Jause

Uli and I hosted a huge Thanksgiving dinner at our home last week with my sister and six of our expat friends. As we passed around the dishes--mashed potatoes with parmesan and garlic, baked rigatoni with artichoke hearts and leeks, braised brussels sprouts, herb roasted turkey, and gravy with criminis, to name a few--our friends turned to us and said, "It's clear you guys enjoy cooking, but how do you manage to keep it up? How often do you cook at home on an average week?"

We get this question a lot. On an average week, Uli and I work five and a half days out of seven. Monday through Friday, we leave the house at 7am, get home between 7:30 and 8pm, and work on emails through 10pm. On Sunday nights, we bust out the laptops after dinner and prep for the week ahead. Depending on traffic, we commute anywhere between 1.5 and 2.5 hours each workday (round trip). And this isn't an uncommon schedule between among our friends. We're all young professionals in the tech industry: we don't have kids (yet), we rent apartments in San Francisco, some of us have cars and some of us don't, and we work our butts off in the Valley.

Put that all together and folks are usually pretty astounded when we answer, "Two dinners during the week and almost all meals over the weekend." While it sounds minimal, some days it's truly a Herculean effort to make dinner rather than eat out.

So why do it? Well, I do it because I love everything about it: I love the way making a meal takes my mind off work and focuses it on my family, the enjoyment I get out of eating something homemade and delicious, and the simple things like the house filling up with warmth, aromas, and the rhythmic sounds of chopping. And Uli... well I'm sure his favorite part is the eating.  But perhaps he can go into more detail at another time. :-)

Cooking is a huge part of our lives and our love, and since many of our close friends are also busy, young professionals, we want to start sharing our food with you. And there is no better way to start than with Jause* (pronounced YOW-za). It's a simple cold platter of cheeses, good quality deli meats, sliced bread, and whatever condiments you like. Stock your dairy drawer at the beginning of each week, pick up fresh bread on the way home from work, and in 5 minutes of prep, dinner is served.

Jause

Slices of good salami and prosciutto

Combination of soft and hard cheeses (try brie, pecorino, and a crumbly goat cheese)

Cornichons

Bread (here we've sliced a loaf of Italian white, but we also recommend dark bread like rye or pumpernickel)

Eggs - optional but recommended if serving for breakfast

*Jause is a German word, and it carries slightly different meanings in different regions of Germany and Austria. Some consider it only a snack between full meals, but we use the term to refer to any sort of cold platter that involves sliced meats, cheese, and bread.