The Season Begins...

I am thrilled the "Season" has begun!  
The season of cooking, eating, singing, family, packages, shopping, wrapping, partying and celebrating!
These things are so much a part of the Christmas season and I love them all, but of course the things I love the most are of a more spiritual nature.  Remembering what the season truly celebrates.  The lights, the carols, the quiet starry nights, and the church bells ringing out for everyone to hear, reminding us of the birth of the Savior and Redeemer.


So while I am trying not to miss family, the tried and true traditions and the things that have come to mean Christmas to me, I will be looking forward to spending this Christmas wrapped up in the customs and beauty of Germany.  Let the magic begin!

December first found me in the basement kitchen of the chapel on Vogelweh.  This is where my german cooking class is held.  This class was "German Cookies"...can I just borrow a saying from Rachel Ray and say "yummo"?!

We watched our instructor, Karin, make four different cookies and then tasted them all!

We made Karamell Shortbread  (pictured above),  Aprikosen-Kokos-Kugeln (Apricot Coconut balls), Butter Spritzgebäck, and Zimt-Zucker-Kipferln  (Cinnamon Sugar Crescents)

I love going to this class.  Karin is an amazing cook and teacher!  
I wasn't done with cookies yet, though.  On thursday I went to a cookie exchange hosted by our Stake R.S. president.  I took the famous date nut balls, but let me just say they paled in comparison to the fabulous cookies I got to bring home.  Mike tasted them all and agreed...they were all so good, not a bad one in the bunch!


We also had a couple of parties this week.  They were both held at castles, yes, that's right...castles!

We had a small get together at Schloss Nanstein Hotel which is just above Landshtul.  They have it all lit up at night for the holidays and it's beautiful.  We were there to say good bye to Col. Corkern who was our sponsor when we first got here.  He is the first person who met us off the plane and spent two days just helping us get where we needed to be, getting the lay of the land, and helping us to adjust.  He has been so good to us and we will try to do as good of a job if we ever get to sponsor someone.  He and his family are headed back to the states this month.    Cork is on the right and that is Col. Vaughn on the left.


The other party we attended was the 603rds annual Christmas Party.  It was held at the Schloss Turm Hotel in Potzberg.  It is a castle that is now a hotel and restaurant. 


 It's located about 20 minutes from here, up a very windy road.  We drove up and up and into the clouds and mist.  The mist here is really cool.  It's not rain, but you can see it.  It's just this fine little bits of moisture, they don't really drop like rain they just hang...oh well, it's hard to explain




This place had a very castle feel to it.  Lots of knights, stonework and roaring open fireplaces.  The food wasn't that great: salad, pork, beef or chicken in sosse, crochette and spaetzelle.  And of course apple cake and ice cream (apfel kucken mit eis) for dessert.

To top off the week we went to our first Christmas market.  Ramstein was having a weekend market, so we thought we would check it out.

They only had about 15 booths and there was almost nobody around.  It was drizzly and a little chilly but we found some weisse bratwurst and T.J.  found a pizza stand.  I also got the traditional kinderpunsch in a take home souvenir cup.  This is an embarrassing (but then of course funny) story.    Christmas markets are famous for their "gluhwein"  which is hot mulled red wine.  They also have a version for kids called kinderpunsch.   I was trying out my german and so asked "Ich möchte ein kinderpunsch mit schoss, bitte"  I thought I was saying I'd like a kinderpunch with a shoe ( because the little souvenir cup in Ramstein is in the shape of a boot).  Well she said Ja and pointed to several bottles of liquor on the counter and I was confused and said....Kinderpunsch...no alcohol!   She laughed and pointed to a sign.  I finally realized it meant something other than what I was asking for and that I had meant to say "schuh"  which means shoe and I must have said something about I want a kinderpunch with booze. Oh well, I am trying and I guess that means I have to look like a fool sometimes!

We are looking forward to trying out many more Christmas markets, which bring me to our big event for next week!

My brother, Casey, is coming to visit..Yippee, Hooray and Merry Christmas!  He will only be here a few days, but we are thrilled to have some family here to celebrate this most wonderful season with!  

Wishing you all the merriest of seasons, may it be all that you wish for!

Love and miss you all,

-corri