Mega Catch-Up

Hello everybody! I have arrived here safely in Austria! We are still really busy getting everything set up, but I have quite a few pictures stored that I want to share before I accumulate too many pictures and things get out of control!

Last Tuesday at my parents' house I made the first decent meal I've created in a while, black pepper bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin with fennel. I made some creamy turnip greens to serve alongside, made creamy with a cream sauce I made using the pork drippings.
Thursday was Georg's birthday and although we were caught up in moving responsibilities, I wanted to at least make a cake. Georg's favorite is cheesecake, and I don't know why, but I've never made him one before. I guess it just seems too simple for birthdays. I have always made him these double chocolate, triple-layer, towering cakes. This one was dressed up a little: I used biscotti cookies for the crust, and added orange zest and honey to the cream cheese-ricotta batter. It was yummy. We ate it with some white wine in our empty Old Louisville apartment to celebrate our last time together there.

Right before leaving my parents' house for Cincinnati (and eventually the airport), we had an impromptu photo shoot with Muffin. This is a cute picture of Priscilla, Georg, and Muffin. Muffin really likes Georg and I think the feeling is somewhat mutual :).

Upon arriving in the Vienna airport (after 24 hours of travelling and what amounted to essentially no sleep) we discovered Georg's parents and friends waiting for us! We sat down at one of the airport restaurants and Georg's parents ordered a bottle of champagne.

Here's a scene from Georg's parents' apartment. It's definitely fall here. Cool weather, and the leaves are turning yellow. You see a lot of street vendors and groceries selling winter squashes, which is a welcome sight. In fact, Georg's mother made us a roasted pumpkin with herbs de provence for dinner the day we arrived.

For dessert, she served these beautiful figs and little grapes!

The next night, Georg's friend Walter picked us up for a surprise dinner with some of his old friends. The dinner was at a great restaurant not too far from where we live. I loved the flowers on the table:

I ordered the pumpkin risotto. It featured pieces of aged goat cheese, a swirl of pumpkin seed pesto, and chives. Everyone's food looked good, but I didn't want to intrude on their dinners by taking pictures. It was a really nice evening; Georg's friends are lovely!
I bought some walnut flour and plums today at the store, as well as some butternut squash. I plan to make some fall-like dishes pretty soon when I can gain access to Georg's parents' kitchen. Bye for now!