Weihnachtsmarkt

A fabulous things about Christmas time in Germany is their Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Markets!).  They just about have one in each city.  What would be better the day after Thanksgiving than to go to a Christmas Market?  I don't have an answer because there isn't anything better.

The market that we went to was in Braunschweig.  It consisted of wonderful Christmas foods and drinks and decorations.  One drink in particular that is so delicious is called Glühwein.  I don't know that translation, but it's a wine.  It's served steaming hot and sometimes with fruits inside.  It is so so delicious and totally warms your up... or maybe that's the shot of Rum in it?  Either way, it kept me all warm and fuzzy inside!

Foot Long Hot Dogs!!!! Sike, just kidding... that's what we know them as, but in Germany they're 1/2 meter Bratwurst.

This was the first thing I saw walking toward the market.  I was so excited because my best friend's mom has this in miniature size as a center piece during Christmas time.  Shout out to Susie Resler!  So then I started to explain this decorations that she has.  Everyone was like, "Duh Katie, it's from Germany.  We know all about it."  Don't I feel like an idiot.

Well here they are in miniature size... now I know where she found it! 

Apparently Nutcrackers are from Germany as well.

Can you say deliciousness????

My German Thanksgiving

So I officially had my Thanksgiving over the weekend.  It was the first time I cooked a whole Thanksgiving dinner.  In the past I've made desserts and/or a side, but not the whole thing.

Everyone always seems to talk about their Thanksgiving disasters, and I always think it can't really be that bad.  But, what would you do if the Turkey didn't show and there wasn't any place to buy one?  You buy a duck!  Because of unfortunate events our Turkey was not able to make it to our table.  Also unfortunately, you can't buy a last minute Turkey in the entire country.  I know, it seems unheard of in the States, but let's remember that Turkey isn't that popular here, mostly because the country doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving.  I take that back, I found out Germany does celebrate their own Thanksgiving.  It's called Erntedankfest, and it's in October, from what I've heard.  After searching high and low for a Turkey, we sided with a duck.  I've never cooked a duck before, but I thought... we've got internet!  And so I gave it a try.

Other side dished I made???
-First and foremost, mashed potatoes.  But not just any old mashed potatoes, roasted garlic mashed potatoes. Yum!
-Next, Susie Resler's Marshmallow Topped Sweet Potatoes!
-Of course I cooked a good old traditional stuffing.  Well, kind of traditional, I didn't cook it in the bird... or duck... and it was caramelized onion stuffing.
-Green beans with bacon and a vinegarette.  I love green beans, and what makes anything better... bacon!
-Last but certainly not least.  The Apple Pie.  The star of the show.  Usually, people might say the Turkey is the star... but not at my Thanksgiving table.

You'll see...

The infamous Duck... I mean "Turkey!"

Yummy all American Apple Pie

By the way I would like to point out that homemade pie crust.  That's right people, not store bought.  It's the only way...

German class?

So it's been a bit since my last post.  Since then, I have been back to  working at the bakery.  As the weeks get closer to Christmas and New Years, the work just gets more and more.  When the Christmas products came out a few weeks ago, I thought, it wasn't too much more work, but then I realize something new is being introduced each week, and I can see how the work will be exponential come Christmas time.  It's exciting though, yesterday I made these orange cake bars drenched in chocolate... yum!

I was told by my boss that my German just isn't coming fast enough, and that I need to take German classes.  Nothing like that to really give me a boost of self confidence!  Just kidding, kind of.  After I had done so well in school, I thought things were going great with the language, but I guess not so much.  It is true though, I do really really really need to learn the language.  Right now, I'm only sliding by on thin ice, and it's probably time to think about a faster option for me to learn German.  I guess it's different for everyone learning a new language.  I would have thought working with people who only spoke the language and going to school where everyone only speaks the language would work.  Apparently not for me.  Although, I haven't had any real training of German... so I think it will help.

Today is Thanksgiving.  I will be celebrating by working.   But, I will be really celebrating on Saturday when I cook a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for 6!  I'm heading to Wolfsburg to cook for Daniel's family who have never had a Thanksgiving dinner before.  That's right people, they've never had apple pie ever! What!?  I know, apple pie doesn't exist here.  Well, pie doesn't exist here...

We'll see how it goes!

Do you believe in palm readings?

Yesterday was my last day of school for another two weeks.  We just happened to get our tests back and I am proud to say that I got a 2 and a 2+!!! A 2 equals a B in America... I am also proud to say that I did better than some others in the class, who, by the way, have been speaking German their whole lives.  Wooo!

Now, I have to tell you about the most bizarre thing that may have ever happened to me...

So I was on the train coming home from school completely minding my own business and reading my book (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, which is fabulous).  This man pointed to the seat next to me, aluding to the fact that he wants to sit there... so I said yea and he sat down, and I could have sworn that he said "thanks" as compared to "danke."
Then, he turns to me and asks, "Do you speak English?"  I was a little excited because I know how frustrating it can be, and sometimes you just want someone to help you out in a language that you can speak.  So of course I said, "Yea of course!"  ...Mistake number 1...
He went to ask if the train went to Bremerhaven and and then starting asking me questions as to why I was in Germany and such.  I found out he's from Egypt and is getting his PhD in engineering... So far, no big deal, just a normal awkward conversation with a stranger on public transportation.
Then he asks, "How old are you?"
"22."
"What?!  No way, I would give you at most 15."
"Nope, 22."  Creep.

Then a little bit of awkward silence....

"Can I see your hand?"
"What."  Why on Earth is this man asking for my hand?
"Can I see your hand?"
"Umm okay..." So then I held up my hand and was waving it around, totally weirded out... Mistake number 2...
"No I mean your other hand."
"Okay."  Mistake number 3...
Then, he took my hand and proceeded to palm read my hand. I'm not joking.  It took everything inside me not to burst out laughing right then and there!
"Ooooh yea, this is why you look so young.  See here?  This is your life line... and it's really long."
"Oh."
"It runs in your family."
"Okay."
"Oooooh and your really intelligent."
"Oh."  (Duh, I just got 2 2's on my test)
"And you have all these thoughts in your head, but you can't organize them."
"Is that so..."
"And you have negative thoughts in your head."
"Really."  (Sorry man, but I may be one the least negative people you may come across in your life...)
"Your're going to need to be really organized in the next step of your life."
"Hm."
"Oh, and do you drink enough water.  You need to drink at least 2 liters a day."
"I know."
"And wait a second... do you have physical problems?"
"What?"
"Like here..." And then he touched my back.  A stranger was holding my hand and touching my back on the train...
"Yea well I guess I have back problems."

He went on to tell me other things about my life and how I shouldn't be negative and how I need to be more organized.  I can't believe I had a psychic Egyptian engineer read my palm on the train.  Now I know why they tell you not to talk to strangers... because they're strange.

Harry Potter

In lieu of the second to last Harry Potter movie opening, I want to post this video.  I personally laugh so hard I almost cry every time I watch it.

I can't tell you how depressed I am I cannot see this movie.  First off, it's not playing yet in Germany, and secondly, when it is... it will be dubbed over in German.  That's not exciting for me.  I NEED THOSE BRITISH ACCENTS!

Enjoy!

Tests

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to take a test that was written in a different language, (not a foreign language test)?  Probably not, but think about it for a second...

If the teacher put it in front of you, you might consider it was a joke, or ripping it up, or laughing, and then maybe crying.  Well, I definitely laughed (not like a crazy person out loud) and then considered crying, but then realized I could take this test, the best I could and still probably get a better grade than some of the native German students in the class.  So, that's what I decided to do.

Test 1:  Math- conversions and simple geometry
Test 2:  English- I mean come on people, let's hope I rocked this one... which I did... even though the teacher's not giving me a grade because I speak better English than she does.
Test 3: Productions technique/ business- Muerbeteig (soft dough), chemistry of sugar and fats, and math with nutrients.

The last test was the only problem.  Not only did I have to study and memorize the material, I had to memorize the German words that went with the material as well.  With the chemistry it was okay because there's only so many ways to say fructose, but when it came down to describing the dough, I had some problems.  I had to know what happened to the dough with certain ingredients added/ taken out AND THEN I had to know all of that in the German language.   It can put a damper on your day...

What's Christmas? Santa???

In class on Friday, I totally had a moment out of A Christmas Story.  We were talking about sugars and all the different types and what they're used for.  We got to pudar zuckar A.K.A. powdered sugar.  Out of nowhere, my teacher called on me and said, "Katie, was machst du mit Pudar Zuckar?"  (What do you make with powdered sugar?)  I was completely caught off guard.  A) I didn't expect to understand the question (which I fully did) and B) my mind just completely froze.  It was like when Ralphie finally gets on Santa's lap and he asks what he wants for Christmas.  Ralphie completely freezes and  can't even remember what Christmas is and then comes up with a football.

Photo Credit 

This was me.

I had to then pretend I didn't understand the question, as to not make myself look like a complete idiot.  OF COURSE I KNOW THINGS THAT ARE MADE FROM POWDERED SUGAR!  It wasn't until I was passed by that I realized what was happening.  A.K.A. when Ralphie starts sliding down the slide and stops himself.  Although in my case, I didn't stop myself and say I wanted an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200 shot range model air rifle.  I actually didn't do anything at all.

One down, one to go...

One week of school down... one to go...

Yesterday, we were in the bakery again!  We made Mürbeteig, as I guessed in the last post.  It was really interesting because we paired up into teams of 2 and all made different types of Mürbeteig cookies to show the differences.  Some used powdered sugar, some used regular sugar, some used an egg yolk, and some used different flavorings (ex: vanilla or lemon).

What's Mürbeteig again??? It's a very basic dough and can be made into lots and lots of pastries.  It can be comparable to like a short bread dough.  It's soft and pliable and is good in forms such as cookies!
Then, we made a different type of Mürbeteig and made little raspberry filled pockets.  I can't think of a name for them, and I don't know the name in German.  Regardless, they were topped with streusel (which is yet another type of Mürbeteig).  They were yummy beyond all belief.  There were no leftovers for me to take pictures.
In our last block of the class we were able to practice our piping skills again. Yesss! This time, however, we had to make 5 different designs so that the teacher could grade us on them.  Mine turned out pretty well, but as always I though I could do better.  I cracked under pressure.  We find out that grade next week.

Overall, success!

School

So I finally had a day where I didn't want to cry or have a silent panic attack because of math word problems.  I have it under control.

I am a master of math.  Thank god that numbers are the same throughout the German and English languages because it is saving my sanity.  Although, I once again have to slap America on the back of the hand because we have yet to switch to the metric system.  GET OVER IT AMERICA... THE METRIC SYSTEM IS HERE... AND IT'S BETTER...

Other than that we are learning about Weinnachts Gebäck (Christmas pastries).  More specifically, Mürbeteig. Translation?  Teig is dough in English.  Mürbeteig is the equivalent to short cake dough, or soft dough.  It is very popular among the Christmas pastries in Germany.  It can be twitched and tweaked into many, many different products.  This section was seriously interesting, because it included what happens when there is more sugar than butter and vice versa, and I hope that tomorrow, when we're  baking in the kitchen, we get to make this.

Example:

Photo credit: Essen & Trinken

Another benefit about going to school for pastries is that when the teacher needs to bring in visual examples so that we can learn better, they are delicious.  By this I mean that in order for our teacher to prove his theories, he had to bring in the product.  Oh good! Cookies!  After he explains what he was talking about on the cookies, he then passes them around for us to "look" at... AKA eat.  Yum...

Back to School

Well... school is here, once again.  I finally get to sleep in again.  Wait a second... is waking up at 5am sleeping in?  Or, am I just crazy?  Honestly, it's both.  It's sleeping in because my normal rising time is around 2am, and I'm crazy because I'm waking up that early on a daily basis.

So today, we finally had our Kuche class (kitchen class).  Last block we never got a chance to have it, and I never really knew what it was.  It turned out to be cooking class!  Which I am super excited about.  I love baking more than anything, but second best is cooking.  Today we had a task:
All different kinds of salads were set out on one table, vegetables on the other, and spices on the last table.  We were to name all the different foods without talking to each other.  Of course the teacher meant to name all the foods in German.  I, of course, had other plans.  I knew what they all were! Except... in German?  Not so much.  Oh well, I wrote them in English.  It was just an exercise... not a test.

After that we named all the foods and then had to prepare them.  i.e. wash and cut the foods as necessary.  Then, she gave us some salad dressing recipes which included a vinegarette, a dill/ yogurt dressing, and a cream dressing.  Then, we got to make our own salads with whatever we wanted... and eat them!  Apparently this task included making it look nice and then presenting it to the teacher and explaining before we ate it.  But, I didn't realize this was part of the process until I was halfway through the salad.  Then, I thought I was going to get yelled at.  But, either she didn't notice I didn't present my salad, or she just didn't care.

After the kitchen class, we had a break and were then supposed to have Deutsch (German).  So I proceeded to leave the common area 5 minutes early to head to the class.  Well, what do I find in the classroom, but a bunch of people who I have no idea who they are.  Hmm.  I think to myself, that I know I'm in the right classroom and even double checked on my schedule.  Well, where the hell is everyone?  So I went back down to the common area.  No one was there.  Where did my class go?!  I panicked.  My eyes teared up, my chest closed, it was hard to breathe, and I was in complete panic mode.  You may think I'm overreacting, but oh well.  So what did I do?  I wandered around the school trying to find someone who might know where my class is.  No one.  Then what?  Well, I called my home.  That's right, my home in Delaware, USA.  What on earth would they do to help me in that situation I have no idea, but I did it anyways and got no answer.  Then I tried calling Daniel.  What on earth would he do to help in the situation.  Most likely none whatsoever, but I was panicking!
Finally, I decided to wait by the classroom which I thought it was supposed to be and see if someone would realize I was gone and come find me.  I really have faith in people, don't I?  Someone came.  They said that the teacher called my name on roll call and since no one answered the nice who rides the train with me said she would find me.  Sure enough... she did.
So I walked into the classroom 20 minutes late and everyone stared at me.  I smiled and laughed and pretended like it was funny.  Which it probably was to anyone but me.

Is it Christmas already?

So lots and lots of Christmas products are being made!

It's pretty exciting, at least for me, to get a whole bunch of new things to make all at once.  Plus they are all delicious!

Wanna know what they are?
Let's see... we have Kekse (???) AKA cookies.  They are really thin though, like crackers, but sweet like cookies.  The dark ones taste like gingerbread.  I could see these being incredible addicting.
We also are making small little chocolates!  These take time to make because some need to have almonds hand placed on top of every single one of them and are really special because they get packaged in these nice bags all pretty and Christmassy.  But, they're very delicate.  There are a few different kinds.  One in particular is Baum Kuchen.  Translated, that's tree cake.  Which doesn't make much sense, does it?  It is layer built upon layer, forming a cake.  These turn out to be little chocolates, but other kinds of Baum Kuchen that you may have seen before look like this:

Photo Credit:  http://www.schreiber-pirna.de/Baumkuchen.449/

And the inside like this:

Photo Credit: http://sweets.cake100.net/

One product that keeps catching my eye, but I have not made yet is this cake that is topped with vanilla pudding and then topped with what look like cinnamon rolls before baked.  Can you say delicious?!!!!!

Well, school starts up next week again, so I'm sure I'll have some interesting things to post.  I really hope we get some good Christmas recipes!