My Annual Trip to the German Bakery

As much as I have integrated into German culture, there is one custom I do not regularly taken part in: buying bread from the bakery.

Bakeries are a big part of traditional German culture, and I remember being shocked with how many bakeries there are (and how popular they are) when I first came to Germany in 2011. Unfortunately, I am not a big bread-eater, and heaven knows that I do not need more sweets and pastries in my life. So, I avoid bakeries. In fact, I have probably only bought something from a bakery about 10 times during my 3 years in Germany. That's nothing considering most Germans seem to go at least once per week.

However, there is one specific item that draws me to the bakery each November: Kürbisstuten.

For my American palate, pumpkin-flavored food items are seriously lacking in Germany. So, I was seriously excited when I found this delicious pumpkin bread 2 years ago, which I bought for Thanksgiving dinner. Just to clarify, this bread is not sweet like most American pumpkin breads probably would be. However, it does still have a slight sweetness, somewhat like cornbread. It is simply a delicious, moist bread with small pieces of pureed pumpkin throughout.

Quick side story: Marco never heard of Kürbisstuten before I randomly bought it from the bakery 2 years ago. So, when picking one up the other day, he asked the baker for a "Kürbisstute," assuming that Kürbisstuten was the plural form. It isn't. Turns out, a Stuten is a type of sweet yeast bread (Kürbis means pumpkin). A Stute, on the other hand, is a mare (female horse).

To eat it, I like to cut off thick slices, toast it until lightly browned in the toaster, and spread on lots of butter. The bread goes especially well with chili, in my opinion, which is also one of my favorite meals during Autumn. Mmmm...

What is your favorite German bakery item?

How to Make Homemade Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

If you didn't already know, I love Reese's peanut butter cups. Actually, I love all things peanut butter and chocolate, which is a shame since I live in Germany, where this type of candy really doesn't exist. 

After getting several shipments of Reese's and other peanut butter and chocolate candy from my family in the U.S., I finally decided to try making my own, and it actually turned out great!

Yes, those are the peanut butter cups that I made! Look at that magazine-worthy photography!

To make this recipe you will need:

• 200 g chocolate
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter

Of course all of these amounts can be adjusted to your personal preferences. I like thin layers of chocolate and a thick layer of peanut butter in the middle. I also chose to use dark chocolate instead of milk.

For this recipe, you will also need muffin forms. The paper ones work great and give the Reese's that iconic ridged look along the edge. I used silicon muffin forms, which also worked great. Best of all, they are reusable, and I bought them on Amazon for only 5€. 

Half of the chocolate will be used for the bottom layer of the peanut butter cups, and the other half will be for the top layer. So, you should start by setting out your muffin forms, and melting half (100 g) of the chocolate. I chose to use dark chocoalte (50%), but obviously milk chocolate would be more traditional. 

If you want the chocolate to be very soft like the original Reese's, then you can also mix in a couple teaspoons of peanut butter into the chocolate.

Once it is melted, spoon a thin layer into the bottom of each of the muffin forms. If you want to make sure that the peanut butter does not show through on the sides, then you should try to drag the chocolate up on the sides of the muffin forms as well.

I tried to make the layers about 0.5 cm in the bottom of the forms. Some ended up closer to 1 cm, but that's okay.  Place the forms into the refrigerator or freezer to harden the chocolate. 

While the first layer of chocolate is hardening, mix the peanut butter, powdered sugar, and butter. You can melt the peanut butter and butter in the microwave to make it easier to mix. 

Once the chocolate is hardened, pull the forms out of the fridge, and add a layer of peanut butter. To make sure the peanut butter doesn't show through too much, try not to let it touch the sides of the form. You can add as much or as little peanut butter you want -- I like a lot of peanut butter and thin layers of chocolate.

Let the peanut butter layer harden in the refrigerator or freezer for a little bit, then add the final layer of chocolate. You only need to add enough to completely cover the peanut butter layer. Once that is done, put your peanut butter back in the refrigerator to completely harden before eating!

Are there any other types of American candy that I should try to recreate?

Candy Bar Confusion

Do you know what's in a Milky Way? What about a Mars? Well, depending on where you are from, you may be confused when buying these candy bars in a different country.

Let's start off with a little test.

Answers:

1. If you answered Milky Way, then you are buying your candy bars in Germany/Europe.

    If you answered 3 Musketeers, then you are buying them in the U.S.

2. If you answered Milky Way, then you are buying your candy bars in the U.S.

    If you answered Mars, then you are buying them in Germany/Europe.

Confusing, huh?

The German boyfriend and I first realized these differences when he visited me in the U.S. I was eating a Milky Way, and although it clearly said "Milky Way" on the package, Marco argued that what I was eating was actually a Mars bar, Fast forward a few years, and I am starting to get a grasp on the confusing variations of candy bars from the Mars Corporation.

To clear things up, let's look at the filling and packing of the various candy bars in question.

Here is what an American Milky Way looks like:

Here is what a German Milky Way looks like:

The Wikipedia article on Milky Way describes the difference as:

The European version [of the Milky Way] has no caramel topping, and consists of a nougat center that is considerably lighter than that of the Mars bar.

Basically, the German Milky Way is the American 3 Musketeers (a candy bar name that does not exist outside in Europe):

And the American Milky Way is the same as the German Mars:

So, to review:

German Milky Way = American 3 Musketeers

American Milky Way = German Mars

We also know that the 3 Musketeers does not exist in Europe, which leaves us with the question: What is an American Mars bar?

Personally, I have never eaten an American Mars bar, nor do I remember ever seeing them in stores. Turn out, they were discontinued in 2002, 

But if you were curious, this is what the American Mars looked like:

This candy bar contained nougat and almonds - a variation that I am pretty sure doesn't exist in Germany or the U.S. anymore... Although, as a lover of nutty candy bars (Baby Ruth is my favorite), I think I would have quite liked it!

What is your favorite candy bar?

How to Recreate "Kraft Macaroni & Cheese" in Germany

If you grew up in America, then chances are that you grew up loving Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Even after living in Germany for nearly 2 years now, I still miss the contents of that little blue box.

So, I have been slaving away in my test kitchen over these past few years trying to figure out a way to recreate the secret Kraft recipe here in Germany.

Before someone says it in the comments, let me first address two things:

1. Yes, you can find off-brand macaroni and cheese in Germany. 

My answer to that?

Very few grocery stores carry it, it is extremely over-priced, and no off-brand can compare to the deliciousness of Kraft.

2. Yes, there are lots of amazing recipes online that try to recreate Kraft mac and cheese.

My answer to that?

Most of the cheeses those recipes require are super expensive in Germany (have any of my fellow expats tried to buy cheddar lately?), and those recipes take way too much effort.

Here were my requirements in trying to create German Kraft Macaroni and Cheese:

1. Ingredients must be available at my local discount grocery store. 
2. Ingredients for one serving must cost less than 2 EUR.
3. Total cooking time must be under 20 minutes.
4. Cooking process must require no more than one saucepan, a colander, and a stirring utensil.

After nearly two years in Germany, I was finally able to fulfill all of these requirements with a imitation Kraft macaroni and cheese recipe that makes the German boyfriend gag, but let's not try to pretend like Kraft Macaroni & Cheese is some kind of delicatessen.

Only two ingredients are absoluately necessary to make this macaroni and cheese. These are:

• Noodles
• Schmelzkäse

Schmelzkäse is basically a meltier and stickier version of American cheese, and it comes in many different colors and flavors. You can buy whichever kind tickles your fancy.

Now, let's get to how you make it:

Step 1: Boil Noodles

If you can find macaroni, perfect! My local discount grocery store doesn't carry macaroni noodles, though, so I just bought these curly noodles. Since I am only cooking for one, I make about three handfuls of these noodles.

Boiling the water in my electric kettle first really make me feel like I have successfully assimilated to the German lifestyle.

Remember that it's not macaroni and cheese unless you strain the your noodles in a $2 colander that you bought from IKEA five years ago.

Step 2: Mix in Cheese

After the noodles are cooked and drained, put them back in the saucepan, and add your cheese. For my 3 handfuls of noodles, I use 2-3 slices of Schmelzkäse. I like this white "herzhaft-würzig" kind. Unfortunately, the yellow food dye us Americans love is banned in many European countries, so to get your macaroni and cheese to appear as Kraft-like as possible, just try to find the brightest yellow Schmelzkäse you can find.

Unwrap the cheese, throw it in the pan, and stir like crazy. To make it creamy, I do also suggest adding some butter and possibly milk. To minimize on dishes, I do not measure. But I guess I use about a tablespoon of butter and two tablespoons of milk.

You know its Kraft Macaroni & Cheese quality when the cheese resembles plastic.

Don't worry, it eventually melts and turns into this!

For an extra special touch, make sure to eat it off of those ugly plates that the person who lived in your apartment before you left behind.

Enjoy!

What is your favorite boxed/frozen meal? Have you ever tried recreating it from scratch?

Why German Eggs Would Be Illegal to Sell in the U.S.

If you are grocery shopping in the U.S., here is something you would never see when opening up a dozen of store-bought eggs:

I distinctly remember my first time grocery shopping in Germany. I spent quite a while looking for the eggs in the refrigerated section before a friend pointed out that they found them near the bread. As if that was not strange enough for my American brain to process (I mean, who doesn't refrigerate their eggs?!), I opened the case to check for broken ones and found that they were all covered in feathers, dirt, and god-only-knows-what-else.

Over the past three years, I have learned to enjoy seeing the poop and feather-covered eggs. The German boyfriend says that it is a sign that the eggs are really eggs. They are created by hens, get laid onto a dirty ground, and we all enjoy eating them for breakfast. So it goes.

However, I never really thought about the reason for this until I recently found an article about why American eggs would be illegal in a British supermarket and vice versa. You see, it is law in the U.S. that all eggs must be washed with warm water and a non-scented detergent. The issue with this, however, is that any moisture on the egg serves as a vehicle for pathogens to travel through the porous shell. Therefore, American egg-washers (is that a job?) must also make sure the eggs are thoroughly dried before shipping them off to the grocery store.

Since washing eggs is a delicate process, one can already start to see why it is illegal throughout the European Union to wash eggs before selling them. To top it off, the egg has a natural coating on it that protects it from contamination. Wash the egg, and you remove this coating. Therefore, European farmers are simply encouraged to keep the hen's area clean to ensure that eggs do not become completely poop-covered.

What do you think? Do you like the idea of having clean eggs? Or do you prefer seeing your eggs au naturel?

The American Foods I Miss Most

My March article for Expat Focus was about the American foods that I miss most. To accompany the article, I wanted to make a blog post with some delicious pictures. I also put the six foods that I mentioned in order according to what I miss most.

6. Girl Scout Cookies (particularly Samoas)

Girl Scout Cookies by Hinnosaar

5. Root Beer

A&W Root Beer by Banzai Hiroaki

4. Cheese Popcorn

Billy's Lounge Popcorn by stevendepolo

3. Red Licorice

Red Vines by Incase

2. Reese's

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups by KEF08

1. Mac and Cheese

Kraft Mac & Cheese Three Cheese by Myself :)

For more words on this subject, make sure to check out my article on Expat Focus!

Bacon AND Cheese Hot Dogs

The local grocery store had bacon and cheese filled hot dogs last week. As soon as I saw the advertisement in the newspaper, I knew I had to get them.

The package contained six huge sausages. So, for dinner that night, Marco ate three, and I ate two.


We grilled them on the panini grill, which is how Marco likes to cook everything nowadays.

You can see they didn't exactly fit on our plates.

Now, I have to preface my review by saying that cheese-filled anything is my favorite kind of food. So, I had high hopes for these guys. Marco, of course, was more excited for the bacon part.

And I have to say, overall, they were pretty good. I was happy that the bacon flavor wasn't too strong, but you could definitely still taste it. You can see some of the bacon and fat bits in the picture on the right. They were definitely lacking in the cheese area, however.

Although, we did still end up buying another package that same week ;)

What is your favorite kind of sausage?