Christmas Goodness

The American Alliance of Gundelfingen gathered on this glorious Sunday to bake up a storm - of Christmas cookies!  Between the two of us, I can safely say we baked about 20 dozen cookies of varying sorts.  Sugar cookies, M&M cookies, Peanut Butter Blossoms, and (of course) Gingerbread.  :-)

Our little (plastic) tree -- This year we could actually light it thanks to a battery operated strand of LED lights - thanks mom.

Thanksgiving time

I made pumpkin pie.

Boozin'

Statue in Elzach, Germany.  Note the workers trying to resurrect the structure while the one sitting atop drinks a beer.

Display created for one of the many alcohol stands at the Plaza Culinaria in Freiburg.  It continued to the right, outlining the top of the door frame.

Knitta

From the knit graffiti movement that began in Texas to... Tübingen, Germany!  "Making street art a little more warm and fuzzy."

Also, check out Magda Sayeg (founder of this movement, and mother of 'yarn bombing').

A Sunday in Rottenburg

While in Tübingen, we decided to take a short train ride to Rottenburg, a small town rumored to be quite beautiful.  It was rainy and quiet, everything was close and barely anyone was out and about... but I can concur it is a lovely little town.

Tübingen

This weekend we went to visit a good friend in the little University-town of Tübingen.  Here are just a few of the sites, for your voyeuristic intention.

We took a walk along the river.  In truth, the river is disgustingly dirty, dirty water (Charles River dirty, I'd say), but it was a lovely stroll nevertheless.  Besides, once the sun started to set all of the fall foliage took on beautiful hues, and the murky water served as a surprisingly ideal backdrop.

Simply love the exposed beams and sloping roofs of old German houses.  This one has obviously been touched up a bit and doesn't have the natural, dark ruggedness that is usually portrayed; but the lines and the coloring of the light, yellowy wood against the light blue, cloudy sky are so appealing to the eye.

Graffitied home to a (democratic/social) movement of sorts.  A house of ideas and speech, perhaps.  Honestly I don't really know, i couldn't get enough info from our host about what it really was other than these vague ideas.  Regardless, perched at a busy intersection it certainly stood out from the dull greyness of its modern city surroundings.

Birthday/Halloween Goodies

For my 3rd Birthday/Halloween in Germany, I celebrated with all of the many indulgences I've grown to love:

A lovely b-day package from mom allowed me to nom on some Halloween-themed Mac 'n Cheese.  Oh, edible nostalgia!

For my birthday dinner, I treated my guests to my favorite-to-make Halloween meal: stuffed Jack-O-Peppers (pictured) and stuffed intestines.  I made both meat and veggie versions (for the Peppers, I used kidney beans instead of ground beef, and for the intestines I added ground beef).  Check out the recipes and try them for yourself!

mmmm... I attempted some Chocolate Whiskey Cupcakes for the first time and they were yummy!  I didn't bother with the ganache, since I thought it would make too much of a mess (and, quite frankly, I didn't have any extra time to fuss with it), but I'm sure it makes them taste even more amazing.

Lastly, a shot of 'Brain Hemorrhage'.  This was at a bar, so I didn't make it myself, but it had Bailey's in it, which always makes for a tasty treat in my book.  :-)

48 Go Green

The last weekend of September my good friend Hannah and I participated in the 48 Hour Go Green Film Festival.  Standard 48 hour proceedure, however all films deal with an environmental theme and the videos are uploaded online, not sent in.  Our theme was "save the forests.'

It was lots of fun!  We had tons of ideas to go with, but we ended up going with an artsy/sci-fi approach by twisting reality and using some excellent mimes.  You can check out our submission here.  Voting has just ended for the people's choice award (darn my infrequent blog posts!).  We'll find out the contender on the 13th.  If we do end up as said contender, I will certainly be pushing for votes come December when the 3rd and final group finishes their films.

go green!

Winzergenossenschaft Glottertal

Today we voyaged into the vineyard-dotted area of Glottertal to the "Winzergenossenschaft Glottertal" to celebrate the birth of and welcome to the world a little bundle of joy.  Her parents couldn't have chosen a more perfect setting - a private tour of a small vineyard with a wine tasting and some homemade nibbles to follow.  It was truly a delight and I whole-heartedly recommend a visit to this vineyard.  Prost!

One of the larger wooden wine barrels.

I spy...

A paraglider!