While digging into stories about Easter in Germany, I frequently encountered references to the Germanic pagan goddess Ostara. Ostara and Easter appear to be so entwined that even the word Ostern (Easter) comes from this goddess of Spring. Sources attribute many non-religious Easter symbols, like eggs and rabbits, directly to her. So, I thought, HA! The perfect thing to write…
Author: karenanne
Schinken Käse Eier Salat Recipe- German Ham Cheese Egg Salad
I got this recipe for Schinken Käse Eier Salat (Ham Cheese Egg salad) from a friend of my cousin who served it at an Easter Brunch. It’s a variation on a Wurst Salat, a combination of cheese, sausage, herbs, oil, and vinegar. (Don’t confuse it with Fleischsalat, Meat Salad, which is made with a mayo base instead of oil and…
Schutzengel- Guardian Angels in Germany
A few years ago, when I learned to drive, my cousin gave me a sticker that said, “Fahr nicht schneller als dein Schutzengel fliegen kann!” (Don’t drive faster than your guardian angel can fly). She firmly believes in Schutzengel, and as someone who tends to be a little clumsy, I really like the idea of a celestial being keeping…
German Easter Candy and Sweets to Fill Your Easter Basket
When I was young, we looked forward to receiving packages from my Opa a few times a year. Brown paper wrapped packages, tied up with string (actually twine… but Julie Andrews never mentions twine in her song). They came at Christmas (in the odd year he didn’t visit), our Birthdays, and Easter. After Mama carefully untied the knots and saved…
Vanilla Sauce Recipe – Vanillesoße – the Perfect Dessert Topping!
oVanillesoße is the little black dress of sauces. Honestly, it complements every dessert or Nachtisch. Tasty Vanilla sauce softens the tartness of Rote Gruetze, adds an extra dimension to Apfelstrudel, and magically transforms ordinary chocolate pudding into a fancy dessert. My Oma always kept packets of instant Vanillesoße in her “packet drawer” (you know the one… it had packets of…
Sorbian Easter Eggs- How are they made, and who are the Sorbs?
Sorbian Easter Eggs are some of the most beautifully decorated Easter Eggs I’ve ever seen. My mother introduced us to them when we were children, and she remembered them from her childhood. My Opa, her father, is from Weißwasser, a town in eastern Saxony, Germany, that once belonged to Upper Lusatia or Upper Sorbia. While my family isn’t “Sorbian,” the…
What is Bock Beer? And Do Germans Really Call it Liquid Bread?
I regularly see memes and articles about how German beer is considered “flüssiges Brot,” or liquid bread. But where does this idea come from? Most likely, this started with a group of monks and Bock Bier. During Lent, members of the Paulaner order abstained from eating solid food. Bock beer, with its extra load of carbohydrates and nutrients, satisfied some…
Karl May- Old Shatterhand and Winnetou
Karl May might be the best-selling German novelist that most Americans never heard of. May’s stories of the American West have brought frontiersmen and Native Americans to life in Germany since 1893. For Germans of a certain age, Old Shatterhand and Winnetou are as familiar as Harry Potter, Ron, and Hermione are to my kids. The number of books sold…
Frau Holle- Grimm Fairy Tale, Legend, and Goddess
, Frau Holle Cover Image- Nickge4, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons When it snows in Hessen, people say Frau Holle shakes out her feather beds. Thanks to Grimm’s Fairy Tales, we all have a mental image of an old woman airing her bedding out the window. But the story of Frau Holle goes further back in German history; she…
Chocolate and Pear Cake Recipe Schoko-Birnen Kuchen
One of the things I love about German baking is how they mix fruit and cake so easily. (Maybe it’s to lessen the ‘guilt’ of eating cake? You can honestly say you are getting your daily allotment of fruits too.) The first time I saw this Chocolate and Pear cake I thought… hmmm, it looks like a version of a…