let's you keep all that puffiness, I think.
• I was fairly liberal with the flour as I kneaded it on the counter.
  
• Sometimes it takes a couple to get the hang of how thick or thin to roll them out. I rolled them out with a rolling pin.
• I used a non stick griddle. You don't need to grease it (not even with cooking spray). I promise.
  
• I sprayed with mine spray butter when they were finished, for a little flavor. But it's probably not really necessary.
• I'm pretty sure it took less than 4-5 minutes on a side. Just turn it over when the blackish-brown spots appear. But don't burn it.
  
• The first time I tried this recipe a few months back, I didn't get around to making the bread for 2 days after I made the dough, so I left it in the fridge. I don't recommend this. It made the dough really elastic and it was hard to keep it rolled to the desired thickness, and made them come out very inconsistently. Just letting it rest an hour or two made it perfect.

And if it's true what they say about how the more dishes you use, the better the meal...well, this must be out of this world then. (Let's just say, I miss having a dishwasher!)

One year ago...

Today is the one year anniversary of the day I defended my PhD dissertation. Time flies, that's for sure. I spent a little bit of time reflecting today about what a crazy time it was leading up to the defense, but the actual day of the defense wasn't so bad. It was actually a little bit fun (sounds weird, I know), and SUCH a relief to have finished!

That night, after a successful defense, my faculty adviser (Don) threw me a party (as is the department tradition). His son took a lot of pictures at it, and I never had a chance to post them, so I'll post some now. It's fun to relive it!

First off, Don's other son made all the food. It was an amazing spread!

Another department tradition is the Tshirt. Steven made my Tshirt and did the presentation.

Clearly, I thoroughly enjoyed his presentation and explanation. He's funny, there's no denying it.

They also put the Tshirt content in frames so you can put them in your future office. (And they are, don't worry.) This was the front...

And this was the back....

And of course, they make put it right on and wear it for the rest of the party.

People made speeches...my adviser (Ted), my faculty adviser (Don), even Steven wanted to say more. I was really touched by all the nice things people had to say. (This is me listening to all the speeches.)

During Steven's speech, I remember him saying he'd miss me because no one laughed at his jokes as much as I did. (Which is true, by the way.) (But he's so dang funny, I can't help it.)

Not the best of me, but fun to remember who was there!

My parents came out for the occasion! I was glad they were there.

Me with Don (left) and Ted (right).

Me with Mukremin (my academic older brother who graduated a few years before me -- he just happened to be in town for it) and Steven.

White dwarf groupies.

Yep, I was one happy graduate!


Thanks again to everyone who supported me during that time, as well as during the time since then! I'm happy that I can look back on it with such good feelings. :)


(Also...is it weird that one of the things I think about when I look at these pictures is, "Man, I miss those earrings." They were one of my favorite pairs, and I lost them about 10 months ago. Sigh!)