Chili Cook Off

Our church had one of its most popular events this evening -- the Annual Chili Cook Off. Parishioners had a chance to sample many different kinds of chili and then vote on their favorites.

There were three categories: Hottest Chili, Most Unusual Name, Best Overall. For most unusual name, "Un-Boar-lievable Chili" got my vote. As the name implied, the chili was made with boar meat. Pictured above are the prizes for the winners -- all the fixings for a Mexican meal, including some Corona beer and the elusive Doritos tortilla chips.

I was impressed by the number of slow cookers. I had had great difficulty finding one when we first moved here and we ended up finally finding one on Germany's e-bay. These folks probably had to do the same thing as no one in any of the stores we visited had ever heard of a slow cooker or Crockpot.

I voted this chili "Best Overall" and not just because the cook served it with Fritos, which you cannot find in German stores and for which there is no German equivalent. It was lecker!

Toilet talk

Yahoo.com has been featuring the Good Housekeeping article "2010 VIP (Very Innovative Products) Awards. Winners included a digital camera with its own built-in projector, a folding camping chair with embedded insect repellent, and Dolby technology that keeps TV volume level, preventing loud commercials from giving you whiplash. Another winning product made me chuckle:

"Brondell Perfect Flush, $79. This simple system is the first to turn nearly any toilet into a water-saving dual-flush unit, for a fraction of the cost of buying a new one. And it will slash up to $100 per year off your water bill. Installation takes a half hour or less, even for an inexperienced DIYer. The two-sided button sits atop the tank or can be mounted to the side with double-stick tape. Press one side for a small flush, the other for a full flush (or any of 10 increments you can set)."

Dual flushing systems have been standard in Germany for years and make a lot of sense. I was heartened to know that we will be able to set up such a system for each of our commodes once we move back to the U.S. With a family of 6, there is a lot of flushing going on. Here are some examples of dual flushing toilets here in Germany:

You also see toilets where you don't have two different buttons, but you can stop the flush to shorten it.

Here is the kids' bathroom toilet. You push on the bottom section of the large flush activator (not sure what to call it), and the flush begins. If you need just a short flush, once you've flushed away whatever needs to be flushed away, you press on the top of the activator to halt the flush. It works well for us.

A new way to bake bread

This afternoon our neighbor Jonna celebrated her 4th birthday with a little party and Becca was on the guest list. We were the first to arrive since we only live 2 doors down and when Becca handed Jonna her present, Jonna immediately began tearing off the wrapping. I wasn't sure if Anne, her mom, saw what she was doing, so I hesitantly asked, gesturing to the girls, "Um,...is that OK?" Anne looked at Jonna and said, "Oh, yes. Wait, in American you wait for everyone to open presents, don't you? We open them as each kid arrives." Just when you think you know what you're doing in a foreign country.....

Parents were told they could stay at pick-up time to do some grilling. I wasn't sure what would be grilled.

It was bread dough wrapped around stakes and the kid were very excited to give it a try.

Jonna's dad showing off his German flag hat.

Little sister Jette getting some fresh air.

Party kids

Grilling and chatting

Munching on warm bread

Chatting and grilling

Grocery Shopping in Germany 101: Lesson 1 -- Shopping Bags

I've been meaning for a while to blog about what it's like to go food shopping in Germany, but it was such a daunting task, I kept putting it off.  This is the part of my life here in Germany that has taken the most effort over the last two years and I had so much to say.  I finally realized that if I broke all the information down into smaller pieces, it seemed like a less intimidating undertaking.

Our first lesson will be all about shopping bags.  This would have been a much more interesting lesson if I were writing it five years ago.  What an American notices right away in a German grocery store is that people bring their own reusuable shopping bags or baskets -- pretty much unheard of in the U.S. until the past few years.  The U.S. is starting to imitate Europe in this respect, but I still thought shopping bags deserved a mention.

In preparation for our stay here in Germany, my good friend Valerie gave me a canvas tote bag.  She had lived in Germany for three years and knew I would need a shopping bag.  And what could be better or more appropriate than a bag featuring quotes from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice?

You see, here in German grocery stores, and I imagine in most European grocery stores, you pay for those little plastic shopping bags at the register.  As a result, most people use some kind of reusuable shopping bag or basket.  At most other stores, such as clothing stores, department stores, book stores, etc., you get bags for free with your purchase. 

At first I was peeved by all this.  After all, I was a wasteful American consumer and every food shopping trip ended with me stashing away 12-15 little wasteful plastic bags.  But I reused every one of those little wasteful plastic bags, often as little trash can liners.  I have since learned that I can line a little trash can here with a plastic bag and as long as that bag doesn't get yucky, I can keep that same bag in the trashcan for a few months.  Back home, we were just throwing away  plastic bags every week on trash day -- and times 4 or 5 little trashcans, well, that adds up.  It is needlessly wasteful.

For the first month or so here, I was being very German and walking to one of the local grocery stores every day with my 2 or 3 canvas tote bags and buying a day's worth of food, which was just what I could manage to carry.  But think about it -- food for a day for 6 people.  That means, milk, jogurt, snacks for lunch boxes, food for dinner, etc. every day.  Then a loaf of bread, a box of cereal, a package of cheese, juice boxes, etc. every other day.  It was a chore.  Plus I would freak out if someone ate or drank a little something extra.  "Don't eat those pretzels!  They're for the kids' lunches tomorrow!"  "Only half a glass of milk at dinner for everyone! We're running low and we need milk for cereal in the morning!"  "I can't believe you all ate that little package of cookies!  Now what am I supposed to give you for snack in your lunch boxes tomorrow?"

I just wasn't willing to go through all this every day for 3 years.  Most Germans go food shopping every day or every other day, but most German families do not have four kids.  There were 3 grocery stores within a five-minute walk from home, but none were what we would think of as a big American supermarket where you can find everything.  You just couldn't guarantee that you would find what you needed on any given day.  There have been times I have walked into one of the stores near us and there has been no eggs or no chicken or no milk. I then would walk to the other two stores, and would be very lucky indeed if I found eggs, chicken or milk there.

I asked around and found out about Real, Germany's answer to SuperWalmart.  After my initial visit, I figured I could do a weekly shopping trip there, but I would need more shopping bags.  What to do?

I did what you see many other people doing:  reusing plastic shopping bags from other stores.  Just imagine that you go shopping at your local Publix or Kroger and at the register, you whip out a big J.C. Penney bag, a Target bag, a Barnes and Noble bag, a Gap bag...etc.  That was what I did for 1-1/2 years.  The bags were unwieldy, and ripped over time, but I managed.

During our trip to France last spring, our friend Sally showed me her store brand shopping bags and I vowed to get some of my own.  They are large, sturdy bags that made carrying enough groceries to feed a family of 6 for a week into the house that much easier.  Grocery stores, drugstores and other stores here sell their own brand of sturdy shopping bags for about $1.50 a bag.  What a bargain!  I like this bag from Real because it features a German computer keyboard with accents and that funny B, which stands for "ss".

I picked up the elephant bag in a grocery store in London and the Parc Astérix bag at, of all places, Parc Astérix, a French amusement park.

Yesterday at Real, in the section of the store where independent merchants can set up shop for a week (purses/wallets, wooden toys, clothing, etc.), a woman had a large display of different types of shopping baskets.

You see more people carrying baskets around a store than the store brand of shopping bags.  These collapsible baskets are popular and stylish. And remember, people usually buy just enough food for one or two days, so such a basket is all you need.  No need to even get a shopping cart as you make your way around the store.

I couldn't pass up buying a traditional basket at the lovely display and asked myself if I would think to use it in the U.S.  I very well could get some funny looks in the Kroger, but people look so charming walking down the street and around stores with these lovely baskets.

An Afternoon of Sledding

This part of Germany doesn't usually see snow sticking around this long. We needed to take advantage of it! We drove to a popular sledding spot in the next town and gave the plastic sleds lying around our basement a try.

Becca on a little sled shaped like a shovel.

The long walk back up the hill

Cold, snowy or rainy weather does not stop Germans from biking or taking little babies for a walk.

David didn't get very far.

There was a lot of non-sledding activity on the road (people out for a stroll insisted on walking right down the center of the road where kids were trying to sled), so we gave the woods lining the street a try.

A typical wooden German sled. And getting a ride was the cutest puppy we've ever seen.

The plastic shovel sled doubled as anchoring devices for climbing back up the slippery slopes. As fun as these little things were, we were wishing we had cool German wooden sleds. You can't find such a sled anywhere right now -- not even on-line. We aren't the only people taking advantage of the snow.

Becca taking a break

James wiping out

Everyone was ready to head home for some hot chocolate.

A kicksled, more commonly seen in Scandanavia. Load your child (or your groceries) in the front and you stand on one of the runners in the back with one foot and kick the sled forward with the other. It's similar to using a scooter.

Drying off the wet snowy clothes in the hope that we might be able to used them all again before winter ends