Happy 2011: My Favorite German Things

Happy 2011! I can't believe the new year is already here. Time just keeps flying by, but I think we are doing our best to make the most out of it.

I woke up this morning in quite a fog from all the 'ringing' in the new year last night. Boy oh boy, it will be one to remember! We had a delicious dinner right on the waterfront, and then headed down the coast a bit to a castle for fireworks and the countdown. Freakin' new year's eve in a castle, it was too cool. But I will say that I cannot be held responsible for all of our actions last night.

I think there might have been fence hoping - what, sneaking into parties isn't the cool thing to do on NYE? I know there was champagne (and lots of it). And I am absolutely positive that it was a great evening. So glad we got to welcome 2011 with friends! Hope ya'll had a great one as well :)

So, I thought for 2011 that I might share with you a few of "My Favorite German Things". Just like Oprah's favorite things, only my audience will not be winning anything cool, nor is anything high-end or designer, nor do I have a national talk show. So yeah, maybe not really like Oprah's favorite things...at all. But here is a short list of useful German products and some great products that we have stumbled across while living over here. Might not be terribly excited for my North American friends to read, but hey, if ya'll are ever over in Germany, you must check out these items:
(and of course, they are all IMHO, but I think I have decent taste! And if you have any suggestions about your favorite German things, I would love to hear them)

The Best Lip Balm...Ever: Kaufmann's Haut und Kinder Creme

This lip balm/skin soother/baby butt cream is so unbelievable good! Yes, better than Carmex, yes even better than Burt's Bees. Great for your lips, so good on dry, rough patches of skin, and I even dot it on as under eye cream on those really cold, wintery days. And how can you not love the retro tins they come in?! You can pick up a small can for about a Euro, and mine has lasted me over a year. Can't beat that! (And just to clarify, I use it as a lip balm and hand cream...not as butt balm, haha)

The Best Hand Lotion: Herbacin Wuta Kamille Hand Lotion

Another random German find, but great nonetheless. Non-greasy, but moisturizing. I always have a tube of it in my purse. If your hands are feeling a little rough and dry this winter, you have to pick you up some Herbacin Hand Cream!

The Best Coffee: Eilles Gourmet Cafe

Germany is known for having great coffee. I always miss it when we are back home in the state - but maybe not so much when we are in Canada...I am a sucker for Timmy Ho's! Not only is Eilles so deliciously full-bodied, but it is so reasonably priced as well. For around 5 Euro, you get a double pack that could easily last you for up to a month. It has such a rich flavor and is never bitter or burnt tasting. I crave it as soon as I wake up in the morning!

The Best Sparkling Water: Valser Classic

Ok, this might be cheating a bit. Technically Valser comes from a source in Switzerland, but you can find bottles of this deliciously bubble water all over Southern Germany. What some people that have not visited Europe might not know, is that everyone, at home, in restaurants, at work, drinks sparkling water. I have to admit, it took some getting used to, but after our first season, there was no going back to plain ol' tap water. I was hooked on Wasser mit Kohlensäure! And Valser is the best tasting sparkling water I have had. Not too bubbly, but still tingly enough. It goes down so smooth!

The Best German Beer: Tegenseer Hell

Ok, this was a tough one. There are sooo many beers in Germany, how can you really say which is best, when there is no possible way to try them all in a lifetime. What you may not realize, is that every little German village has a local brewery. And most of the time, you can only get that certain kind of beer in that one area. So while there are hundreds and hundreds brands of beers, I think I still feel comfortable praising Tegenseer. Hey, if even the Germans think it is one of the best, you know you aren't too off on the assessment. (And to give credit where it is due, my husband and his highly refined 'beer palate' helped me out on this one! See babe, it did come in handy!)

The Best German Chocolate: Château Feinherb Nuss Chocolate Bar

Again, I can only judge the chocolate that I have tried, but I think I could try just about any and every brand in the world, and I would still come back to this 99 Euro cent giant candy bar (a note to all of ya'll in Germany, I have only found them at Aldi). Rich, but not too sweet, dark chocolate  with whole hazelnuts - they love hazelnuts and chocolate over here, and I am not one to argue with that! These bars are dangerous, and disappear quite easily. I always bring a few of them home with me in the spring, but they don't last long!

The Best Accessory for a Hockey Game: The Oma Seat Cushion

Or, as I like to refer to it as, my 'butt pad'. While the atmosphere in German hockey arenas is so lively and wild, the temperature inside the rink is usually only a few degrees more than the temperature outside. And the plastic seats seem ice cold under your bum. So, I did what all the Omas at the game do; I invested in a wool seat cushion and could not be more comfortable or warm at the games now. I might look like I fool carrying it in, but when I am comfortable and cozy, and everyone else is peeling their ice cold buns off the seat like a tongue stuck to a frozen flag pole, who's laughing now?!

As much as I miss things from home, I am glad to find such delicious and high quality products abroad.

Again, Happy New Year to you! Make 2011 the best one yet :)

A Taste of Home: German Brown Sugar

In the last couple of weeks we are have received some really great 'care packages' from home. Boxes stuffed with Mac and Cheese - or Kraft Dinner according to my Canadian husband, candy corn (a craving I have had since October), Crystal Light, Reeses Pieces, gossip magazines. It's the little things that really make it feel like home over here. But it is also the little things that make me long for everything else at home.

What I wouldn't give for a Route 44 Sonic drink, a taste of Pei Wei, queso from Taco Cabana, fajitas from Taco Cabana....anything from Taco Cabana! Its pretty much like a spring Thanksgiving when we get back to Texas. We gorge on everything that we'd been missing the last 8 months. Then loosen our belts and go back for seconds.

It's not just the availability of junk and fast food that I crave, but I also miss little things that you can't find in the grocery store. Case in point (and the purpose of my post today) is brown sugar. Unless you want to pay an arm and a leg in an online store for a small box of brown sugar, you are hard pressed to find it over in Europe. Germans think they have 'brown sugar', but only disappoint you when they lead you over to the raw sugarcane. No, ich don't think so. But who can blame them, they don't know the importance of soft brown sugar in chocolate chip cookies, in sweet potato casserole, or on top of warm oatmeal.

I was tired of lugging heavy bags of brown sugar over with me in August, only to have them run dry in early September, so I took the matter into my own hands. I found a very do-able and tasty alternative recipe, changed it around so it would work with what was available in Germany, and made my own damn brown sugar. Take that! And I'll tell you what, my cookies have never tasted so good, or stayed so moist. I might just never go back to store bought brown sugar again!

So, I hope all you other North Americans in Germany and the rest of Europe will be able to once again enjoy melt-in-your-mouth homemade chocolate chip cookies. At the very least, this simple recipe will bring a bit of North America to your Küche.

How easy is this, only two ingredients. You'll need a (500g) bag of rag sugar cane, or in German "Brauner Zucker".  You will also need "Zuckerrübensirup", which is essentially carmelized turnip syrup, if I am not mistaken. It is usually found in the jam aisle of the grocery store. All recipes online originally called for Molasses, but no luck on finding that in Germany. This was the next best thing, and it works great. 

Measure one cup of the raw sugarcane sugar, and place in a small food processor. Now, if you don't have food processor, you can skip this step. But I think there is a pretty noticeable difference when you grind the sugar down into smaller bits. I think it helps it to combine with the syrup and stay moister longer. 

So, pulse the food processor a few times until the sugar is a finer consistency. And if there are larger granules left, no biggie.

Mmmm, the burnt smelling Zuckerrübensirup with its grossly thick consistency. But really, not any worse than Molasses, which I really can't stand. 

I use a soup spoon and add one spoon full to the sugar mix. Not heaping, but not sparse either. No real measuring here, because you can't really go wrong. 

Give the mixture a good stir, about one minutes worth, until it is a good 'smashed up Butterfingers'  texture. How do you like that baking analogy, I think it describes it pretty good!

You could continue stirring by hand, but I am lazy and I pop the mixture back into the food processor for a good mix.

Whoops! Mine turned out a bit dry, so I drizzled a bit more syrup in. A little heavy handed with it, but that's ok. Guess this batch will be 'dark brown sugar' now. Oh well!

A good mix, and a some pulses until the ooey goodness begins to slowly clump and no longer spin in the processor. Check out that good looking sugar!

A quick stir to make so there were no big lumps of syrup...nope, we're good. 

And the best part about this recipe is that it stores in a zip lock baggie in your pantry for as long as you need it to. 

So, it does taste and smell a bit different than normal, store bought brown sugar. But it doesn't effect any recipe one little bit. I know once you try this, you won't want to hide any more brown sugar in your luggage for the trip over any more! Hope you enjoy!