Showing posts with label german food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label german food. Show all posts

Monday, December 29, 2014

Christmas in Germany is what I imagine most families everywhere do. Family you haven't seen in a year drive over and you gather at one place to eat until you don't ever want to hear the word 'food' again. I never experienced such a Christmas because my family outside of its immediate members reside in Japan and living in NY never made it easy to come together. Now it's almost routine to ask Oli which house we're going to on which day and what we should bring and wear.

The morning of Christmas Eve was a peaceful one.



The tree was ready and I had finally finished wrapping the gifts to put under the tree!!


I also made some pancakes! Pancakes are kinda my specialty. If I'm not feeling creative but want a nice breakfast, pancakes are my go to. Pancakes + holiday music = the best way to spend the morning.

After breakfast we went to Oli's mother's house. Her house was literally covered in cute Christmas decorations.





After many hours of tea, coffee, cake, card games, and dinner, we went back home to sleep. It's normal in Germany to open gifts on Christmas Eve but to stay true to my American tradition of opening gifts on Christmas morning, we decided to sleep and wait til the next day to open presents.


The smoking figure Oli put out for Christmas.




Sorry for the photos from blursville and my red puffy face (was a bit under the weather) but we were excited to open gifts!

The gift I was most excited about was the one I gave Oli.

Oli has a pair of Adidas sneakers that he literally wore TO DEATH in the past 3 years. I had several ideas for gifts over the past 2 months or so but then it hit me to replace his sneakers because I knew that unless they fell apart on his feet, he probably wouldn't replace them. I got him the same exact model and great gaggling goose, look at the difference!!! Mind blown.

After present opening and cat feeding, we got to work in the kitchen preparing food for ourselves.


Honestly doesn't get much more German than this, does it?

It was a really nice few days just talking, eating, and playing games. I think it's kind of crazy how this year just flew by and it's already nearing the end of 2014 and the start of 2k15! I am super excited for what's to come. Hopefully this blog will see some positive changes as well. Look forward to my next post, which will be a continuation of some Christmas fun!

Christmas in Brandenburg

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

On Sunday, Oli and I biked over to Liepnitzsee, a lake located between Bernau and Wandlitz in Brandenburg. The thing to do in Berlin during the summer is to bike to lakes whenever possible. They're beautiful, surrounded by nature, and it's the perfect way to cool down on a blazing hot day.

We started off by eating a good ole hearty breakfast.




Actually, this was more like brunch since we woke up pretty late (no partying but we did cram in a few episodes of House of Cards -- shout out to Dan for the recommendation!) I made a poor man's frittata because it only had two eggs (I prefer a rainbow of veggies and only a bit of egg, minimal salt, and some herbs for added flavor). Oli made himself something similar to a gratin (we didn't go to the grocery store on Saturday so we used up whatever was in the fridge for both our meals, hence the make-shift dishes).

After eating and a bit of piano playing, we were off!



A nice sunny day.

30 km later, we arrived at the park with the lake! And of course at the entrance was a little food shack packed with people.





Time to refuel!

After a few minutes more of biking around the park, we found the lake. There's a small island right in the middle of it that you can swim to. Unfortunately, I can't swim! So the only people on that side are the ones with inflatable rafts and well, ones that can swim. Hopefully I can make it over there one day!





The day ended pretty quickly from there. We ate some dried fruit and vegan muffins and started on the long ride back home. On the way, I found the cutest little sign:


Where was this sign in Studio Ghibli's The Cat Returns??

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the post! Sorry if I've been lacking in them lately. Hopefully I can post a bit more in the coming weeks. Ciao for now!

Trip to Liepnitzsee

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Vacations are necessary, even if the destination is only 300 kilometers away. It's how people keep sane when they feel trapped at work or can't look at themselves because they hit the gym only once the whole week.

I'm sorry to admit I am that person but acceptance is the first step, right?

Oli and I took a trip out to Hamburg this weekend. Wandering around, I found what may be the Dean and Deluca equivalent (okay, more like the hipster daughter of Dean and Deluca). In case you don't know, Dean and Deluca is a pricey little gourmet food emporium in New York. You can get nice baked goods, coffee, cheeses, as well as plenty of food gifts to take home to your ma and pa. Mutterland is kind of like that, except with more kitsch and cute chalkboard drawings on the wall.







I'm kicking myself a bit for not grabbing one of the fisherman mugs on the bottom shelf. I have a soft spot for mugs and this would've made my morning green tea taste extra nautical.



After wandering around for a bit, Oli found a few bins with Pfeffi's and went completely bananas. Even a woman nearby overheard his excitement and they gabbed about the delicious Pfeffi mint candies of their childhood.



Oli said they are GDR candy and he didn't think it was being produced anymore. But lo and behold, a company in Leipzig seems to be bringing back the retro sweets! They're shaped like PEZ (now that's my childhood candy) but taste like a refreshing breath mint. I also grabbed the lemon flavor for good measure.

If you're ever in Hamburg and feel like grabbing a few foodie gifts for yourself or loved ones, make sure to check out Mutterland!

Mutterland GmbH
Ernst-Merck-Straße 9-11
20099 Hamburg

Mutterland in Hamburg

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Hello party people, how are you today?

I'm catching up on America's Next Top Model Cycle 20. I don't watch every season but once in a while I tune into one and keep up with it. I'm not too crazy about the contestants on this cycle . . . as always there's a lot of unnecessary drama and people that get emotional way too easily. So in the case of this season, I don't really care who wins. I'm mainly in it for the fashion!

Speaking of fashion, I did take a trip out to Humana to see if anything could be added to my wardrobe. Humana is a huge thrift/second hand chain here in Berlin. There's usually one in every or most neighborhoods. The biggest one I know is at Frankfurter Tor so I took a train out to good ol' Friedrichshain to check out the selection.

Here is my morning snack!


Alpro is a company that produces plant based "dairy" products. This one is a blood orange flavored soy yogurt. They are really tasty and perfect as a snack.

I also pulled out the blue eyeshadow.


Thrift Shopping and Hefeklöße