Well so that title’s not entirely accurate.  There.  I said it.  We’ve taken down our Christmas tree, but we haven’t stopped making these cookies.

Hang with me for a second as I explain. Most cultures have traditional Christmas cookies, however when my mother-in-law translated this recipe with me, she was very clear in stating, “These are not Christmas cookies. Czech women begin making them at Christmas time. But then we keep going all winter long. That’s why these are Czech winter cookies.”

I’m taking her word for two reasons.

1. We’ll happily have this cookies for a few more months.  No questions asked.
2. My mother-in-law translated the recipes for me right from this Czech cookie book as I typed, so I’m pretty sure she knows what she’s saying.

Then my own mom and I began testing the recipe to see if we could compare with the cookies my husband grew up with.

European treats are really wonderful.  They don’t have nearly the sugar as is customary in American cookies.  (Have you heard the hysterical story about how my American chocolate chip cookies were rejected at Martin’s office?)  So if you’re looking for a little treat that’s not too sweet, I think you’ll find that these cookies hit the spot just about any winter day.  Plus with descriptive phrases like, “curl so it looks like your pinky finger”, you’ll feel like a classic European baker in an instant.

Oh and for those of you thinking, “Wait a second!  Those are German cookies!”  or shouting, “No, Katie.  Those are Austrian cookies.”  Well yes.  When these cookies were first created, the countries of Europe did not have the same boarders that they do now.  Heck, Czeckloslovakia doesn’t even exist any more.

(You knew that, right?  You’re not going around saying, “Czeckloslovakia” are you?  That’s sooo 1990s.  Now if you don’t know that Czeckloslovakia isn’t a country any more, you either (1) don’t have Czech relatives correcting you or (2) you haven’t seen this tour of a 350 square foot Prague home from waaay back in the Making This Home archieves.  Go check it out.  Err… czech it out!  You gotta take the classic Czech jokes where you can, you know.)

Anyway, back to the cookies because I know it might be your sweet tooth that I should be talking to about now.  Or your semi-sweet tooth.  Whichever.  Basically, these cookies were created in a region of the world that is now divided into several countries.  The Czech Republic happens to be one of them.  This happens to be their version.

And this happens to be my husband’s hand at Christmas.  It’s not certain, but I suspect he is completely dodging my grandmother’s American fruitcake and going straight for his grandmother’s Czech cookies.  Just a hunch I have.

I personally will not be commenting on which treat I chose to reach for.  Okay, Grandma?

What’s interesting about these old Czech recipes is that they really are more of guides than detailed on-the-dot instructions.  I’ve tried to leave it at that while incorporating a few details we’ve picked up through trial and error over the past few months and a certain someone’s picky preferences in Czech cookies (hint: his hand is pictured above).  These cookies aren’t so much baked as dried out, so feel free to play around with the recipe in ways you can’t with typical American cookies.

The challenge in these cookies is knowing exactly when to take them out of the oven if you want to be a true Czech baker.  The best bakers know how to pull these cookies out of the oven when they turn a deep yellow color.  They can’t be brown, not even on the bottoms, to truly master these cookies and make Czech grandmas proud.  So you’re basically cooking until the cookie is dried out enough to hold together.  It’s a very interesting thing to try, especially because it varies so greatly from oven to oven.

My mother-in-law had the difficult job of explaining this recipe to me in English.  The first recipe is good for European kitchens based on the things I know we can find in Germany.  The second version is adapted for American kitchens.  I chose not to convert this recipe into cups and half cups and all that sugary jazz because I have a little secret…

Cooking by weight is so much cooler than dangling measuring cups all over the place and making puddles of flour that catch on the lips of your cups.  You just set your bowl on the scale, clear the weight to zero, and spoon your ingredient right into the bowl until you read the required weight.  You hit clear again and add the next ingredient.  It’s so fast!

Or as a true German would say:  It is efficient.

And it’s true.  If you have never cooked with a scale for anything beyond weighing your apples for a pie, here’s your chance.  You’ll see why the Germans think Americans are beyond ridiculous to fiddle with measuring cups.  Sometimes, I almost want to sit down and translate all of my favorite recipes to the scale system. (If you’d rather stick with 100% cups and teaspoons for your measuring, here’s a handy online converter.)

If you already love your scale, well what on earth am I rambling on for then?

Please pull out your almonds and say this title ten times:  Vanilkové Rohlíčky - ’cause that’s what we’re about to make.

European Version:

140 grams fine flour
160 g butter unsalted
50 g sugar
100 g almonds or other nuts, finely ground
1 egg yolk at room temperature
powdered sugar mixed with vanilla sugar for sprinkling on top

variation:
add a little lemon zest
add several drops of vanilla
swap some of the flour for cocoa powder

1.  Combine flour, sliced butter, sugar, and finely ground nuts.  Mix with a butter knife.  (A knife is traditional; I use a pastry cutter from the US or a fork.)

2. Create a cavity in the center like a volcano and add egg yolk at room temperature.  Let dough sit.

3.  Shape into a log on a clean, floured surface.  Slice.  Then shape each slice into a snake as wide as your pinky finger.

4.  Cut the snake into pieces and shape into crescents to look like your pinky finger bent over.

5.  Grease cookie sheet.  Arrange cookies.  Put in oven and bake until the cookies turn deep yellow, but not brown.  Remember – you don’t even want the bottoms of your cookies brown if you can do it.  I’ve been baking at 300F with good results.  I won’t even suggest a cooking time (well “drying out time”) because this recipe really does vary from oven to oven.  Me?  I seem to have my cookies in the oven for about ten minutes.

6.  When your cookies appear done, remove them from the heat and sprinkle heavily with your powdered sugar/vanilla sugar mixture.  I tap a small strainer against my palm for consistent, heavy sugar on the cookies.

7.  Hold back the men with Czech blood until these cookies are done.  Seriously, this has been the hardest part of the entire recipe at our house.  I need to start making them at 6:00 in the morning for surely we will end up in the ER with a burned tongue one of these days.

_________________

Czech Vanilla Cookies

Vanilkové Rohlíčky

North American Version:

5 oz fine flour
just under 3 tbl butter unsalted
50 g sugar
1.75 oz almonds or other nuts, finely ground
1 egg yolk at room temperature
powdered sugar

*if you make your own vanilla sugar by keeping a vanilla bean in your sugar, use some to sprinkle on your cookies with the powdered sugar

variation:
add a little lemon zest
add several drops of vanilla
swap some of the flour for cocoa powder

1.  Combine flour, sliced butter, add sugar & finely ground nuts.  Mix with a butter knife.  (A knife is traditional; I use a pastry cutter.)

2. Create a cavity in the center like a volcano and add egg yolk at room temperature.  Let dough sit.

3.  Shape into a log on a clean, floured surface.  Slice.  Then shape each slice into a snake as wide as your pinky finger.

4.  Cut the snake into pieces and shape into crescents to look like your pinky finger bent over.

5.  Grease cookie sheet.  Arrange cookies.  Put in oven and bake until the cookies turn deep yellow, but not brown.  Remember – you don’t even want the bottoms of your cookies brown if you can do it.  I’ve been baking at 150C with good results.  I won’t even suggest a cooking time (well “drying out time”) because this recipe really does vary from oven to oven.  Me?  I seem to have my cookies in the oven for about ten minutes.

6.  When your cookies appear done, remove them from the heat and sprinkle heavily with powdered sugar.  I tap a small strainer against my palm for consistent, heavy sugar on the cookies.

7.  Hold back the men with Czech blood until these cookies are done.  Seriously, this has been the hardest part of the entire recipe at our house.  I need to start making them at 6:00 in the morning for surely we will end up in the ER with a burned tongue one of these days.

___________

Happy baking!  And best of all, happy winter cookie eating.

Currently translating a lip-smacking piece of yumminess from this book to share with all of you:

It’s a family favorite.  So stay tuned and grind up some almonds or other favorite nuts for some Czech yumminess.

We spend over four hours in the waiting room at the immigration office today (yes – we had an appointment).  It’s not the most exciting place to be spending your time – too worried that if you go to the bathroom, you’ll miss having your name called or your number appearing on the screen.

Hanging out at the immigration office waiting room isn’t a part of living in a new country that you really think about… until you have to do it.

It reminds me of spending the day at the Denver DMV to get my driver’s license.  But longer.

I feel pretty lucky to report that as I share the good, the bad, and the bits and pieces between in creating a life abroad, it’s gosh darn lucky that the biggest “bad” to date is sitting in a waiting room.

Have a great Thursday.

(Image of park statute for Making This Home)

We love small houses.  You guys know that.  And as it turns out, a lot of you are digging ‘em, too.  Last year, we were touring all kinds of stuff like this chef’s kitchen.

Or remember this chef’s kitchen and his words of wisdom about making good food in small spaces?

We snuck into the mountains.  Literally.

We braved the jungles.

We learned a few green construction tricks at this house.

We ventured into the open country for some old country fun in a silo.

We slipped into closets.

And squeezed into tiny, beloved kitchens.

The list goes on and on.

Then poof.  That was it.  I often joke about being forgetful due to jetlag.  But this time?  I’d say it really was the jet lag of returning to Germany when the ball dropped on these super tours.  So thank you to all of you saying, “Katie, what happened to all those fabulous little home tours you used to share?”  And an especially big thanks to Christine for flat out reminding me how much We Love This Stuff!

It helps to see others living small.  It’s also downright inspiring.  Like that kitchen up there?  It’s Joann’s.  It’s smaller than mine.  It’s her haven.

So I’m jumping up and down, giddy to announce:

The small space tours?  They’re back!

I can’t wait to get started.

And don’t forget… Do you have a small corner in your house or an inspiring find from online about others living small? Shoot me an email because you never know who’s closet we could be crashing next.  We’d love for it to be yours!

The quickest solution to having less clutter in your house is to start bringing less stuff into your house.  We all know that.

Knowing something is very different than actually doing it, though.  So I thought I’d share a few tips we’ve picked up over the years to help keep the clutter from knocking at our door.

1. Only buy what you can carry all at once at the store.

I make it a habit to always get a shopping basket at the store instead of a shopping cart (grocery stores totally except!).  It’s so easy to drop things into a shopping cart and pick up impulse items; it’s a lot harder to lug everything in a basket.  So Target, IKEA, even Costco, you name it – I’ll be the one balancing everything in my arms.  But that way, the only stuff I’m buying is stuff I either truly want or need.

2.  Only buy what can fit into your reusable shopping bags.

Reaching for a shopping basket isn’t always practical – like when you’re bring along a toddler.  So use a cart, but try limiting your purchases to what can fit in your reusable shopping bags, especially at the grocery store.

My grocery shopping trips in Germany are limited to how much I can fit in the saddle bags of my bike.  Believe it or not, I am not shopping more frequently this way.  I’m only buying food in quantities that we need.  Our society throws out an incredible amount of food because it goes bad before we get to it.  Setting limits to how much you purchase at once curbs so many impulse buys.  It’s amazing!  As a result, we find less stuff coming into the house.  Then we have fewer spoiled/uneaten foods and surplus donation items and garbage going out.

3.  Try drinking fewer beverages.

We’ve talked about how to make drinking water a habit for good health.  Buying fewer beverages also cuts down on the money spent and the stuff you have to haul in and out of the house.

So in addition to a multitude of other reasons, we don’t buy pop and other sugary beverages because. I don’t want to carry them. You know what’s easy to carry?  Tea bags.  Coffee beans.

4.  Skip the free magazines and newspapers at the store

Read all the free reading material you want.  But try this – don’t allow any of it in your house.  Try reading them in the car when you’re waiting for someone or even while you’re in line at the bank.  (Or while you’re at work?).  Just don’t have them in the house.

5.  Cancel catalogues and junk mail.

Instead of tossing catalogues we’re not interested in, I call up the company and ask them to remove us from their mailing list.  It takes a few minutes, but I think it’s worth curbing the excess flow of mail at our house.  That way there’s less sorting and tossing.  There’s fewer items in our recycling bin.  And we’re not tempted to buy things we happen to glance at in their ads. (Check out our list of tips on eliminating junk mail for your American or European home.)

When you focus on bringing less into your house, I think you might find life is simpler and less complicated.  Those “we need to declutter” moments can happen a little less often.

How else can we keep clutter out?  Please share your tips.  I can’t tell you how much your thoughts mean to all of us.  So please – share those good ideas!

If you’re craving more tips on simplifying, swing over to the The Simpler Life Series.  Happy journey!

(Image by Martin for Making This Home… before snow hit)

A few weeks ago when I was sharing the latest updates on our New New Clothes Challenge (where our family stopped buying clothes back in May), I received a simple question:

“Don’t you ever get tired of wearing the same things all the time?”

It’s a question we all ask ourselves about clothes – and what eventually can lead us back to the stores to buy more.  When my family stopped buying clothes, I was certain we’d feel trapped without something new.  (That’s why our challenge was originally planned for just three months.)  You can probably guess that since we started this challenge, our attitude about what we had versus what we lusted for drastically changed.

Today, my answer is no.  I do not feel like I’m wearing the same things all the time.

Here’s why:

1.  Don’t wear the same clothes at home as I do outside. When I come home, I take off my nicer sweaters and pants and put on different clothes.  Feeling like I am not wearing the same thing so long makes me more willing to put on that same sweater sooner than if I’d been wearing it all day.  (Plus wearing different outfits at home keeps the city grime off our furniture.)

2.  Wear layers. Just as some women keep the same sweater hanging over their office chairs to wear whenever they get chilly, I have found that a zip or button up sweater serves as a great tool for keeping warm.  Then I can wear thinner clothes in this cold weather, which hugely varies my winter wardrobe.

3.  Wear thick tights or long undewear. On several occasions, my classmates have thought I was out of my mind.  There we were in our cold classroom, and I was sitting there in shorter sleeves.  Wearing thick tights keeps my legs warm, which keeps me warmer.  I can get away with thinner layers on top (which is a good thing, as I only have four warm sweaters).

4.  I notice that my classmates wear pretty much the same things, too. It’s pretty typical to see Europeans wearing the same things a lot more frequently than Americans.  My friend, Toma, told me that when she lived in Paris, the women at her husband’s office had the most beautiful, expensive suits.  They’d wear the same suit on Monday, then Tuesday, then Wednesday, then…  The next week, they’d wear their other nice suit.  They went for quality, certainly not quantity!

5.  See what men wear – especially single men! Many men always seem so much more comfortable in their clothes.  They can, quite often, wear the exact same thing two days in a row and have no idea… until their wives point it out.  While I’m not advocating the idea of wearing the same thing each day, I do think there is something to be said about how little concern the average man often has for his clothing when compared to the average woman.  They really inspire me.

6.  Don’t use your dryer. This time of year, our laundry takes at least 24 hours to dry.  The only place we can put it is in our living room on a drying rack since we don’t have a dryer.  It takes a lot more time to hang clothes than just tossing them in the dryer.  While this doesn’t directly influence how I feel about wearing the same things, it does curb the reflex to throw everything in the washer when it doesn’t need to be there.  I feel more thankful for my smaller wardrobe and use it longer.

7.  Wear what you love. The best part is that I am wearing clothes that I really, truly love, and I’m wearing them a lot more than I would have before.  I’m not buying things that I’m not incredibly attached to, and if there’s something I truly love, I could get it if I wanted now.

If you can recognize that you are already happy in life, I think a funny thing happens.  You start feeling content with what you have.  Advertising, society, our desire to be liked – all of these things contribute to a desire for new clothes.  And it’s tough!  You can’t get away from it – from Hollywood to the newspaper, to even political events where the discussion of the First Lady and her children is sure to include heavy detail about their clothes.

I didn’t know how much happier I would be, shifting my focus away from new clothes.

What about you?  What are your thoughts on the clothes you have?  Love ‘em?  Hate ‘em?  How do you resist buying more?  Or is it something you think about?

(Image from Flickr)