Marvelous Marolin

You may be surprised to learn that, among all the glitz of the season, one of our most beloved collections at Castle in the Air is the beautiful and understated work of the Marolin company. This family business has been making the finest paper mache sculpture -- including this exquisite nativity scene -- for over 100 years in Germany. Their pieces have been part of Castle in the Air since the store opened.

Our visitors always notice the Marolin nativity scene in December, of course, but throughout the year we also display the company's fairy tale characters and other historical figures (we currently have Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Little Red Riding Hood, and Adam and Eve, among others), and our teachers often incorporate Marolin doll parts into their classes. In fact, Marolin brought the parts shown here out of retirement exclusively for Castle in the Air. Our store is he only place to find them. We loved these expressive faces and sweet little arms so much from the moment we saw them, that there was no way we would let them vanish into memory like so many other lost treasures.

Taking the Waters

All good things must come to an end, and that applies to my short, sweet trip to Germany. I’ll spend most of today on a plane, but if I could, I’d take the waters at one of Allemagne’s famous spas.

The town of Baden-Baden is perhaps the most famous of all the German “spa towns,” and has a history of therapeutic mineral baths beginning during the days of the Roman Empire. Europe’s upper crust convened in Baden-Baden in the 18th and 19th centuries to take the waters, and now this is something that everyone can enjoy, as there are more than 900 spa resorts in the country.

Perhaps this egalitarianism is what I loved most about the times I’ve been to the baths in Germany. Young people, elders, and everyone in between come for the relaxation and rejuvenation. Last year, I took a day at the baths with my dad, my husband, and our two little girls. Coming back to the States, I wondered why this sort of recreation isn’t as prevalent in America. There are plenty of hot springs and spas around the country, but the idea of public baths never caught on to the extent it did in Europe. San Francisco is just across the Bay from my hometown of Berkeley, and used to have the incredible Sutro Baths, which offered fresh water and salt water pools (hot and cold) from the late Victorian era until it was destroyed by fire in 1966. Must all good things come to an end?

It Takes Two

Duncan and I are having a sehr gut time in Germany, a place that always makes me think of another of the great loves in my life—the bandoneón. (Sorry, honey.) I've spent some time trying to play this German descendent of the accordion, and dancing the tango, which is inseparable from the bandoneón. This past year I took up the instrument again. It’s been so satisfying to pick up an old pastime and rediscover its history, culture, music, and all the other reasons I loved it in the first place.

The 19th-century inventor Heinrich Band created the bandoneón to accompany choral church music in his native Germany. His invention replaced the accordion’s keys with buttons, and produced different notes depending on whether it was being opened or closed. It’s easy to see why this instrument, with its emphasis on chords and the way it “breathes” air past reeds on its inside, was a natural partner to a choir. When Germans brought the bandoneón to Argentina around the turn of the century, however, it took on a more colorful role among the Buenos Aires brothels, places where even the disenfranchised could earn a living. Now the chords had a more melancholy tone, reflecting the desperation and hard truths of prostitution, and the “breath” had a sexier edge to it.

As time went by, Argentinean politics granted people greater social parity, then took it away, then gave it back again, and then took it once more. Another breathing was happening, and the bandoneón breathed with it. With each surge of equality, tango gained acceptance among the upper classes. Once the music’s popularity helped it reach listeners in Paris, France, tango (and the bandoneón) were given a place in high society that couldn’t be taken away. These days, nearly everyone’s heard bandoneón music through composer and performer Ástor Piazzolla, and we’re all richer for it.

As great as my love for this sexy instrument is, my husband doesn't have anything to worry about. After all, as they say, "It takes two!"

A Spaetzle Treat

Whoever reads this blog post today can visualize me rushing around preparing for my upcoming trip to Germany, where I'll be buying a literal boatload of new marvels and wonders for Castle in the Air. Every time I visit Germany, I always partake of one of my favorite dishes -- spaetzle! Here's a truly authentic version that I sometimes make with my spaetzle maker when a bunch of friends spontaneously drop by. It replicates a memorable meal I had in my favorite smoky German pub.

Spaetzle - A Taste of Germany
3 eggs
3 cups of flour
1 cup of milk
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg

Beat eggs until foamy and then combine with milk. Mix together flour and salt. Add to eggs and milk gradually. The dough will be very stiff and elastic.

Fill square basket of the spaetzle maker with dough and place over a pot of boiling water or cooking soup. Slide the basket back and forth over the pot and dumplings will drop into the liquid. When done, they will rise to the surface (in about 2 or 3 minutes).

Use a large slotted spoon to remove the dumplings from the liquid. Repeat until all the dough is used. Spaetzle is quite versatile and can be used in place of noodles, rice, or potatoes.

My favorite preparation is spaetzle in cheese. When the dumplings are done cooking in the broth, toss the whole lot into a frying pan with a quarter stick of butter and approximately one pound of grated sharp cheddar cheese. Fry the spaetzle in the cheese until there are plenty of crispy bits. Serve in a large bowl and top with lots of pepper. Add wine to the table and you have a party.

Mmm -- comfort food!

Wax Elegant

Before the advent of plastic, wax was sometimes used as a medium for the heads on children's dolls. It couldn't stand up to rough play, but then again neither could porcelain. Wax was also popular as a material to make Nativity creche characters, and full-sized wax figures were used as shop mannequins well into the 20th century. What was most lovely about all of them was how pigments, hair, and glass eyes could be used to really bring them to life. Although they've fallen out of favor commercially, wax figures are still beloved by artists as focal points for altars and other projects.

We've got some lovely wax doll's heads and Christ child sets at Castle in the Air. I commissioned them to be made from antique molds when I was in Germany last winter -- they're a Castle in the Air exclusive. John McRae took the decorating chalks we sell at the store and put a little color in their cheeks, painted their lips and eyes, and otherwise rejuvenated these reminders of a distant time. People have been excited to see the cherubic heads here, so we're planning to expand our selection of embellishments soon.

Glass from the Past

Today was one of the most fun and surprising days leading up to Christmastime at Castle in the Air, because today we opened up the a dozen boxes of German glass ornaments we had been keeping in storage for nearly twenty years. We oohed and ahhed as we carefully unwrapped each ornament from companies such as Old World Christmas, Christopher Radko, Polonaise, Christborn, and Dresden Dove. The color, whimsy, and imagination in each of the ornaments is really amazing. What's more, these vintage decorations are now sought-after collector's items which will make Castle in the Air even more of a destination for all the Santas this year. The ornaments from just one box took up all of our studio table space as we sorted and labeled them for sale.

One of the boxes contained a set of samples from Old World showing how progressive coats of paint are put on the ornaments. Between blowing the glass and painting this involved process takes seven days, but the meticulous work pays off with a stunning ornament for the tree. The long stems are a part of each piece up until the end. As many manufacturers of German glass ornaments are family-run cottage industries, the task of trimming the stem with a pen knife often falls to the children of the house.

Christmas is coming!

This past January, we traveled to Germany to meet with a family of artisans who blow and hand-paint the most gorgeous glass ornaments. When they mentioned that they had a mold to make gnome decorations, we jumped at the chance to have some custom gnomes that would be a perfect match for Castle in the Air.

Our gnomes are outfitted with green jackets and mushroom caps to blend in with the scenery as they take an afternoon stroll on Christmas or New Year's Day, spreading cheer and good luck wherever they go.

The gnomes were in one of seven giant boxes of ornaments that arrived at the shop on Friday amidst a flurry of candy and costumed children trick-or-treating up and down Fourth Street. You might think it strange for us to get excited about the winter holidays in the middle of Halloween, but we feel just like kids on Christmas morning every time an order like this arrives.