Chewy Fruit and Nut Bars and the Old Mills of Heinsberg County

by Lora Wiley-Lennartz
Dr. B has been home for almost five weeks now. Of course, I am in heaven. Unfortunately the reason is his bad knees. He had to get rehab not available in Iraq. Aside from seeing a physiotherapist, the next best thing for his knees is bike riding. Not an activity I like to do but I figured if he is home for weeks and spending a lot of time on his bike, I’m in.

We rehabbed an old bicycle from my brother in law’s mother and I was good to go.

I love my stylin’ purple basket

Sort of.
Dr. B has a fancy schmancy bike and is so much faster than me and my little three speed Gazelle. Sometimes I feel like I am riding a tricycle.
Thankfully, he is a man with a lot of patience. (Sorry, couldn’t resist). He just waits for me to catch up.

It has been wonderful exploring all the old Mills around our area. Never thought I would love it, just thought I was going to be a tagalong.  But I do. I do.

Rub a dub dub, a goat in a tub
I’ve discovered lots of people here in the country keep wacky animals.  I’ve seen ostriches, llamas, donkeys and I even passed a huge property full of Salukis. (I love dogs so much, I actually knew what they were).
Something went wrong with my camera here. Sorry.
We have ridden over the border to Holland, through woods past old WW2 trenches and local castles.

And past beautiful old mills. Many of them have been renovated and feature high end restaurants or biergartens.

There are so many old mills around here, my husband suggested to forget Madison County, I should start a new blog called The Old Mills of Heinsberg County.
I made these energy bars to take something healthy to eat along on our rides.
The recipe is here from Oui Chef.  Apparently he got it from David Lebovitz who adapted it from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich. Got it?  OK now do-si-do your partner…

The only change I made to the Oui Chef’s version was to add dried mangos.

These are very easy to make. First toast your nuts (that didn’t sound right, sorry.)
Then mix up the dry ingredients with the chopped up dried fruit.
Toss with an egg and some vanilla
Spread out in a square pan and bake until golden brown on top.
Yum.

Oh and here is my maypole I received today from my husband as a surprise.

He snuck out late last night to put it up.  On May 1st in this part of Germany young men put these up on the roofs or property of their girlfriends or girls have a crush on.  So cute, that Dr. B, to give me my first maypole after almost seven years of marriage. He even decorated it in my favorite colors.

(Sigh) I love Dr. B.

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1 comment

Theresa May 2, 2010 - 2:31 am

You guys are just too freakin' cute! xoxo
T

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