In Germany on Twitter

If you're a twitter user and want a daily bit of Germany-- my observations, tips, tales and links-- follow my on twitter at @ingermany

Get ready for your daily dose of cyberschmaus

Here's a sample:

ingermany In Germany theres a song called Dschinghis Khan that goes "Lasst noch Wodka holen denn wir sind Mongolen" (go get vodka 'cause were mongols)

ingermany bakeries sell "hawaiian" soft pretzels covered with melted cheese, ham and pineapple

ingermany you have to insert a euro coin into a slot in your shopping cart to "unlock" it -- you get it back when you return the cart

ingermany three ring binders don't exist-- they only have two rings

ingermany cell phones are called "handys"

ingermany cold cuts, horseradish, sausages and weißbier are all part of a normal breakfast

ingermany people eat marmelade-filled doughnuts for Carnival--as a prank, they are sometimes filled with mustard instead

Fasching...

Who has an idea for a good couple Faschingskostüm? I'm thinking "Calvin and Hobbes" or "Hans Solo and Princess Leia"... opinions? thoughts? what are you going as?

HERE WE GO STEELERS!

and, for those of you in Munich... come join me and my fellow Steelers fans at the Arc Pub for a rowdy Superbowl bash!!!!

The World on a Wednesday (erm...friday)

Sorry folks, studying for exams has set me back a bit with my posting. Nevertheless, I present you with (ehem, two days late), the second annual "world on a wednesday"

Today, I have two joyously absurd stories which are making headlines in the German papers.

The first is an announcement that will have Cello players and Yo Yo Ma admirers everywhere breathing a sigh of relief: the "cello hoden" syndrome is a farce! there's no such thing!

The British Medical Journal printed a letter from two readers meant as a joke--but they missed the humor and took it to be a serious medical condition. The joke was prompted by an earlier article about the "Gittaren Nippel" condition in which guitar players experience "irritation" on the most "sensitive" area of their chest because of "friction" from the instrument. The joking letter writers insisted on the existance of another condition affecting Cello player's "sensitive areas"...erm... lower.

Needless to say, many terrified Cello players can now relax and continue their musical passion without worrying about its effects on...erm.. you know.

The next article features a giant bronze shoe. In Iraq. Yes indeed, a private foundation has erected a memorial to commemorate "the shoe incident", in which an angry Iraqi reporter threw a shoe at Bush during a press conference. Apparently, the shoe throwing has become somewhat of a "celebrated" symbol for Bush hating. The turkish producer of the exact shoe thrown at Bush (Baydan, Model 271) is planning on producing a special model, and even applying for trademark rights for the name "Bush Shoe".

All in all, shoes and cellos... it was a pretty eventfull week. Hopefully the cold and grey weather in Munich won't dampen our spirits. Now, back to work!

Homemade Citrus Vodka (and how to repurpose the leftovers)

As part of finger-lickin' Tuesday, here's a HOW-TO for making citrus infused vodka. I took a bottle of Absolut Vodka and stuffed it full of lime, orange, lemon and grapefruit peels.

In its essence, it's a really easy project. And cheap, considering all you have to do is buy the vodka and put in the peel—something you would probably trash anyways. But as I discovered, getting rid of all that "white" stuff from the peel is quite hard work.

Ingredients:

Vodka
Citrus Fruits

1) peel off sections of each of citrus fruits. Pick your method: I read that a vegetable peeler works well, but I had better luck cutting thicker sliced and then trimming off the white by holding the knife at a slight angle and cutting towards my fingers. Sounds dangerous… and it kind of was.. I sliced my finger a bit. Let me know if you have a better method!

2) Fill the bottle. I threaded bits onto a skewer, to make it more decorative, but they were really hard to get into the bottle. In the end I just stuffed the rest in--- this looked pretty, too. You may have to pour a bit of the vodka out to fit in the peels. That's ok, you can make yourself a vodka gimlet with the juice from your lime and a simple syrup or powered sugar. Mmm.

3) Time to wait. Mine was a birthday present for a party a few days later, and when I tasted it, it was already pretty citrusy (and had a pleasant orange color). But most tutorials suggest waiting at least a week.
4) Don't forget to label it! Here's my label which I made with word. I colored in the picture with colored pencils. The cocktail recipes are of course only a few of many different ideas. Experiment.

All in all a big hit at the party. I did have to explain that no, I did not make the vodka myself in my bathtub. I had a laugh over that one.

CITRUS PUNCH

After all the peeling, I was left with a bowl of naked citrus fruits! What to do?! I decided to peel them and slice, and then douse them in sugar and let steep in the fridge. The next day Artur and I bought a bottle of Sekt (german champagne) and doused our citrus fruits. Mmmm mmm delicious (it was still delicious on sunday night, too… if not less bubbly).

LEMON LIME JAM

My third use for my leftover ingredients was to make "lemon lime jam" which was actually my first venture into the world of jam making. I happened to have a package of "gelierzucker", which is sugar mixed with a gelling agent. I followed the following steps, improvised from a series of internet recipes:

1) slice lemon and limes into thin, half moon slices (I used 2 lemons and 4 limes)
2) boil in 1 quart of water for 20 minutes, or until tender
3) add package of gelierzucker, stirring constantly until the contents boil
4) continue stirring for four minutes while everything boils nicely.
5) Pour immediately into sterilized jars

I didn't take any photos while cooking because it was too sticky. It's quite tasty, kind of like sprite marmalade.

Here's to a vitamin C overdose!!!!

long live the blog

So, it's 2009, and I'm currently studying for exams (why?? why work and study at the same time?!?!) so I need a distraction. MY BLOG! So I'm doing a big push, and I need your help. Because, well, I admit it. I'm a total novice. I am looking for connections with other expat Munich bloggers. So far, I have discovered Lucid in Deutschland, American Expat in Deutschland and Coffee from a Cardboard Cup. Who else can help me discover?

Thanks, Lucid, for your great link list... I am working my way through the Bayern section.

Until then, a few photos that have been collecting digital dust in the hallows of my computer.
I have posted this before, but it's worth a replay. This restaurant in Munich has, as its logo, a lovely graphic of the "dönertier", the "döneranimal". I guess if there really was an animal made out of slices of various meats stacked on a metal stick, topped with tomatoes, onions and garlic and roasted to perfection, it would look like this. ICK.


SHINY CAT IN SAUCE. Sold in Munich Stachus, at the pet store. Delicious.

Artur armed to fight the Ikea gods to the death.

World on Wednesday

Another "structure" update. On Wednesdays, I will show the world, or some snippet of it, from my corner in bavaria. Today I have two clips from German papers.

The first is a cartoon from "Die Welt Kompakt"

Barack is stuck in a jungle of "Vorschuss-Lorbeer" or a german term which mean, literally "advanced laurel" or essentially "praise before the fact". To escape from this jungle, cartoon Obama is asking for a Machete.

My second peek at the world is an article of a miracle on the water (another one, after the amazing Hudson river plane landing)

The headline reads "fishermen survive in a cooler". Yup, that is a giant cooler and two normal sized people, fishermen from Myanmar to be exact. According to the article, they were the only two of a 20 person fishing boat to survive its sinking, living inside the bathtub-sized cooler and eating fish pieces and drinking collected rain water. As the article notes, "they must have been really thirsty, because, our sources inform us, one of them drank four whole glasses of water when he was rescued." After 25 days... go figure!

Change and Chili

As part of my new "blog structure update" I will now be posting, as part of my "finger-licking tuesdays" a recipe or delicious food experience weekly.

Today, I present, (drum roll)… patriotic Obama Chili to accompany the inauguration day ceremony. Obama posted his "family" Chili recipe and I'm going to try it out.

We expats sure don't have it easy when it comes to watching events live on TV. I still have a headache when I think of my day of work after the election, having stayed up until 6am to watch the acceptance speech. The Steelers big win at home against the Ravens on Sunday night kept me up until 3:30, and I fell asleep before the end (shame on me). The Superbowl will be a long one as well (HERE WE GO STEELERS!). But this time, we lucked out. I'll be heading home from work today at 4pm just in time to whip up a batch of Chili and settle onto the couch for an evening of patriotic pride (finally).

Obama Family Chili Recipe

1 large onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
Several cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground turkey or beef
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground oregano
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
¼ teaspoon ground basil
1 tablespoon chili powder
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Several tomatoes, depending on size, chopped
1 can red kidney beans

We'll start with the shopping, something we expats all know isn't an easy task for American recipes. The veggies should be no problem, the kidney beans either. I'll have to fudge the spices a bit (I could probably find everything, but I'm not sure I want to buy it all…), ground meat, tomatoes… looks like we're in the clear. The cheddar cheese might break the bank, but I'm sure a nice emmentaler would taste great too. Now it's time to go shopping!




Saute onions, green pepper and garlic in olive oil until soft.

Add ground meat and brown.

Combine spices together into a mixture, then add to ground meat.

Add red wine vinegar.

Add tomatoes and let simmer, until tomatoes cook down.

Add kidney beans and cook for a few more minutes.

Serve over white or brown rice. Garnish with grated cheddar cheese, onions and sour cream.


All the cooking went on during the ceremony. I seeded peppers during the vice presidential oath, and during the presidential oath, I, appropriately, cut onions. My tears were plentiful, to say the least. During the speech I quickly browned the meat and threw in the tomatoes, spices and vinegar and then I ran to the sofa to let myself be swept up in the tone and cheers of history.

The Chili was a hit, served with Fresh Whiskey Sours, and I am so happy that the Bush years are over and a new time has begun. Cheers!

WALL-E at Oktoberfest

This is a picture of an advertisement for the Disney film "WALL-E" which was posted during Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. The text reads, in bavarian dialect, "talking isn't really my thing"