Gingerbread Mensch

I goofed off a lot in my high school German class and found myself in a bit of trouble my Junior year. Cutting class to dress like a pirate and go sailing down the Nooksack River was fun, but I paid for it. To make up for skipping, we were allowed to do a number of things, but taking in to consideration my great talent for eating, I thought I'd take a stab at baking. A friend and I researched various German deserts and fall/ winter-themed delicacies (sweets, naturally) and stumbled upon Lebkuchen- which literally translates to "living cookies." They're gingerbread-esque snacks that one can whip-up in a snap, and though they're not the healthiest holiday food, your taste-buds will thank you. Here's a site happy recipe that I used years ago. Surprisingly it still exists.

If'n your the baking type, check this website out.

I know it may be a bit early for holiday-themed foods, but if you get as excited about these things as I do, then methinks you'll appreciate the cookies. Have a lovely thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving in Germany!

Although German speaking countries may not celebrate Thanksgiving the way we do, there is fall holiday similar, Erntdankfest (harvest thanksgiving festival).   Generally celebrate on the first Sunday of October, which is also usually the first Sunday following Michaelmas (Sept. 29)Like the American Thanksgiving Erntdankfest is an all day event.  However, unlike the big day family festis that is typical in the USA, Erntedankfest is not a family get-together of feasting but rather mostly rural, religious holiday.  As a religious holiday it typically contants church services (morning and evening), a parade, music, dance, and of course food.

(A church altar Erntedank display in Germany.)

And of course as most Germans have American relatives it would make sense that within the last few decades Erntdankfest is starting to look a lot like the American Thanksgiving such as the turkey!  Turkey has become within the last few decades a popular dish often replacing the traditional goose.  Happy Turkey day!!!

(amazingly tasty looking turkey)

Zwetschgentorte

When pondering the dishes I would help prepare for Thanksgiving this year, I decided it would be fun to bring some German pizazz into the course. While I am big a fan of pumpkin pie, it will never compare to many of the German cakes I've tasted in recent years. Thus, I decided to whip up a German
Zwetschgentorte (Plum Cake) as a fun fall alternative to the traditional pumpkin pie Thanksgiving dessert! 

The recipe to this cake is as follows (recipe courtesty of http://www.europeancuisines.com/Germany-German-Zwetschgentorte-Autumn-Plum-Cake):


For the cake dough:

• 200g / 1 cup butter, softened

• 150g / 3/4 cup sugar

• 250g / 2 cups flour

• 150g / 3/4 cup potato starch

• 4 level teaspoons baking powder

• 4 eggs, separated

• 1 kilogram / 2 1/4 lb small juicy plums, washed, stoned, and quartered (or sliced smaller if necessary: slices should be about an inch thick)

• 50g / 1/4 cup sugar to dredge the plums in (more if necessary)

• A 22 centimeter-wide springform pan

• About a teaspoon of butter to grease the pan

• Two tablespoons of fine dry breadcrumbs or cornflake crumbs to coat the buttered pan

• Powdered sugar / confectioners' sugar / icing sugar to dust the finished cake

(A note here about the potato starch: this stuff turns up a great deal in continental baking as a binding agent in cakes, especially where fruit is involved: it seems to help the batter absorb the fruit juices without getting overly heavy. It's worth going out of your way to find it, but if you can't, you can probably safely substitute half a cup of flour with a tablespoon of cornstarch mixed into it.)

For the filling:

• 1 kilogram / 2 1/4 lb small juicy plums, washed, stoned, and quartered (or sliced smaller if necessary: slices should be about an inch thick)
• 50g / 1/4 cup sugar to dredge the plums in (more if necessary)

You'll also need:

• A 22 centimeter-wide springform pan
• About a teaspoon of butter to grease the pan
• Two tablespoons of fine dry breadcrumbs or cornflake crumbs to coat the buttered pan
• Powdered sugar / confectioners' sugar / icing sugar to dust the finished cake

Method:

First, butter the springform pan well: then put the bread crumbs / cornflake crumbs in it and turn and shake the pan until all interior surfaces are well crumbed. Leave any loose crumbs in the bottom of the pan.

Cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy. Meanwhile, sift together the flour, baking powder and potato starch (or substitute). Beating all the time at medium speed, start adding the sifted flour mixture a couple of tablespoonsful at a time to the butter and sugar.

By the time all the flour is added, the dough is going to look very granular. Don't worry: this is normal. Add the four egg yolks to the dough and continue beating. The dough will now become very solid and lumpy. This too is normal. Beat until the egg yolks are completely combined. Then stop the beater and, in another bowl, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Add the egg whites to the dough and beat just until they're completely combined with the mixture. It should now start looking a little like cake dough.

Preheat the oven to 200° C / 400° F.

While the oven's heating, take half the dough and spread it evenly across the bottom of the springform pan. Because of the crumbs, the dough is going to try to slide around when you do this -- so your best bet is probably to spread it out with your fingers while holding the dough still. Once this is done, when the oven is ready, put the pan in and bake the bottom of the cake for 10 minutes.

While this is going on, wash, stone and slice the plums (if you haven't done this beforehand), put them in a bowl, add the sugar set aside for this purpose, and stir them well to coat them. Then add them to the remainder of the dough and stir them well into it. The dough is going to remain thick and lumpy and will not coat the plums at all evenly. Don't worry too much about this.

When its first ten minutes in the oven are done, remove the springform pan and lower the oven heat to about 375° F / 180° C. Pile the plum and dough mixture into the pan -- it will completely fill it -- and push the plums gently down into the pan, smoothing the dough a little on the top. Put the springform pan back in the oven and bake for another 30 minutes.

When finished baking, allow to cool for ten minutes or so before running a knife carefully around the edges of the form to loosen it from any stuck-on sugar or plum juices. Dust with powdered sugar while still warm.

Fenstersterne Selber Basteln! (Craft your own window stars!)

On my run this morning I noticed a house that had some stars and snowflakes displayed in its front window, and it reminded me of the Fenstersterne or Window Stars that appeared at wintertime all over my neighborhood when I was in Germany. I did some" research" (snooping around the internet) on window stars and found that most of the how-to books and tutorials were German, so I thought I'd do a little How-To for those of you who either have children who like to basteln (craft) or like to do so yourselves!

Usually, Fenstersterne are constructed out of Kite Paper, which is almost like wax paper but colored. I didn't have any so I used tissue paper, which worked out pretty well. As long as it's see-through you should be good to go.

You'll need scissors, a glue stick, and 4 squares of paper, cut in half to make 8 rectangles.

Fold each little guy in half lengthwise:

Then, fold his little corners in:

And on one end, fold the edges in a second time. Make sure to put a tiny dab of glue under each flap, to hold it in place.

 Tada!

Now all that's left to do is glue them together! Line up the edge of the section on top with the center fold of the section that's on the bottom:

Continue in this way with the rest of the little sections. 

  

When you get to the last piece, glue him on as usual and then tuck his un-glued side under the first section, and glue in place. And then you're done! 

Now, go hang your Stern on the Fenster!

Sunday with "Germany vs USA"! Foreign Languages!

Hey everyone, sorry this is a day late! My mind was all mixed because of the three-day weekend. Viel Spaß beim Schauen!

Gesundheit!!

Growing up, I had uncles and aunts in rural areas scattered across Whatcom County, (the most northwestern county in Washington). My relatives really had a thing for furry critters of all shapes and sizes. As a kid I had a few goldfish, a dog for just under a year, and a few frogs which never seemed to enjoy the dixie-cup terrariums I designed for them. Aside from a few instances with the fish, I never had a pet-able pet, primarily because every time I touched an animal with fur I'd swell up like a blimp and explode in hives. My eyes would water and my breathing became incredibly labored whenever I was near a dog or cat. As my poor auntie bore testament to, even horses set me off. I had crippling allergies which would throw me into minute-long sneezing fits. I had to load up on antihistamines before visiting either of my childhood best friends, because if I didn't god knows I'd sure pay for it.

"Bless you." "Excuse you." "Kazundhide." "Danny, that's enough, knock it off."

Kazundhide was always my favorite. I had absolutely no idea what the person saying it was trying to say, but it always came out sounding like a drunken slur. I went through the first fifteen years of my life with no idea what kazundhide meant, but that doesn't mean I didn't use it every chance I got- it made me feel intelligent and cultured. I later learned in one of my high-school German classes that the word was actually Gesundheit-  which translates to health. 

Sneezing is one of the more ridiculous spasmodic reactions of the human body- it occurs when the nasal mucous membrane is irritated, and fires a shotgun-blast of mucous and spit into the air at an incredibly high speed. A myth developed during the Renaissance that sneezing momentarily caused the heart to stop beating- thus saying "bless you" would revitalize, or protect the sneezer from a sure mucous-firing doom. Gesundheit- or wishings of good health- is the German equivalent of  "bless you." 

If anything, I suppose the purpose of this post is to draw attention to a word that so many people, at least in my experiences, don't understand. Gesundheit. Tidings of good health, as I impart unto you.  

Goethe Institut Videos

Here's the deal with learning a language: you can take numerous language classes, study up on all the grammar, and learn new vocabulary everyday and still have a hard time holding a conversation in german. The key in learning a language, which I finally learned after studying german for three years, is to immerse yourself in the language--total immersion! While packing up and moving to Germany for an extended period of time may not be in the cards for you, you can still immerse yourself in the language right here in the US. Whether its participating in German events that take place in your city and meeting other German-speakers or choosing to read your summer reads in German rather than English, there are many opportunities to practice your language skills. One of my favorites, however, is watching videos. As you have probably heard of the Goethe Institut, I want to share a section of their website that has hundreds of interesting videos on all aspects of German culture and on life in general. Most of the videos are spoken in German, so it's a great way to learn and practice your listening skills at the same time! I hope you find this website helpful!

http://www.goethe.de/lrn/duw/sul/enindex.htm