At Christmas Markets and in homes, you find Glühwein for the adults at Christmastime. (My mother always left a pot on the stove Christmas Eve, and we would enjoy it during the Bescherung, or gift exchange) With warm wine and aromatic spices, it’s such a cozy feeling to hold the mug and breathe in the delicious steam while sipping. But…
Author: karenanne
A German Feather Christmas Tree- Christmas Nostalgia
My friend Dale recently asked me if we ever set up a Federbaum or German Feather Christmas Tree in our home while I was growing up. No, my father was a nurseryman, and it was a point of pride to have a real Noble Fir standing in the corner of the living room (never a Douglas Fir; the ornaments just…
Easy German Cookbook: 80 Classic Recipes Made Simple
Easy German Cookbook was a labor of love. However, sharing German culture and food is what I do online, so this book is the next logical step. Between the covers, you’ll find 80 pages of food memories. These are the foods we ate at home, the foods we ate at festivals, and the foods we reserved for special occasions. Foods…
Simple German Bratapfel Recipe with different Variations
In my old German recipe book, there’s a Bratapfel recipe. The ingredients are apples, nuts, raisins, cinnamon, and honey (and rum). The instructions are to carve the core out of the apple, stuff it with filling, and bake. That’s it. No details, no actual amounts. Even the bake time is vague… Bake until soft. I didn’t think much about the…
October 31st, Martin Luther, and the Protestant Reformation
Eight German states observe October 31st, Reformation Day, as a public holiday. But what was the Protestant Reformation, and why is it celebrated? Growing up in the Lutheran Church, we heard the how Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to a church door, setting off the Protestant Reformation and ultimately starting the Lutheran Church. That’s the short version of the…
Why are there so MANY Different names for Germany?
Allemania, Niemcy, Vokietija, Tedesco, Tyskland, Germany, Deutschland…. Why are there so many different names for Germany? And these aren’t just names that are a translation of the word Deutschland; they are very different words with different etymologies (starting place of a word). Even the word Deutschland is relatively recent. The answer has a lot to do with Germany’s location.…
Gedeckter Apfelkuchen Recipe – Covered German Apple Cake
Like many other foods in Germany, you won’t find just one recipe for German Apple Cake. I now keep several different recipes in my back pocket because you never know; the apple cake must fit the occasion, after all! Apfelkuchen mit Streusel vom Blech (Apple Streusel cake in a Pan) for every day and Versunkener Apfelkuchen (sunken Apple Cake) is…
History of the Chicken Dance Song- How did Ducks became Chickens?
You are at a party, and you hear those notes… Duhda Duhda Dadah Da…clap clap clap clap… and suddenly the dance floor is flooded with people flapping their arms and shaking their tail feathers. It’s the Chicken Dance Song! (or is it a Duck?). Where did the Chicken Dance originate? And how is it that a song labeled “the most…
My Oma’s Schoko-Nusskuchen Recipe- A Nut-lover’s Favorite
My cousin Linda made my day when she sent me our Oma’s recipe for Schoko-Nusskuchen along with the note, “This is the cake Oma always baked for our Birthdays.” This simple little cake may not be a fancy Torte, but flavorwise, it packs a delicious punch, reminding me of my favorite mid-day pick-me-up treat, a Hanuta. It’s hazelnut and chocolate,…
The Linden tree in Germany – The Tree at the Heart of Germany
A friend sent me a clip from a news story out of West Virginia about the removal of a Linden Tree. What made him curious was not the toys found under the tree; it was the tree itself. This particular tree was the last survivor of three Linden trees brought to the United States by German immigrants. Why, he asked,…