Oktoberfest: breakfast of champions

We (along with most everyone else in Munich) are hosting a lot of house guests these days. Seems like as good a time as any to add to my breakfast-making repertoire. Plus, I like to make up recipes. Our most recent guests (the delightful Redenii) inspired this experiment with their love of German pretzels. We had a few left over one day, and I was trying to figure out what to do with them before they went stale. At the same time, I was thinking about the next day’s breakfast, which was possibly going to be french toast. You can probably figure out where this is going.  » Read the full post

Tags: cooking, food, Germany, recipe

Oktoberfest 2011: same procedure as every year

This is our fourth Oktoberfest as locals. Since leaving my parents’ house at 18, I’ve never lived anywhere else for more than three years, so this is kind of weird for me. I’m not used to doing things for a fourth time.

But here I am, getting out the dirndl (paired with sensible shoes for dancing on wooden benches) for Oktoberfest number four. Conversations with friends all include an exchange of details about which tents we will be in on which nights. The guest room is booked for almost a month straight with various configurations of friends and family. » Read the full post

Tags: Bavaria, beer, Europe, festivals, food, Munich, Oktoberfest, Oktoberfest tents, travel

New York food porn 2011

Scott and I get back to New York to visit friends and family about once a year. Well, we pretend we’re there to visit, but mostly we are there to eat. Here are some of the culinary highlights from our most recent visit (those marked * were my absolute favorites from this trip). » Read the full post

Tags: food, New York, restaurants, travel, USA

London notes: food

With the exception of, well, pretty much anyplace in Italy, London is my favorite food city in Europe. Long gone are the days of tittering about the blandness of English cuisine; London restaurants are creative, varied, and plentiful. Here are some of the notable eateries from my last visit. » Read the full post

Tags: England, Europe, food, London, restaurants, travel, UK, vegetarian, vegetarian restaurants

Notes from the Dolomites

Tis the season of endless long weekends here in Catholic Bavaria, affording plenty of opportunities for short getaways. So away we got, three days enjoying the cognitive dissonance that is the German-speaking part of Italy.

This trip started, as so many do, with a quick stop in Bressanone for lunch followed by a proper Italian espresso. » Read the full post

Tags: Dolomites, Europe, food, hotels, Italy, Meran, Merano, mountains, travel

Fear your vegetables: E.coli outbreak in Germany

As if coming home to find David Hasselhof climbing the charts weren’t bad enough, Germany also welcomed us back with a bit of an E.coli pandemic. At first I didn’t pay it much mind; the outbreak was small and happening in Hamburg, which is about as far away from Munich as one can get in Germany. But instead of the cause being discovered quickly and us all living happily ever after, the outbreak is only becoming worse, and spreading all over the country.  » Read the full post

Tags: food, Germany, news

Edinburgh: where to eat

We spent most of January in Edinburgh (I know, I’m a little behind on my blogging), so we got a chance to try quite a few of the city’s restaurants. That is, when I wasn’t busy using our apartment’s induction hob or sampling oddly-named desserts from Marks & Spencer. Here are the notable eateries, favorites first.

David Bann quickly became my favorite restaurant in the city » Read the full post

Tags: Edinburgh, Europe, food, restaurants, Scotland, travel, UK, vegetarian restaurants

What’s that wacky German food? Spargel

It’s here! Spargelzeit is here! What, you mean you don’t celebrate asparagus time where you live?

The Germans are crazy about white asparagus, a special breed that grows underground and is only harvested for a couple months each spring. Restaurants have special menus featuring white asparagus done every which way, and all the fruit and veggie stands display big piles of it, as if it’s the only thing worth eating this time of year. Preparing this Teutonic vegetable is relatively easy, but there are a few things you should know before doing it for the first time. » Read the full post

Tags: cooking, food, German, German culture, Germany, Spargel

What’s that wacky German food? Bärlauch

In English bärlauch is called ramsons or wild garlic, or sometimes even bear’s garlic (which is the translation most similar to the German name); that’s a lot of names for something I had never heard of before moving to Germany. The edible leaves are pungent, with a flavor that falls somewhere between garlic and wild onions. » Read the full post

Tags: cooking, food, German food, Germany, vegetarian

Something I love about Germany:

The national obsession with asparagus.

This week a newspaper in Munich was promoting a feature on “the first asparagus (where it comes from, how it grows, how much it costs).” Never mind that German asparagus season is still a month away – anticipation is part of the pleasure.

Tags: food, German culture, Germany, Munich, Spargel