When I was growing up, baskets or plates of dried fruit would appear in our house at the beginning of the holidays. They still do. This Honey and Dried Fruit Cake Honigkuchen mit Trockenobst is a great way to use them. This is not your average Kaffeeklatsch cake. The recipe feels very old-fashioned since you load it up with honey,…
Author: karenanne
What was the Malleus Maleficarum or Hammer of Witches?
Witches have long been part of Germanic culture. You’ll find witches in Fairy tales, in legends, in songs, and in poetry. The Gingerbread house Witch in Hansel and Gretel, the flying witches on Walpurgisnacht, and even the Kitchen Witch flying above your stove. Today, we look at witches as bedtime stories or cute tales, like Die Kleine Hexe. But in…
Reformationsbrötchen Recipe- Luther Rose Reformation Rolls
On October 31st, bakeries in Leipzig bake up a special treat, Reformationsbrötchen or Reformation Rolls. The rolls with five petals and a blob of red jam in the center represent the Luther Rose, the symbol Martin Luther used to sign all his documents. So what are they exactly? Reformation Rolls are semi-sweet yeast rolls filled with raisins (or cranberries), chopped…
A Headless Hessian in Sleepy Hollow
Cover Image- The Headless Horseman Pursuing Ichabod Crane by John Quidor (public domain) In some form or another, most of us have heard the Washington Irving short story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. This terrifying tale is known as America’s first Ghost Story. If you haven’t read the tale of a headless horseman who pursues poor Ichabod Crane on a…
Pflaumenmus Recipe- How to Make German Plum Butter
My husband followed his nose into the kitchen. “WOW! That smells so good!”. The whole house smelled of cooking fruit, a little spice, and a lot of yumminess. Move over, Pumpkin spice, the smell of Pflaumenmus cooking is amazing! I love Pflaumenmus. Thick and flavorful, tart with a hint of spice from cloves, and a deep purple color that makes…
Seiffen Church- History and a Tour of the Bergkirche Seiffen
Seiffen is not known for its architecture. The town in a far corner of Germany began as a mining town and, over time, evolved into a sort of Christmas Village or Spielzeugdorf, filled with shops creating toys and decorations. Yet, if you go up the hill from the Buntes Haus, past the giant Christmas Pyramid, and around the bend a…
Top Oktoberfest Songs You WILL Hear at German Festivals
Music is almost as important to Oktoberfest as Beer. (I said ALMOST). So if you are headed to an Oktoberfest… or you are hosting your own Oktoberfest Party… you can be certain that music, singing and even dancing will be involved. But what sort of music will you hear? These are the TOP Oktoberfest Songs that you will most likely…
A Visit to the Black Forest Open Air Museum, Vogtsbauernhof
In the heart of the Black Forest, you’ll find a small village of houses and workshops that feels suspended in time. Thatched roofs, goats, grain mills, and people dressed in period costume from a few hundred years ago, you rub your eyes and wonder, did I discover a German Brigadoon? No, but the Black Forest Open Air Museum Vogtsbauernhof will…
Things to do in Erfurt- A Delightful City at the Center of Germany
You’ll find Erfurt at about the geographical center of Germany, making it the perfect stopover for our trip from west to east. We would only have one night in the city, but I started researching “Things to do in Erfurt” immediately! I found so MANY things to do that I wished we could stay a few more nights. Like Görlitz,…
Online German Language Classes for Adults- Learn German Anywhere!
Do you want to study German but can’t find a class near you? Or maybe Online German Language Classes will work better with your busy schedule. People want to study German, but maybe they can’t find classes in their area, the timing doesn’t work, or they prefer to attend class from the comfort of their home (and maybe wearing pajamas,…