For Thanksgiving it was just us, so we didn’t fix a turkey. Instead we had brown sugar balsamic pork tenderloin, balsamic and parmesan Brussels sprouts, and sweet potato casserole with candied pecans.. oh and some cranberry sauce for Morgan! The sweet potato casserole reminded me of my mom’s pumpkin pie cake, but I can’t wait to have the real thing we visit around the holidays!
I’ve got a few pictures from the farmers market recently- I loved all the Christmas-y floral arrangements. I’d never seen cotton stems used in arrangements, but it looked really pretty. Also there were oranges and clementine’s everywhere – I guess they followed us back from Spain!
The Osnabrück Weihnachtsmarkt opened on November 25 and we went down there for the first time on the 27th. We had grillschinken mit brot (so sliced ham on a roll with cabbage and sauce on top) for dinner, drank some glühwein and feuerzangenbowle, and had some mutzen for dessert. Glühwein is hot mulled wine with spices in it (red is more common but you can get white too) and feuerzangenbowle is an alcoholic drink for which a rum-soaked sugarloaf is set on fire and drips into mulled wine- both are pretty tasty but can seriously ruin your gloves if you aren’t careful and spill on them! Glühwein is served in normal coffee mugs, but feuerzangenbowle is served in clay mugs (I’ve got some pictures below). I love walking around looking at the stands that sell geschenke (gifts). There are stands for children’s toys, stuffed animals, smokers/Christmas pyramids/wooden ornaments, Christmas village houses, star paper lanterns, candy/cookie stands, etc. It is really beautiful to walk around. I know most people prefer to travel in the summer since the weather is pleasant for walking around outside all day, but I think people should consider visiting Germany in December. Yes it is cold, but as long as you are properly dressed it isn’t that bad and the chance to see the Christmas markets and some is really special.
