This one's for you mom...

My mom got me the cookbook East of Paris by David Bouley for my birthday. It's an Austrian cookbook (but somehow I think they had to include the word 'Paris' in the title for it to appeal to Americans, most of whom think Austria is the continent inhabited by kangaroos). Today, it's been snowing all day long, and David is working from home, so I thought a fun project for me would be to try out a new recipe...

snow accumulation as of noon:

I decided to make 'Quark Spätzle' and the 'Beet Salad' (everything from scratch- we're talking raw beets, flour, eggs...). I chose these specifically because they looked like two of the easier dishes, boy was that was a error in judgment!
The Spätzle turned out to be *VERY* difficult. We don't have a Spätzle-press-maker-thing, but the recipe said one could press the Spätzle dough through a colander - I do not recommend this!!! I made a mess, and eventually had to ask for David's assistance. He did a great job working with the tools we had available, and was able to salvage the Spätzle.
In the end, everything was delicious! It took twice as long as I had expected, but I've learned my lessons for next time. So far, I think this is a good cookbook, even if it has the word Paris in the title.

Update...

We got a Spätzle-maker. It's a piece of metal with holes in it that sits on top of a pot of boiling water and you push the Spätzle dough through it. Much easier!!