Fruit Tart

This recipe is for a nine inch pie shell. To keep things simple, you can buy a packaged shortbread pie shell at your local grocery store or supermarket. I've only ever seen these pie crusts in nine inch form, but there "may" be other sizes. Of course too, you can make your own pie crust to whatever size you prefer, and then adjust the other ingredients accordingly.    

Ingredients:

1 nine inch shortbread pie shell
vanilla pastry cream*
kiwi fruit, peeled and sliced
blueberries
strawberries, sliced (not the small bottom pieces)
2 to 3 tablespoons thick apricot (or peach or mango) preserves

Put the vanilla pastry cream into the pie shell and smooth it out. Spread a thin layer of the preserves over the top of the pastry cream (middle photo below). You can arrange the fruit in whatever pattern you'd like. 

* To make vanilla pastry cream, here is the link to that recipe:
https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2019/09/vanilla-pastry-cream.html

WORD HISTORY:
Service-This is the noun (much later also a verb), and it is related to "serf," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English from French. "Service" goes back to Indo European "serwuo/serwo," meaning, "guardian, protector;" thus also, "shepherd." This gave its Italic offspring "serwo," meaning, "shepherd," and this gave Latin "servus," the meaning of which, "slave," seems to have evolved "perhaps" from a shepherd's devotion to his flock to the point of servitude? "Servus" gave Latin "servitium," which meant, "the state of being in servitude or being a slave;" thus also, "slavery." This passed to Latin-based Old French as "servise," meaning, "servitude," but also, "a religious ceremony of devotion (servitude) to God." This was borrowed by English, likely with reinforcement by the Latin term, circa 1100. Many meanings developed as time passed, like: "the performance of assistance to someone, including the serving of food," "duty as a knight (usually in servitude to a noble/feudal lord)," which then broadened into any "military duty," "dishes and eating utensils" (now more often for tea or coffee), and others. The verb form developed from the noun, but not until circa 1900.     

Vanilla Pastry Cream

Vanilla pastry cream is a very thick custard or pudding typically used as a filling for cream puffs or donuts, or used between layers for cakes, or used as the base for some pies and dessert tarts.* It is thickened by quite a lot of cornstarch and egg yolks (some use whole eggs). The amount below is good to fill a nine inch pie shell.  

Ingredients:

2 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
6 egg yolks (large eggs)
1 or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter, softened 

Put the milk into a heavy bottomed pan over low heat. You don't want to boil the milk; just let it gradually heat up until it gives off steam. Meanwhile, whisk or beat together the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch, until the mixture is smooth and thick. I use an electric mixer on low speed, but you don't want the mixture all frothy, and using a whisk is fine. When the milk is steaming hot, but not boiling, remove the milk from the heat and gradually add about half of the milk to the egg mixture, WHILE WHISKING CONSTANTLY; otherwise, the eggs will curdle and you'll have scrambled eggs. Don't be afraid to temporarily stop, adding milk so as to prevent curdling, but keep whisking even if you've stopped adding milk. After about half of the milk is mixed into the eggs, and it is smooth, put the pan with the remaining milk back onto low heat. Now gradually add the egg/milk mixture to the milk, whisking constantly. The mixture will begin to thicken more and more as the temperature rises. Turn the heat to very low and continue to whisk to prevent sticking and scorching. When the mixture is very thick, remove it from the heat, add the vanilla and 1 tablespoon of the butter, whisking to incorporate these ingredients into the vanilla cream, then add the second tablespoon of butter and whisk it in. Cover the vanilla cream with plastic wrap (usually called "cling film" in the UK) by literally putting the plastic wrap right on top of the cream; this will prevent a "skin" from forming on top. Most often vanilla cream is chilled for a few hours before use.

 * For a fruit tart, here is the link: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2019/09/fruit-tart.html

Vanilla pastry cream base in a pie shell ...  

WORD HISTORY:
Clear-This word is distantly related to "claim," a word of Latin derivation borrowed by English from French. It goes back to Indo European "keleh/kelh," which had the notion, "shout, to call out." This gave its Latin offspring the adjective "clarus," which meant, "clear/understood (of sounds)," and broadened into, "bright, clear (of sights), famous, glorious (of people or places 'that stand out clearly')." This passed to Latin-based Old French as "cler," meaning, "bright, easily seen." Carried to England by the Normans, English borrowed the word in about 1300 with the same general meanings as the French and Latin words, as well as figurative senses (as in "clear title or deed;" "not obstructed by conditions or claims by others"). The verb developed from the adjective in the middle of the 1300s. The noun form also developed in the first half of the 1300s, meaning, "open patch of forest." "Clear" has various forms in many of the Germanic cousins of English: German "klar," Low German "kloor," Dutch "klaar" ("klaren" as verb), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish have "klar."     

Farmer's Salad With Yogurt Dressing

"Farmer salads" have been often and naturally thought of as mainly having ingredients many farming households might well have on hand: cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, garlic, bell peppers and eggs. In addition though, some farming families made their own head cheese, as well as their own cheese, and these could be used to make a salad more substantial. In German areas of Europe, the homemade cheese was/is called by a variety of names, but in Hessen, it is called "Handkäse," * literally "hand cheese," because the whitish/light yellowish cheese was shaped by hand, while in the region of the Harz Mountains it is called "Harzer (Käse)," and in Austria it is often called "Quargel," a word "I believe" German derived from Slavic. In modern times head cheese and cheese (by whatever name) are more often commercially produced, but that doesn't mean that some individuals or families have abandoned making them at home. "Souse" is an American term for head cheese made with vinegar. In Britain, head cheese, with or without vinegar, is called "brawn."  
   
I "patterned" this recipe after Bavarian/Austrian salad recipes, and in Austria and Bavaria such salads are often served with rolls called "Salzstangen" or "Salzstangerl," which are rolls coated with coarse salt and (usually) caraway seeds. Certainly in the past, such a dressing for the salad would have been more likely to have been made with sour cream; again, a product readily available to farmers.   

Ingredients (5 or 6 servings):

1/2 medium red onion, chopped
1 seeded or seedless cucumber, peel on, or peeled, or partially peeled (your preference)
4 chopped Roma tomatoes (also called 'plum tomatoes'), or 20 to 25 grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 chopped red or green pepper
1/4 cup pitted black olives (Kalamata or niçoise), halved
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Toss all ingredients together well. 

For each serving:
1 or 2 thin slices of souse, cut into small pieces
1 or 2 thin slices Emmentaler cheese (Swiss cheese),** cut or torn into small pieces
1 hard boiled egg, halved 

For the yogurt dressing:

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons oil (olive, canola, vegetable or even give extra virgin olive oil a try)
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons rosemary, chopped   
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients together well. If the dressing is too thick for you, add a little more oil. If you add more vinegar, you may have to consider adding more honey, but that depends upon your own taste.

* "Handkäse" ("Handkäs" is the common form in Hessen) is one of the specialty dishes of Frankfurt-am-Main in Hessen, where it is served in a dressing of cider vinegar, oil, hard apple cider, pepper, caraway seed and chopped onion, and called, "Handkäs mit Musik" (Hand Cheese with Music). It is "traditionally" accompanied with a glass of hard apple cider (in standard German called "Apfelwein," but called "Ebbelwoi" in the Hessian dialect of Frankfurt). "Handkäse" is not exclusive to Frankfurt, but rather it is common in other parts of Hessen as well. And I'm sure you're hanging by your thumbs wondering what the "with music" means. Well, there are two stories tied to the meaning, the most prominent of the two, but perhaps not originally the meaning, has to do with the onions causing intestinal gas; thus, "music," if you get my drift. This led to a little joke when people from outside of Frankfurt or Hessen would ask, "What and where is the music?" The standard answer became, "Die Musik kommt später" (The music comes later). The other story is that the oil and vinegar were kept in glass bottles for the person to pour on the desired amount of each. The bottles clinked together; thus, "music." When I've had "Handkäs mit Musik" in Frankfurt, it was always served that way, with the oil and vinegar bottles brought to the table with the onion topped hand cheese.

** In the U.S., "Swiss cheese" is the type of cheese in Switzerland and German cultural areas in Europe called "Emmentaler," after the area of its origin; the Emme River Valley (German: Emmental), near the city of Bern.

WORD HISTORY:
Shift-This word is distantly related to the verb "shed" ("to give off something, to get rid of something"), a word from the Germanic roots of English. It goes back to Indo European "skei(t)," which had the notion, "to cut, to cut off, to separate (from)." This gave Old Germanic "skiftjanan," meaning, "to put into order by separating, to arrange." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "sciftan," meaning, "to separate, to divide up, to arrange, to place in order." This then became "schiften," then "shiften," before the modern version. The meaning, "to move from one place to another," as in, "The corporation will shift its headquarters from Dallas to Denver," came from the idea of "arranging, allotting" (but actually "rearranging, reallocating"). It also took on the meaning, "to be able to take care of oneself," as in the expression, "shift for oneself," perhaps from the idea of "to keep one's life in order?" The noun developed from the verb circa 1300 and with numerous meanings, including "a set time for work;" as in, "I work the day shift from 7 until 3," and this meaning seems to date back in time, as it is also in some other Germanic languages, and it remains as a primary noun meaning in English, along with "movement, change," as in "a shift in public opinion." Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German has the verb "schichten" (to stack, to layer), which was borrowed from Low German and the noun "Schicht" (a level, a layer, and also, a group of people doing the same general work during a given period of time, also sometimes rendered as "Schichtarbeit;" that is, "shift work"), Low German has the verb "opschichten" (to stack up, to build up; the base word was once spelled "schiften"^), West Frisian has the noun "skift" (classification, category), Dutch has the verb "schiften" (to divide or stratify), Danish has the noun "skifte" (a change over) and the verb "skifte" (to alternate, to exchange), Norwegian has the noun "skifte" (a change or turn) and the verb "skifte" (to switch or change), Icelandic has the verb "skipta" (to divide up, to switch or exchange), Swedish has the verb "skifta" (to change, to shift, to divide) and the noun "skift" (set working period).  

^ While I'm uncertain of this, when German borrowed the word from Low German, it "seems" the standard German spelling and pronunciation as "schichten" may have eventually transferred to Low German; thus, no "f" in modern Low German and modern standard German. 

Bratwurst with Onions and Paprika

I tend to like paprika a lot and this uses the smoky flavored Spanish paprika. This is my version of a similar German recipe. You can use fresh bratwursts or the precooked type commonly sold in supermarkets.

Ingredients:

4 bratwursts
2 red onions, cut into rings or chopped
1 cup chopped mild red pepper
1 heaping tablespoon mild Spanish paprika
1 teaspoon hot Spanish paprika
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup beef broth
2 tablespoons oil
(optional) salt (how much salt does the broth have?) 

Brown the bratwursts in 1 tablespoon of oil (they don't have to cook through, as they will cook more in a few minutes). Braise the onion rings and the chopped red pepper in the other tablespoon of oil over low heat, until softened, but not heavily browned. Add the mild and hot paprika, the tomato paste, the sugar and the beef broth. Mix well and cook until the tomato paste is dissolved into the mixture, then add the bratwursts and cook until the brats are cooked through. Good served with mashed potatoes.

WORD HISTORY: 
Lick-This word is somewhat distantly related to "lecher," a word borrowed by English from French, and which French got from Germanic Frankish.^ "Lick" goes back to Indo European "leygh," which meant, "to lick." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "likkon(an)," with the same meaning. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "liccian," which then became "likken/licken," before the modern form. Old English had the noun "liccung," which meant, "licking" (more precisely, "take in a small amount of food or drink"), and "licking" became the form in circa 1400, but it wasn't until the early 1600s that shortened form "lick" became more common. The modern verb and noun have a number of meanings, but the meaning, "to beat/defeat," is somewhat puzzling, although it "may" come from the notion of "beating with a whip," as the end of a whip is like a tongue, and that meaning may have then broadened into "beat or defeat," which is more or less what happened with the word "beat," meaning, "strike someone or something, usually repeatedly," but which eventually took the meaning, "to defeat in battle," then also, "defeat in competition." A famous slogan for Timex watches was when they would perform some rough treatment of a Timex watch, then show that it was still running, and then ad the slogan, "It takes a licking, but it keeps on ticking." Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German has "lecken" (to lick, and German "lecker" means, "delicious;" that is, "that which makes one lick their lips, that which is worth licking"), Low German "licken," Dutch "likken," West Frisian once had "likja/likje," but I could not find a modern form. The Brothers Grimm note that a form of ''lick'' is "missing from the Scandinavian language area" (that is, North Germanic), but why is unclear, although these languages use what seems to be a prefixed form (with "s") of "lick," as does modern West Frisian. A form of this prefixed word is missing from English, as far as I can tell, which "may" indicate that it developed after Anglo-Saxon was established in England.  

^ Provençal, the language of Provence (southeastern France), had "liquar/lichar," and Italian has "leccare," perhaps both of which were borrowed from French (?), although the Italian form could have been borrowed directly from German. 

West African Peanut & Sweet Potato Stew (Slow Cooker)

Peanuts, also called groundnuts by some, were taken by the Portuguese to other parts of the world, including Africa, from areas of Brazil, and perhaps from Peru, in the early 1500s. Peanuts are really a type of pea, not a true nut. Sweet potatoes were another New World food product, and they were taken to other parts of the world, including West Africa, by the Spanish and the Portuguese. This wonderful stew is easily made in a slow cooker and then served with flatbread like naan or pita.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup chopped onion (you can also use scallions with part of their green, if you'd like)
2 to 4 hot chilies (I use serrano chilies), chopped (seeded, if you don't like much heat)
2 to 3 inch piece ginger, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 1/2 cups chicken stock (if the stew is too thick later, add a little more chicken stock)
1 can (14.5 to 16 ounces) diced tomatoes, with juice
1 can (14 to 16 ounces) chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
3 cups kale (or collard greens), removed from stems, then chopped 

Put all ingredients into a slow cooker (crock pot), except the chickpeas, peanut butter and kale/collard greens. Cook on "high" for 90 minutes, then reduce to "low" and let cook for another 4 1/2 hours. 
During the last hour of cooking, add the peanut butter and gently stir to mix it into the stew, and then add the kale or collards (either of which will cook down pretty quickly) and the chickpeas and again gently stir to mix all ingredients together. If the stew is too thick for you, thin it out a little with more chicken stock at this time also.

WORD HISTORY:
Cola-This word goes back to the Niger-Congo languages,^ which have a large presence in Africa, including in part of West Africa (for example, in Senegal, Gambia, Ivory Coast), where the term was "kola/kolo," and it was used as the name for a tree and the nut from the tree, which contains caffeine and was used in beverages. "Apparently" the name spread through Spanish and Portuguese to South America and then elsewhere, but with the use of the Latin "c" for the ''k" sound used in some other languages, as both Spanish and Portuguese are Latin-based languages. The word was borrowed by English circa 1800, but the biggest boost to the word in English came in the 1880s in the United States with the invention of the brand name beverage "Coca-Cola," which used cola nuts in its preparation and which eventually became an internationally known drink and one of the world's best known brand names. This was followed not long thereafter by the brand name "Pepsi-Cola" and other drinks using cola nuts.    

^  The Niger-Congo family of languages includes many African languages and dialects, including Zulu, Swahili and Fulani. Niger-Congo is to these languages what Indo European is to, for example, English, German, Italian, Hindustani or Persian (and many others).

Browns' Showtime: Hype & Reality

While I like sports in general, since the time I was a little kid I loved baseball and the Cleveland Indians. I loved the Indians so much, I got too close and too wrapped up in what is supposed to be entertainment and fun. Our teams become a part of us, but as long as you can see a line between your life and your favorite sports teams, you'll likely keep some healthy perspective; after all, sports teams aren't doing research on deadly or crippling diseases, they play goddamn games. For quite a number of years I took it all far too seriously, and I was too sensitive to criticism of the Indians especially. For many years there was a Cleveland sportswriter named Bob Dolgan who regularly wrote many an article critical of Cleveland sports teams. He was tough and often I would bristle at the things he wrote. He challenged my hopes and dreams for these teams, no matter how unrealistic, and I didn't like it. Time and the explosion of BIG money in professional sports brought me to view sports with a far better perspective. I also saw that getting my feathers ruffled about criticism of my teams or favorite players was not something that should anger or devastate me. Criticism is given by people who care and want to see improvements in things. When sportswriters, commentators and fans stop criticizing a team, that team is in deep trouble, because apathy is the real enemy of any entity. I came to VERY MUCH appreciate Bob Dolgan and his sometimes scathing articles. In more recent times I feel the sports media has climbed into bed with the sports teams they are covering, and far too often they seem to be employed by the public relations departments of the teams, lacking only pom poms to complete the role of cheerleaders, although I've often wondered if we could open their bedroom closets that the pom poms would fall out. Fans have a responsibility in all of this too, because I have a sneaking suspicion that if someone wrote a "Dolganesque" article in these times, there would be a big part of the public that would tear them apart, perhaps even literally, and then retreat to their own little corner of the Internet to join with like minded people to reinforce their own beliefs. Most media companies would likely not dare hire or keep such a person nowadays.

For a couple of decades now, I've rarely watched or listened to complete games in any sport, because all I do is complain, so I check the score and perhaps watch for a short time. I've also learned to pick on and make fun of Cleveland teams myself. It's something they generally deserve, and if you live and die with a team or teams, where ever you live in the world, you'll find that poking fun at YOUR team will not end civilization, and that it all helps you to feel a little better about any particular loss, as it helps to kill the pain. I'm not saying you won't still be mad about things somewhat, but if joking can limit that anger, it's a good thing. Anyway...  

For months the Cleveland sports media, with support from the national media, built the hyped up narrative of the Cleveland Browns and a potential championship. Many fans fell for it, but that's understandable; those hopes and dreams we have for our teams, and for us and for our egos that we have attached to those teams. For others more financially tied to the fortunes of the Browns, they loved all the hype. Understand, things may yet work out, but the narrative got far out of hand before even one game was played, and many players made their contribution to the escalating and already overblown expectations. So these "spinners" lived a good life for months, because they could offer all sorts of support for a big season, but they didn't have to offer any results... at that time. Like true spinners who weave cloth into clothing, like underwear, eventually they have to put on those underwear, and if the underwear unravel, the spinner is "exposed." On Sunday, September 8, 2019, the Cleveland Browns put on their "spun" underwear, and the underwear unraveled. You have to make hype INTO reality. 

WORD HISTORY:
Hyperbole-The first part of this compound is distantly related to "over," a word from the Germanic roots of English, with the second part related to "ball" (the noun meaning, "a dance"), a word English borrowed from French, and which traces back to Latin and then to Greek. The part "hyper" goes back to the Indo European root "upo," with the notion of "from under" or "from below," "to go over/above," and its extended form "uper," meaning, "over, above." This gave transliterated Ancient Greek "hyper," also meaning, "over, above;" thus also, "beyond." The "bole" part goes back to Indo European "gwele/gwela," with the notion of, "bubble up, rise up, overflow, throw outward or upward." The Indo European form gave transliterated Greek "ballein," meaning, "to throw," which provided the form "bol," meaning, "the act of throwing." The resulting Greek compound was "hyperbole," which meant, "throwing beyond, throwing out beyond;" thus the figurative, "a throwing of ideas out beyond truth or reality," thus, "exaggeration." Latin borrowed the word from Greek and English borrowed it from Latin in the first half of the 1400s. Latin also used the altered form "hyperbola" as a geometrical word having to do with planes, cones and angles. English borrowed this form in the middle of the 1600s.    

Head Cheese & Souse: Presssack, Presskopf

To start, I'll use the general term "head cheese," a food product that dates back at least several hundred years to the use of cooked hog heads or beef heads, as well as sometimes the cooked internal organs, ears, tails or feet of these animals. The meat was then stripped off and put back into the broth, which would set up because of the gelatin-like nature of the broth, brought about by collagen extracted from the animal parts while they were cooking. Later, commercially marketed gelatin was often added to cooked meats, vegetables, and/or hard cooked eggs to make these kinds of foods. Generally such a dish has been called "aspic" or some specific terrine. Head cheese has long been popular among German cultures; that is, German areas outside of Germany, as well as within areas that have come to comprise Germany itself.  

When I was a kid, people in my neighborhood called it, "hog's head cheese," and I do still see some use that more fully descriptive terminology, although most often I see just "head cheese" nowadays. In the U.S., if the same basic product had vinegar in it, was/is called "souse." A few old timers back then called it "sultz" or "presskop," as my neighborhood had been a destination for a large number of German immigrants from the 1850s until right before World War One, and these were forms of German "Sulz," a south German term and Sülze in many other areas, and "Presskopf," literally, "pressed head (meat)." Don't get comfortable, because there are even more regional names in German, one of which is "Presssack (yes, 's' three times in a row), as well as "Schwartenmagen," "generally" used more in the Alemannic German dialect areas of southwestern Germany and Switzerland (perhaps in the Alsace part of France too, where that is the German dialect), and there is also "Schweinskopfsülze," and there are likely even more terms. In England and Britain, in general, the term for this food is "brawn."

German areas have long had "pauses" in the workday for some food and drink (some areas have this "break" in mid morning, others in mid or late afternoon), and this is besides lunch. There are also many terms for these "breaks": Brotzeit (much of Bavaria, literally "bread time"), Vesper (yes, from the religious term, and used in southwestern Germany), zweites Frühstück ("second breakfast," used in northern Germany), Gabelfrühstück (literally, "fork breakfast," some parts of Austria), Marende (in the South Tirol, a word German got from Italian), Jause (Austria, a word German got from Slovenian), Zvieri (Switzerland), and German has also picked up the word "Brunch" from English, a combination of "lunch" and "breakfast." Trust me, I'm certain there are more! This dish is not an uncommon part of a "work break," although there are variations to it. 

Ingredients:

head cheese and/or souse (brawn)
onion, cut into rings
oil
vinegar
sugar
black pepper
salt

Mix the oil, vinegar and sugar together well in a bowl or cup. Roll up a couple slices of head cheese and/or souse and put them on a plate, top them with some freshly sliced onion rings, then spoon some of the dressing over this. Sprinkle on some salt and black pepper to taste. Serve with rye or pumpernickel bread, along with some butter.   

I had some pickle spears along side ...

WORD HISTORY:
Sward-This is not a common word in American English (also Canadian English?), but it is still used somewhat in the UK and it has some literary/poetic use. Whether the ultimate origin of this word is Indo European is uncertain, although Latvian^ has a form meaning, "swine skin." While far from a certainty, it is very possible the Latvian word is a borrowing from Low German, as many Low German speakers had a great deal of contact with the Latvians dating well back in history. Anyway, Old Germanic had "swardu," seemingly with the meaning, "thick, hairy skin;" thus also, "skin of the head (skin under or covered with hair"). This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "sweard," meaning, "tough skin, hide/rind;" thus also the figurative, "turf" (skin with grass, Earth's hide/skin). This then became "sward," but the main meaning shifted to the existing figurative meaning, "turf/sod," and in fact, the compound, "greensward" came into being; perhaps as an English rendering of Low German "grönswarde"  or Old Norse "grassvörðr," separated out as "gras" and "svörðr" (=svörthr), literally, "grass(y) skin," but actually, "an area of earth covered with grass;" thus also, "meadow land." Relatives of "sward" in the other Germanic languages: German has "Schwarte" (thick, hairy skin/, usually of a hog; rind on bacon), Low German "Swoor" (thick skin/rind and earlier spelled as "swarte"), Dutch "zwoord" (bacon rind), Frisian once had "swarde," but I'm not sure about a form in modern times, Danish "seems" to only still use the compound with a form of "sward" in it, "grønsvær" (turf), Norwegian "svor" (rind), Icelandic "svörður" (turf). I didn't find a form in modern Swedish.    

^ Latvian is a Baltic language of Indo European derivation; thus, it is related to English, but further down the family tree. In more modern times linguists have generally put the Baltic languages (Latvian and Lithuanian) in with the Slavic languages as, "Balto-Slavic." True Prussian was also a Baltic language, but it died out in the 1700s. I say "true Prussian," as Prussia was once a region of the Baltic people "Prussians." Germans took over the region and mixed with the Prussian population and the German language prevailed, but the Germans still called the region "Prussia" (Preussen/Preußen, in German), which became one of the main German states and rose to be the main rival of Austria as the leading German state. Eventually it was Prussia that united Germany into a modern nation, but not until 1871.   

Hessian Potato and Bacon Flatbread: Schmirchelskuche

"Schmirchelskuche" is also spelled "Schmiergelskuche," and these are regional names for the more general term "Schmandkuchen," which means "cream cake." These "cakes" are rather more like flatbread made with yeast dough spread with a "creamy paste-like" layer and then topped with other items, either sweet or savory. The "Schmirchels" and "Schmiergels" parts from the words above are dialect words from standard German "schmieren," the close cousin of English "smear." The dialect names for this flatbread dish come from the idea of "smearing the creamy layer over the dough."     

You can cut some of the fat in this recipe by using reduced fat sour cream, but admittedly, this is an old time dish from a time when eating fatty foods was not discouraged, but rather it was often ENCOURAGED as a way to provide calories for people who did a lot of physical work, such as in farming; and this dish seemingly developed in the farming areas of northern Hessen, where the dialect is "Oberhessisch" (Upper Hessian), a branch of the more general Hessian dialect. Part of my roots are from northern Hessen. 

Ingredients:

2 pounds relatively small sized potatoes, skins on (you can certainly use larger potatoes)
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds (for cooking the potatoes)
2/3 teaspoon salt (for cooking the potatoes)
1 pound of prepared bread/pizza dough*
1 finely chopped or grated medium onion (large pieces won't cook properly)
1/2 pound thick sliced streaky bacon, cut into about 1 inch strips
1 cup sour cream (reduced fat type is fine) or creme fraiche **
2 eggs
1/4 cup chopped chives
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
(optional) some caraway seed to sprinkle on top
oil for the baking sheet
 
Boil the potatoes in salted water with a 1/2 teaspoon of caraway seeds. Roll or press out the dough and put it onto a lightly oiled/greased baking sheet. Germans usually fit the dough into a rectangular baking sheet, but you won't turn into a pumpkin latté if you don't have a total rectangle. Let the dough rise a little as you continue with the recipe. When the potatoes are tender, but not mushy, pour off the hot water and rinse them in some cold water to cool them down somewhat; they should still be "warm." Drain the potatoes and remove the skins, then use a potato masher to mash the potatoes as smoothly as you prefer. Mix together the mashed potatoes, sour cream, onion, eggs, salt and chopped chives. Spread the potato mixture over the dough (I leave an edge around the crust, like pizza, but Germans tend to put the potatoes clear up to the edge), then put strips of bacon on the potato topping. Some people sprinkle some caraway seed on top before putting the flatbread in the oven, but this is purely optional. Heat oven to 350 F. Bake about 50 to 60 minutes. (Note: If you have some potato mixture left over, you can bake it in a separate dish)

* In the U.S., such dough is sold frozen in supermarkets, but some pizza shops sell dough that is not frozen. Of course, you can make your own yeast-risen dough according to your own recipe.

** Creme Fraiche is generally a little less tangy than sour cream. You can easily make your own:
 https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2017/07/make-your-own-creme-fraiche.html?zx=5147a608f2ae7fa3 

WORD HISTORY:
Buy-The origin of this common word is unknown and forms have only been found in the Germanic languages, although the English form is the only one to survive in a standard Germanic language in modern times (Old Saxon/Low German had "buggjan/buggian," and meant, "to buy," Old Norse had "byggja," meaning, "to rent out." It goes back to Old Germanic "bugjanan," meaning, "to take possession of something by giving money for it;" thus, "buy," as opposed to exchanging goods (trade). This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "bycgan," with the same meaning. This then became "budgen" (?) in southwestern England, and "bydgen" (?) in some eastern parts of England, which then became "buyen/byen," before the modern version. The meaning, "to believe someone's explanation of some incident," is a figurative use "seemingly" from the earlier part of the 1900s. 

English Potted Shrimps

Potted shrimps seem to have come from northwestern England, where the small shrimp commonly caught off the coast there have been used. The process of using butter to seal jars or pots of food has been around for a number of centuries, as it was a way of preserving food. As I've noted here before, Americans, and likely "some" (many?) Canadians, use the word "shrimp" as both the singular and plural; while in England and other parts of the British Isles, "shrimp" is singular and "shrimps" is plural. Since this is an English dish, I'll use "shrimps" for this article. For "potted shrimps," use small shrimp (51/60 shrimps per pound), and then cut them in half, or use the tiny size (61/70), which can be left whole.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound small shrimps (or small cooked shrimps), halved if small, left whole if tiny/extra small
2/3 pound butter*
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon mace (or nutmeg)
1 pinch cayenne pepper (more if you like a "kick")
1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon anchovy paste, or fish sauce, or shrimp sauce

In a pan or skillet, melt about half the butter over low heat. Add the lemon juice, mace or nutmeg, cayenne pepper, black pepper and anchovy paste. Mix well and let cook for about 90 seconds over low heat. Add the halved or whole shrimps and cook until pink and tender (if you use already cooked shrimp, just heat the shrimp through; don't overcook them, they get rubbery). In England they usually put the shrimps into small dishes or ramekins, but I just put them into a larger bowl. Whatever way you choose, try to have the shrimps covered with the seasoned butter before it cools. Let the shrimps cool to the point of setting up, and while that is going on, melt the remaining butter, then let it cool a bit. Pour that unseasoned butter over the seasoned shrimps and let it cool, then refrigerate to let it set. You can use it before the butter totally sets up, or you can let it set, then remove it and let it sit until it is less solid and somewhat more spreadable. Serve with warm toast or toast wedges. If you like more "heat," spoon some of the shrimps onto your toast, then sprinkle cayenne pepper to taste on top.    

* The butter "should" be unsalted, and many recipes call for "clarified" butter; that is, butter with the milk solids removed, leaving the butterfat. If you use "ghee," from the Indian subcontinent, that's it, you've got it! Now, if you don't have unsalted butter (myself, I rarely buy it), use salted butter, which is what I do. For such a sin, the English might lock you up in the Tower of London, but they probably won't keep you there long; after all, they let me out. If, however, they threaten to have you meet Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was born in the U.S., and who has some noticeable resemblance to the current orange monster occupying the White House (I wrote this in 2019), don't be a glutton for punishment; just give in, and buy unsalted butter. 

WORD HISTORY:
Pot-This is the noun, and the less common verb, which was derived from the noun. The slang term "pot" meaning marijuana seems to be a shortening of a different word, which may or may not be related to the more common word "pot." This common word has a shaky history, and its ultimate origin is uncertain, and "may" be from a non Indo European language. Its next step doesn't get much easier, as it "may" be from Old Germanic, or there has long been speculation that West Germanic got it from Celtic. The form in the West Germanic dialects/languages, including Old English (Anglo-Saxon), was "pott," meaning, "pot, round container, jar." In English this gradually became "pot," which has carried into modern times, and the meaning narrowed to "(usually) large pan, kettle, for cooking," which also added the meaning, "container for brewing hot beverages," as well as, "container for serving hot beverages." The idea of holding bets in a container provided the meaning for "pot, the money held for card games," later expanded to include other forms of betting. The verb is rare in modern English, but it seems to have developed from the noun in the second half of the 1500s with the meaning, "drink beverages from a pot," "put food into a pot for cooking." Noun forms in the other Germanic languages: German has "Pott," a borrowing in the 1500s from Low German. Low German has that same spelling and also provided the meanings for standard German: "cooking pan," "drink container," and the slang meanings, "a ship," like English usage of "tub" for a ship; as well as the meaning "chamber pot," which then carried over into the more modern era as a slang for "toilet," a meaning also present in English, although often used as "potty" for children. As Low German is not a standard language, "Pott," as "Potte," was also used regionally in the Ruhr area of Germany for "a container for carrying coal." German also uses "Pott" for the betting pool of money, a meaning I "assume" was taken from English. Dutch has "pot" (jar, container, pot), West Frisian "pôt," which seems to be rare or antiquated ("pot, container"). The North Germanic languages of Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, all descend from Old Norse, which had "pottr," a borrowing from Old Saxon (the Saxon that remained in northern Germany after a portion of Saxons sailed off to Britain and helped to found England along with other Germanic cousins. Latin had "pottus," a likely borrowing from Frankish, another West Germanic dialect/language that had MUCH contact with Latin speakers, although I have seen speculation that Latin borrowed its form from Gaulish, the Celtic language/dialect of the Gauls, but "from what I can find," that would have required a much earlier borrowing by Latin than seems to be the case.