I was pretty bummed about being so far away from home for one of my favorite holidays, since Thanksgiving is a purely American holiday. In years past I have spent weeks thinking about and preparing for this one meal. Since I have come to love cooking so much over the past 4 or 5 years I always look forward to the chance to go "all out" for the event.
One of my responsibilities now is to make lunch for everyone Monday through Thursday ever week. Since I would already be cooking on Thanksgiving anyway, I decided to make a little Thanksgiving meal for everyone. Since I am not in charge of the shopping I try and keep things as simple as I can or at least use mostly ingredients that can usually be found here in the restaurant. Luckily, most of the traditional Thanksgiving foods are made with things that they keep on hand. I wasn't sure if I would be able to get a turkey but Uli, who does the shopping, was able to find one albeit a small one.
So the line up was as follows. . .Turkey and turkey gravy, mashed potatoes, sausage and apple stuffing, green beans, peas and cranberry sauce, although cranberries are very hard to get here so it was actually made with preiselberry but I don't know the English equivalent. Everything turned out perfectly and was very delicious. It was a nice taste of home even if I couldn't go to the extent I usually would and even if I didn't get any pumpkin pie or sweet potatoes.
So, Thanksgiving was a success and I even tried to come up with a few things I was thankful for :)
Friday, November 27, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Nuremberg Photos
I just added some new random photos of Nuremberg. Nuremberg is the closest big city. Cindy and I go there frequently in our free time to hang out. We usually go on Sundays when all the stores and many restaurants are closed. All of the tourist stuff is open all the time, though. So far we've been to a museum, in some of the cathedrals, and basically just walked around the Old Town a lot, looking at everything.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Duck, Duck, GOOSE!
Starting at the beginning of November, Enzensteiner hosts geese dinners every weekend until Christmas. Apparently nothing says holiday like greasy bird! Sometimes if there is a holiday or special event there will be one during the week as well. These are reservation only dinners so most of the work is done ahead of time. There are all kinds of jobs to keep me busy during the week getting ready for the big weekend. Folding napkins, prepping food, cleaning, and PLUCKING GEESE!!! Yes that's right, I am now an expert in fowl plucking. Geese actually aren't that bad, there were a few duck dinners a few weeks ago, and that was torturous. However, it is very tedious work because they usually kill anywhere from 10 to 15 at a time. Enzensteiner raises both geese and ducks especially for these dinners, so the whole process takes place right here in the barn. It's been really interesting to see this side of it. It just makes it all real for me, instead of just going to the store to buy my beautifully packaged, ready to go deboned chicken breasts.
They really transform the restaurant for the event. Usually the place is quite rustic but they cozy it up pretty nicely. Tablecloths and fancy napkins can do a lot :) It's a really popular thing here so there are usually a dozen or so groups over the course of the weekend that come in for it.
They really transform the restaurant for the event. Usually the place is quite rustic but they cozy it up pretty nicely. Tablecloths and fancy napkins can do a lot :) It's a really popular thing here so there are usually a dozen or so groups over the course of the weekend that come in for it.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Consumenta
We had hoped to give the Germans we are staying with a taste of an American Halloween and set up a really awesome Haunted Woods on their property, which is perfect for such a thing. They have a bit of woods that borders part of their property and they have a truck we could have used to do a hay ride through it. However, it just so happens that the largest Expo in Germany started on Halloween day and Enzensteiner was participating in it. There was a lot of preparation that went in to that and it's a week long event that goes from morning to night every day so, needless to say, we did not get to have much of Halloween celebration. There are two hug jack-o-lanterns in front of the house though :) so at least we got a little.
So, the expo that I mentioned is called the Consumenta, and it happens every year in Nuremberg the first week of November. As I said before it is the biggest expo in Germany and possibly the largest in Europe, but I am not so sure about that. Enzensteiner was one of many breweries to tae part in it, but one of the few to actually have a brewery set up and actually brew beer everyday. They were testing out some really high tech brewing equipment for a friend of the brewmeister. It runs a full week from Saturday through the following Sunday, and I got to tag along on the first and last Sundays and check it all out.
There are 12 halls that house all the participants and each hall is the size of like, a small wal-mart, so you can imagine how long it takes to walk through the whole thing. Some of the halls have definite themes and some are just a mish mash of the leftover stuff. Food, restaurants, cafes, cooking demonstrations and the like took up 2 full halls at least and then there were random other places selling food in other halls. There was a health awareness hall with all kinds of doctors and homeopathic remedies and massage and the like and Brandon and I got to have a free health screening. Of course, we don't speak German very well so we could only understand about half of what the girl said but I did understand that she said we were very healthy. There were also halls for clothing and textiles, construction materials, roofing and hot tubs, fountains, kitchens, bathrooms, home decor, trinkets and lots of other stuff I can't remember. Half way through the week they open up another hall that houses horses and all sorts of horse accessories to buy, and you can go watch horses and riders performing.
We had a really fun time just wandering through and trying all kind of things that people were handing out. We got to eat some food we can't always get since we are in a small town, and just to see what all is out there and what people are interested in. The crowds were obnoxious as usual but I tried to not let it get to me. It was really nice to get out and do something totally different, after having been here for a month. Things are going well, and we are learning a lot and having a good time.
So, the expo that I mentioned is called the Consumenta, and it happens every year in Nuremberg the first week of November. As I said before it is the biggest expo in Germany and possibly the largest in Europe, but I am not so sure about that. Enzensteiner was one of many breweries to tae part in it, but one of the few to actually have a brewery set up and actually brew beer everyday. They were testing out some really high tech brewing equipment for a friend of the brewmeister. It runs a full week from Saturday through the following Sunday, and I got to tag along on the first and last Sundays and check it all out.
There are 12 halls that house all the participants and each hall is the size of like, a small wal-mart, so you can imagine how long it takes to walk through the whole thing. Some of the halls have definite themes and some are just a mish mash of the leftover stuff. Food, restaurants, cafes, cooking demonstrations and the like took up 2 full halls at least and then there were random other places selling food in other halls. There was a health awareness hall with all kinds of doctors and homeopathic remedies and massage and the like and Brandon and I got to have a free health screening. Of course, we don't speak German very well so we could only understand about half of what the girl said but I did understand that she said we were very healthy. There were also halls for clothing and textiles, construction materials, roofing and hot tubs, fountains, kitchens, bathrooms, home decor, trinkets and lots of other stuff I can't remember. Half way through the week they open up another hall that houses horses and all sorts of horse accessories to buy, and you can go watch horses and riders performing.
We had a really fun time just wandering through and trying all kind of things that people were handing out. We got to eat some food we can't always get since we are in a small town, and just to see what all is out there and what people are interested in. The crowds were obnoxious as usual but I tried to not let it get to me. It was really nice to get out and do something totally different, after having been here for a month. Things are going well, and we are learning a lot and having a good time.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
New Site
From now on this will be the site where Cindy and I update. It doesn't look as good as the previous site, but it's a lot more functional for our situation. We hope you like it and we should be able to update more frequently from now on.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Herbst Markt
Ignore the date above. Correct date: October 11, 2009.
We had a very full and very fun weekend! Saturday night we had a band come to Enzensteiner, the guys had set up a stage in the barn for them to perform on. “In the Doghouse” played covers of tons of rock classics from The Stones to The Police to Eric Clapton. It was great to hear some familiar music. Tons of people came out for the event so we were busy working for a while but later on we got to hang out in the barn and enjoy the music.
Sunday, we had the day off. Herbsmarkt was going on in Schnaittach, which basically translates to Fall Festival. They close down a bunch of streets and have booths set up all up and down the streets. Basically the whole town comes out for this, there were a ton of people there, which was kind of surprising considering the size of Schnaittach. So, we headed out around lunch time and made our way through the crowds to find some good festival food. We started with a crepe. They of course have the traditional crepes which are filled with sweet stuff, cinnamon and sugar, or lemon, or strawberry, and of course the ever popular Nutella crepe, but they also had savory crepes, so we got a Mediterranean crepe with tomato, feta, olives, and peperoncini. It was delicious. This was at one end of the festival so we made our way towards the other. As we were finishing our crepe, the band which is in the picture above, gathered and started marching down the street playing traditional German music. There were several bands set up a different points around the festival. Some were playing German music but a lot were just doing covers of popular American music. One of our friends from the brewery got up with one of the bands and did a soulful cover of a song which unfortunately I do not know the name of. Something about Chicago. But he blew me away, he was awesome! After that we made our way to some steak and sausage sandwiches. Not in the same sandwich, but we shared :) We found a great little stand that was selling books, and got several for a steal! I found a traditional German cookbook for 1 euro, so now I really can come back and make a German feast. I have to admit that looking through the book, a lot of the stuff looks kind of disgusting, but there are a lot of keepers in there too. So, by this time we were craving something sweet so we found a waffle stand and got one with chocolate sauce and powdered sugar. While they went a little light an the sauce, it was quite good. We also passed a fruit stand that was selling fresh coconuts with a hole poked in the top so you could drink the milk. Brandon wanted one so I figured I would try it. EWWW! Not what I was expecting at all. I’m not a huge fan of coconut as it is but I did not like this at all. So, we stopped at a few more stands along the way home. There were all kind of things for sale, handspun yarn, beeswax candles, trinkets, and knicknacks. All in all, a very fun way to spend an afternoon.
-Cindy
We had a very full and very fun weekend! Saturday night we had a band come to Enzensteiner, the guys had set up a stage in the barn for them to perform on. “In the Doghouse” played covers of tons of rock classics from The Stones to The Police to Eric Clapton. It was great to hear some familiar music. Tons of people came out for the event so we were busy working for a while but later on we got to hang out in the barn and enjoy the music.
Sunday, we had the day off. Herbsmarkt was going on in Schnaittach, which basically translates to Fall Festival. They close down a bunch of streets and have booths set up all up and down the streets. Basically the whole town comes out for this, there were a ton of people there, which was kind of surprising considering the size of Schnaittach. So, we headed out around lunch time and made our way through the crowds to find some good festival food. We started with a crepe. They of course have the traditional crepes which are filled with sweet stuff, cinnamon and sugar, or lemon, or strawberry, and of course the ever popular Nutella crepe, but they also had savory crepes, so we got a Mediterranean crepe with tomato, feta, olives, and peperoncini. It was delicious. This was at one end of the festival so we made our way towards the other. As we were finishing our crepe, the band which is in the picture above, gathered and started marching down the street playing traditional German music. There were several bands set up a different points around the festival. Some were playing German music but a lot were just doing covers of popular American music. One of our friends from the brewery got up with one of the bands and did a soulful cover of a song which unfortunately I do not know the name of. Something about Chicago. But he blew me away, he was awesome! After that we made our way to some steak and sausage sandwiches. Not in the same sandwich, but we shared :) We found a great little stand that was selling books, and got several for a steal! I found a traditional German cookbook for 1 euro, so now I really can come back and make a German feast. I have to admit that looking through the book, a lot of the stuff looks kind of disgusting, but there are a lot of keepers in there too. So, by this time we were craving something sweet so we found a waffle stand and got one with chocolate sauce and powdered sugar. While they went a little light an the sauce, it was quite good. We also passed a fruit stand that was selling fresh coconuts with a hole poked in the top so you could drink the milk. Brandon wanted one so I figured I would try it. EWWW! Not what I was expecting at all. I’m not a huge fan of coconut as it is but I did not like this at all. So, we stopped at a few more stands along the way home. There were all kind of things for sale, handspun yarn, beeswax candles, trinkets, and knicknacks. All in all, a very fun way to spend an afternoon.
-Cindy
Nuremberg
Ignore the date above. Correct date: October 13, 2009.
Monday, our boss gave us the day off as well, because the forecast is calling for cold weather this week, and we both needed to get winter coats, and Brandon still needed to find some boots. So we headed to Nuremberg for round two of trying to shop. A friend came over in the morning and helped us map out a plan of some good shops to check out, and we had a few in mind from our last excursion in Nuremberg. Unfortunately, the rain decided to start about the time we got on the train so we did not have our umbrella. Stop number one. . .get an umbrella. So, armed with maps of Nuremberg, an umbrella, and good walking shoes, we descended upon Nuremberg. We decided to scope out a few places before actually buying anything, so we went into Karstadt, which is a gigantic department store, and went up to the 4th floor, that’s right, 4 floors of consumerist wonder. Anyway, the Europeans are really into their outdoor wear so the whole floor is dedicated to it. They had an amazing selection of coats and boots, but like most department stores, everything was super expensive. Not to mention that clothing is way more expensive here anyway.
So, by this time we were getting hungry and decided to try and find a Thai place we had seen last time we were in Nuremberg. We actually found it very quickly. . .shocker! We had the best Thai meal I have ever had. It was all pretty standard Thai food, spring rolls, chicken with veggies in coconut sauce, pork with veggies in brown sauce, it was all just really fresh and delicious. And they served this salad, sort of like kimchee, before the meal, oh it was good.
So, from there we went to the American Army store. We had seen this last time we were here too. It was really like any army store back home, if you’ve ever been in one. Tons of different kinds of army jackets and coats, hats, gloves, bags, and of course Vanilla Coke, and Cream Soda. I found my coat here, naturally. It’s like some kind of Navy coat, water resistant, totally warm, I had to get an XXS because I think they all come in mens sizes. Brandon found his coat at the next place we went, C&A which is a sort of discounted department store. But anyway, he found a really nice green ski coat. They had lederhosen and dirndls on major sale right next to the coats, and while we considered stocking up for the next Oktoberfest, we thought better of it and passed. We went back to Karstadt for Brandon’s boots which he proceeded to take 2 hours of trying on shoes to find. I was ready to shoot myself rather than be shopping anymore, so he bought me cake in the train station for the ride home to make up for it.
We got prepared just in time because it hailed 2 days later and snowed the next 2 days.
-Cindy
Monday, our boss gave us the day off as well, because the forecast is calling for cold weather this week, and we both needed to get winter coats, and Brandon still needed to find some boots. So we headed to Nuremberg for round two of trying to shop. A friend came over in the morning and helped us map out a plan of some good shops to check out, and we had a few in mind from our last excursion in Nuremberg. Unfortunately, the rain decided to start about the time we got on the train so we did not have our umbrella. Stop number one. . .get an umbrella. So, armed with maps of Nuremberg, an umbrella, and good walking shoes, we descended upon Nuremberg. We decided to scope out a few places before actually buying anything, so we went into Karstadt, which is a gigantic department store, and went up to the 4th floor, that’s right, 4 floors of consumerist wonder. Anyway, the Europeans are really into their outdoor wear so the whole floor is dedicated to it. They had an amazing selection of coats and boots, but like most department stores, everything was super expensive. Not to mention that clothing is way more expensive here anyway.
So, by this time we were getting hungry and decided to try and find a Thai place we had seen last time we were in Nuremberg. We actually found it very quickly. . .shocker! We had the best Thai meal I have ever had. It was all pretty standard Thai food, spring rolls, chicken with veggies in coconut sauce, pork with veggies in brown sauce, it was all just really fresh and delicious. And they served this salad, sort of like kimchee, before the meal, oh it was good.
So, from there we went to the American Army store. We had seen this last time we were here too. It was really like any army store back home, if you’ve ever been in one. Tons of different kinds of army jackets and coats, hats, gloves, bags, and of course Vanilla Coke, and Cream Soda. I found my coat here, naturally. It’s like some kind of Navy coat, water resistant, totally warm, I had to get an XXS because I think they all come in mens sizes. Brandon found his coat at the next place we went, C&A which is a sort of discounted department store. But anyway, he found a really nice green ski coat. They had lederhosen and dirndls on major sale right next to the coats, and while we considered stocking up for the next Oktoberfest, we thought better of it and passed. We went back to Karstadt for Brandon’s boots which he proceeded to take 2 hours of trying on shoes to find. I was ready to shoot myself rather than be shopping anymore, so he bought me cake in the train station for the ride home to make up for it.
We got prepared just in time because it hailed 2 days later and snowed the next 2 days.
-Cindy
DAF Class
Ignore the date above. Correct date: October 5, 2009.
Tonight, Cindy and I went to our first Deutsche als Fremdsprache (German as a foreign language) course. The teaching methods and approaches in DAF are similar to ESL/ EFL instruction (perhaps even based on ESL, but I need to verify that). It was interesting being on the “other side of it all” after years of ESL teaching experience. I saw so many of my past students in myself, Cindy, and my classmates tonight. The class is way too easy for me, but I still enjoyed it. It seems a tad bit too difficult for Cindy (at the risk of speaking for her), but in the long run, it will be a better learning experience since it is immersion based instruction....fluency will come quicker to her than if she were in a traditional English based instruction German course. The teacher told me (in front of the whole class, which I found odd) that the class was too easy for me, but that I was welcome to stay because she doesn’t know of other courses in the area, except Nuremberg which really isn’t that convenient.
-B
Tonight, Cindy and I went to our first Deutsche als Fremdsprache (German as a foreign language) course. The teaching methods and approaches in DAF are similar to ESL/ EFL instruction (perhaps even based on ESL, but I need to verify that). It was interesting being on the “other side of it all” after years of ESL teaching experience. I saw so many of my past students in myself, Cindy, and my classmates tonight. The class is way too easy for me, but I still enjoyed it. It seems a tad bit too difficult for Cindy (at the risk of speaking for her), but in the long run, it will be a better learning experience since it is immersion based instruction....fluency will come quicker to her than if she were in a traditional English based instruction German course. The teacher told me (in front of the whole class, which I found odd) that the class was too easy for me, but that I was welcome to stay because she doesn’t know of other courses in the area, except Nuremberg which really isn’t that convenient.
-B
The Apartment
Ignore the date above. Correct date: October 2, 2009.
We’re now settling in to our apartment in Schnaittach. It’s quite odd, but it will do. In the bathroom there is a tiny sink that sits immediately next to the toilet. So basically, you have to sit sideways on the toilet in order to use the sink. There is a bathtub which is wedged in to the pitch of the roof (we have an attic apartment). I can stand in the very end of the tub without my head touching the ceiling, but if I go any further in to the tub, I have to starting squatting down. The landlord who did the remodel is a very short man. There is glass block window above the apartment entry door. At night, when people are walking through the hallway to their apartment, it lights up our entire apartment. Brilliant. The landlord has 2 old BMWs in his garages downstairs that he has restored quite beautifully. Perhaps he should stick to refurbing just cars.
-B
We’re now settling in to our apartment in Schnaittach. It’s quite odd, but it will do. In the bathroom there is a tiny sink that sits immediately next to the toilet. So basically, you have to sit sideways on the toilet in order to use the sink. There is a bathtub which is wedged in to the pitch of the roof (we have an attic apartment). I can stand in the very end of the tub without my head touching the ceiling, but if I go any further in to the tub, I have to starting squatting down. The landlord who did the remodel is a very short man. There is glass block window above the apartment entry door. At night, when people are walking through the hallway to their apartment, it lights up our entire apartment. Brilliant. The landlord has 2 old BMWs in his garages downstairs that he has restored quite beautifully. Perhaps he should stick to refurbing just cars.
-B
First 3 Weeks
Ignore the date above. Correct date: September 29, 2009
Our first 3 weeks have been packed. Some of my favorite experiences in the first few weeks have been: Lebanese food in Berlin, bike ride along the Danube to visit some beer gardens, flying down the Autobahn, riding in a British Jaguar (as a left side passenger) through the tiny city streets of Bamberg, to brewing a 1,000 year old beer at the Medieval festival at Enzensteiner.
-B
Our first 3 weeks have been packed. Some of my favorite experiences in the first few weeks have been: Lebanese food in Berlin, bike ride along the Danube to visit some beer gardens, flying down the Autobahn, riding in a British Jaguar (as a left side passenger) through the tiny city streets of Bamberg, to brewing a 1,000 year old beer at the Medieval festival at Enzensteiner.
-B
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