Well, I'm not even going to bother apologizing, because that's how I start almost EVERY blog post, and I'm sure it gets as boring for you all as it does for me.
Let's get into it, shall we?
Today is a very special day in the spirit of German/American unity. It marks the fourth month of my stay in Germany! WOW! You know what that means? A couple things. You see, I've got all the statistics. Oh yes. You know it.
As of right now, I still have:
6 months, 18 days, 18 hours, and 12 minutes left in my stay. This means of:
6 months.
28 weeks.
201 days.
290,470 minutes.
17,428,183 seconds,
and
the same number of heartbeats.
I've been here for:
4 months, 0 days, 11 hours, and 22 minutes.
Or:
122 days.
My whole stay consists of 323 days. Which means that the halfway point is at roughly noon of the 161st day. That is in only 40 days. Which means that half of my stay will officially be over on January 14, 2012.
I told you I had it all figured out, didn't I? Just gotta trust.
Crazy how the time flies, isn't it?
In the spirit of blogging procrastination, I have a few stories for my avid readers.
November 24, 2011: Project Bring American Thanksgiving to Germany
Status: SUPER MEGA SUCCESS!
Being an American, there was no way on this Earth that I was missing Thanksgiving, so I brought it to Germany.
On the 23rd, I brought shopping bags with me to school, and afterwards went to shop. Fifty Euros and two bulging full bags later, I walked out to the bus and prayed the bags wouldn't rip while I waited. They didn't, and I made it home successfully.
Of course, as with somebody doing something for the first time, some stuff went wrong, but I think it turned out pretty dang good.
First off, I had to buy two turkeys. At least, I thought I did, because these German turkeys are TINY! I could only buy baby turkeys, so the biggest one was just a little over five pounds. Us Americans usually buy like a twenty pound turkey when they have as many people as we did, but we only ate ONE five pound turkey between six people. Also, when you are making turkey for the first time, everybody tells you, "don't forget to take out the giblets." Unfortunately, nobody tells you WHERE those giblets are. I found the neck, but thought it was a spine because of the shape. Ugh... Shudder inducing. But, I couldn't find anything else in the body cavity, so I dressed the first turkey for the oven, and put it in. On the NEXT turkey, I found the little bag of organs including heart, liver, and whatever the heck else is in there, hidden behind a flap of skin where the neck had been attached. I got it out, and managed to get the bag out of the already cooking turkey without incident. Luckily, the meat tasted good, and was fully cooked, not dry, and didn't taste at all like the giblets. Turkey, too much, but a success!
Next, the day before, I began the recipe for my pecan pie, and for my homemade rolls. I made the pecan pie, fine, all good. The rolls, I began, and then realized when I had a bunch of stuff mixed together that I did not have enough flour. I put the recipe away, and bought more flour the next day. Unfortunately, these rolls are a four hour ordeal, and did not make it to the table, because the first batch came out burnt, and I had no more time to make more. Oh well, I made the rest of the rolls the next day, and it turned out pretty good. The pecan pie ended up like caramel, and very sweet, making me wish I had bought a bottle of Port to go with it as was suggested with the recipe. It tasted fine, you just couldn't eat too much of it. Pie, success! Rolls, fail... :(
Thirdly, was the mashed potatoes and stuffing. Both went good, but I didn't know that when you're making stuffing, you're supposed to cut the bread into bits and let it dry the day before your make the stuffing. Whoops. It tasted good though, if not a little bit soggy, but it succeeded. The mashed potatoes were also good, but if I could make them again, I would use a bit more cream in them. Both, success!
Lastly, we come to table setting. And no, I didn't just forget to write about the gravy, I didn't make it at all. I had no time for it at all. Plus, when I took my first turkey out of the oven, the pan slipped and I got ALL the hot drippings on my arms and pants, and the floor of the kitchen. Whoops! So I didn't have enough turkey drippings either. Oh well, I never liked gravy anyways. So the table. I set it up with six plates, a fork on the left, and a knife on the right with the glass positioned above that. The turkey was the centerpiece flanked on either side by orange candles in the spirit of Fall and the harvest and such. The rest of the food was arranged around that and on each plate, I gave six gold coins. Originally, I thought they were of the chocolate variety, but when we ate them later, it turns out they were made out of this taffy-like stuff. Delicious! Everybody loved dinner, and had a great time. We even followed the Thanksgiving tradition, and went around the table to give and say thanks for what we were gifted in our very privileged lives. We had fun, laughed a bit, and it was just great!
By the way, I changed schools. About a month ago. Friday was the end of my fourth week at the Georg Forster Gymnasium in Kamp-Lintfort. I am now in the TENTH grade instead of the ninth, and have more friends than I can even name! Everybody at this new school is so nice to me, (not that the ones at the other were mean) and I can see myself really being good with this new group.
There is not much more to say about the Gymnasium. If you want to know more, just leave a comment on this blog, and I'll answer it in my next post. If I don't write again before then, I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah or Kwanza, and a happy new year as well. If I missed a holiday, I apologize, but do hope it's a great one for you!
Until My Next Post, Tchüß!
Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
Anna <3
Let's get into it, shall we?
Today is a very special day in the spirit of German/American unity. It marks the fourth month of my stay in Germany! WOW! You know what that means? A couple things. You see, I've got all the statistics. Oh yes. You know it.
As of right now, I still have:
6 months, 18 days, 18 hours, and 12 minutes left in my stay. This means of:
6 months.
28 weeks.
201 days.
290,470 minutes.
17,428,183 seconds,
and
the same number of heartbeats.
I've been here for:
4 months, 0 days, 11 hours, and 22 minutes.
Or:
122 days.
My whole stay consists of 323 days. Which means that the halfway point is at roughly noon of the 161st day. That is in only 40 days. Which means that half of my stay will officially be over on January 14, 2012.
I told you I had it all figured out, didn't I? Just gotta trust.
Crazy how the time flies, isn't it?
In the spirit of blogging procrastination, I have a few stories for my avid readers.
November 24, 2011: Project Bring American Thanksgiving to Germany
Status: SUPER MEGA SUCCESS!
Being an American, there was no way on this Earth that I was missing Thanksgiving, so I brought it to Germany.
On the 23rd, I brought shopping bags with me to school, and afterwards went to shop. Fifty Euros and two bulging full bags later, I walked out to the bus and prayed the bags wouldn't rip while I waited. They didn't, and I made it home successfully.
Of course, as with somebody doing something for the first time, some stuff went wrong, but I think it turned out pretty dang good.
First off, I had to buy two turkeys. At least, I thought I did, because these German turkeys are TINY! I could only buy baby turkeys, so the biggest one was just a little over five pounds. Us Americans usually buy like a twenty pound turkey when they have as many people as we did, but we only ate ONE five pound turkey between six people. Also, when you are making turkey for the first time, everybody tells you, "don't forget to take out the giblets." Unfortunately, nobody tells you WHERE those giblets are. I found the neck, but thought it was a spine because of the shape. Ugh... Shudder inducing. But, I couldn't find anything else in the body cavity, so I dressed the first turkey for the oven, and put it in. On the NEXT turkey, I found the little bag of organs including heart, liver, and whatever the heck else is in there, hidden behind a flap of skin where the neck had been attached. I got it out, and managed to get the bag out of the already cooking turkey without incident. Luckily, the meat tasted good, and was fully cooked, not dry, and didn't taste at all like the giblets. Turkey, too much, but a success!
Next, the day before, I began the recipe for my pecan pie, and for my homemade rolls. I made the pecan pie, fine, all good. The rolls, I began, and then realized when I had a bunch of stuff mixed together that I did not have enough flour. I put the recipe away, and bought more flour the next day. Unfortunately, these rolls are a four hour ordeal, and did not make it to the table, because the first batch came out burnt, and I had no more time to make more. Oh well, I made the rest of the rolls the next day, and it turned out pretty good. The pecan pie ended up like caramel, and very sweet, making me wish I had bought a bottle of Port to go with it as was suggested with the recipe. It tasted fine, you just couldn't eat too much of it. Pie, success! Rolls, fail... :(
Thirdly, was the mashed potatoes and stuffing. Both went good, but I didn't know that when you're making stuffing, you're supposed to cut the bread into bits and let it dry the day before your make the stuffing. Whoops. It tasted good though, if not a little bit soggy, but it succeeded. The mashed potatoes were also good, but if I could make them again, I would use a bit more cream in them. Both, success!
Lastly, we come to table setting. And no, I didn't just forget to write about the gravy, I didn't make it at all. I had no time for it at all. Plus, when I took my first turkey out of the oven, the pan slipped and I got ALL the hot drippings on my arms and pants, and the floor of the kitchen. Whoops! So I didn't have enough turkey drippings either. Oh well, I never liked gravy anyways. So the table. I set it up with six plates, a fork on the left, and a knife on the right with the glass positioned above that. The turkey was the centerpiece flanked on either side by orange candles in the spirit of Fall and the harvest and such. The rest of the food was arranged around that and on each plate, I gave six gold coins. Originally, I thought they were of the chocolate variety, but when we ate them later, it turns out they were made out of this taffy-like stuff. Delicious! Everybody loved dinner, and had a great time. We even followed the Thanksgiving tradition, and went around the table to give and say thanks for what we were gifted in our very privileged lives. We had fun, laughed a bit, and it was just great!
Fun? Oh yes. A surplus of it. <3
There is not much more to say about the Gymnasium. If you want to know more, just leave a comment on this blog, and I'll answer it in my next post. If I don't write again before then, I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah or Kwanza, and a happy new year as well. If I missed a holiday, I apologize, but do hope it's a great one for you!
Until My Next Post, Tchüß!
Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
Anna <3
Nice looking turkey ! Food network will be calling!
ReplyDeleteAnna....it never fails I laugh everytime I read your blog...you write as if I was sitting right next to you. I just want you to know that next Thanksgiving will be your opportunity to help Dad and I out in the kitchen....but we need the gravy! So glad you didnt come out of the dinner with burns on your body from the hot grease....I remember doing something similar to that when I made a chicken for Opa when Oma was out of town....thought I was so "Chef" like and had everything under control until I realized the chicken looked quite dry while in the oven. I quickly grabbed a glass of water to put into the glass dish....yes I said glass dish. Cold water plus glass dish in oven create a mighty big explosion! I had glass, chicken juice and skin from the chicken all over! I could have lost an eye! Oh the things we learn when we cook. Im so thrilled to have read your blog....I love you!
ReplyDelete