Monday, December 24, 2012

Joy









So, here is wishing you the most joyous, cozy and loving of holidays!  Over here in Deutschland, I am already enjoying a slow and sweet Christmas Eve with my German family.   I couldn’t be happier!

I am signing out for the rest of the year, but I wish you  ‘Guten Rutsch’ or a nice “slide” into the new year!  See you back here the second week of January! 

Love,
Jamie

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

German shortbread Christmas cookies


.... Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat...please do put a penny in the old man's hat!.... Fa la la la la - la la la la... fiiiiiiiveeeeeee golllllllddeeeeeenn rrrriinnnngs......

Can you feel the excitement?!? Christmas is less than a week away!  And I am singing random Christmas songs that I learned when I was five.  That's how stoked I am.  

This weekend I spent all day Sunday indulging in the festive feeling and baking Christmas cookies.  Normally, I bake the same cookies every year.  I love them so much, but this year I really wanted to try baking German cookies.  (Wow, I am becoming more German all time!  Before you know it I will be cutting in front of you in line at the supermarket and engineering things.)  So, I wrote a letter to Peter's grandma--yes, we write letters back and forth, how retro are we?--and asked her for some of her recipes so that I could blend some of my traditions with her family's traditions  

What I got back is a priceless little set of recipes with handwritten notes on them that I will cherish forever.  These will go alongside my Grandmother's recipes in the folder of things to pass on to my children.  :-)  I couldn't be more thankful.

These cookies are really delicious and, just as the Germans like them, aren't too sweet.  They go perfectly with a cup of tea on a rainy afternoon of an Advent Sunday. 














German shortbread Christmas cookies
(Peter's grandmother's recipe)

Ingredients: 

500g flour (ca. 4 cups) - I used a bit of spelt (Dinkel) flour and mostly regular but you can use all regular, too
6 grams baking powder (ca. 1/2 tablespoon)
150g sugar (ca. 2/3 - 3/4 cup)
2 eggs
250g cold butter (about one cup)
1 packet of vanilla sugar (what they use in Germany instead of extract...you could probably just put a teaspoon of extract in)
1 large handful of almonds or pistachios or both
1 egg yoke for brushing


Instructions:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius or 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix flour and baking powder in a large mixing bowl.  Mix eggs, sugar and vanilla sugar in another large mixing bowl.  Add some of the flour.  Bit by bit add small pieces of the butter and the rest of the flour and knead.  

Place the dough in the refrigerator for one hour.  Then, roll the dough out thinly and cut with a cookie cutter.  (I used hearts because it was all I had.  Stars would be nice for Christmas.) Press pieces of almonds or pistachios on top.

Brush with a beaten egg yoke before putting into the oven.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove when slightly golden around the edges.










Friday, December 14, 2012

Food on Friday: Cozy in Germany's best recipes for Christmas time


It's Friday and you know what that means: it's time for food!  Yes!  

This week, I thought I would leaves you with a list of all my favorite Cozy in Germany recipes for Christmas time.  These are recipes that are perfect around the holidays, filled with delicious spices and wonderful holiday warmth.  Not to mention the love that your friends and family will feel when they taste these.  

I will be back on Monday with another, belated Foodie Friday post on Christmas cookies (which I plan to spend all day on Sunday baking).  Until then, enjoy these gems.  Happy holidays!

Christmas morning breakfast




First course or light meal



Main course


Dessert or snack




The tree


 



Well, hello there Stranger.  It’s been awhile.  Yeah, I know.  That’s all my fault.  I have been a little bit MIA.  I’m sorry, but I have been so busy and have REALLY been enjoying the Christmas season. 

I mean, we got our TREE yesterday.  And PETER picked. it. out.  Really, he (the Grinch) did and it is so beautiful.  It is perfect and looks beautiful in our living room.  Christmas always makes me wish we could have a lighted tree in our living room all year round.  When the Christmas tree leaves in January it is always a really depressing day.  How do you think this little baby would look in here in July?  Would it be weird? 

At this point, I think I am totally done Christmas decorating.  I mean, it looks a little like Santa threw up in here, so this should probably be it.  It’s just so hard to control myself.  Can’t I just spend the rest of my life buying only things with sparkles and snowflakes on them?  













Monday, December 10, 2012

Weekend trip to Munich


Happy Monday, my friends!  I hope you had a great weekend.  Our was very wintery and full of snow.  We got about 4 inches yesterday and the world was a fluffy white.  It was so beautiful.  

Before it really started coming down, though, Peter and I got out of Nuremberg on Saturday.  We drove down to Munich for the day and spent it walking slowly through the crowds, drinking Glühwein and NOT finding Christmas presents.  Despite the shopping fail, we had a really nice day together.  It was so Christmassy! 

Munich is such a beautiful city and a really important one in Germany.  It is the capital of Bavaria.  It's famous for Oktoberfest, but that certainly isn't the only thing worth seeing or doing there.  Go right now and you can even ice skate.  

I hope you enjoy the pics and have a lovely week!