Boilo

Boilo! The coal region's hot toddy! Our friend Nick came over one evening and taught us how to make this delicious beverage. We enjoyed it while decorating our Christmas tree.
The great thing about this recipe is that you can add whatever quantity and variety of ingredients that you want. There are many variations but this is what we did:

1 2-liter bottle ginger ale
2 oranges, quartered
1 lemon, quartered
2 cinnamon sticks
1 Tablespoon caraway seeds
1 Tablespoon whole cloves
2 Tablespoons candied ginger, chopped
2 Tablespoons mulling spices (optional)
10 oz honey
2 1/2 cups Four Queens whiskey (or any cheap whiskey)
1/4 cup moonshine (optional, if you know someone who makes it)

In a large pot over medium/high heat, add the ginger ale, oranges, lemon, spices and honey. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Reduce heat to warm/low. Add the whiskey and moonshine. Enjoy warm!

German Foods = Honeymoon Foods

After our wedding on July 23, we left 2 days later for our honeymoon in Munich, Germany. We had a great time and I wanted to share some of our food experiences. We ate a lot! And it was all so scrumptous. I failed to take pictures of everything we ate but I did get photos of our favorites. g

To begin, as soon as we arrived in Munich, we dove right into exploring the area. We stopped at a restaurant at the Marienplatz - city square - around 10:45 am for a snack and to watch the Glockenspiel - a 10 minute show of figurines dancing in the bell tower of the city hall. We ordered weisswurst, a traditional white sausage in the Munich area. It's historically eaten in the morning because it is not smoked and can spoil after noon time. You eat the sausage with a pretzel and mustard. Our waiter failed to tell us that you do not eat the skin of the weisswurst :( But we still enjoyed it's unconventional creamy texture.

We also had a bratwurst and sauerkraut. The sauerkraut was the best I've ever had and I'm a huge kraut fan!



During our touring adventures in the old town of Munich, I took a break and slipped into a bakery and got a huge meringue. So sweet and crunchy!

While Adam was in a crowded soccer shop getting his Bayern Munich jersey, I enjoyed a gelato! So many flavors to choose from but I settled on raspberry! Look how divine the flavors look all mounded up in their containers, screaming at me to try each one!

We then wandered on to the Viktualienmarkt to see what the vegetable, fruit, meat, cheese and florists had to offer. I really wanted a pickle. Adam played along and tried it first so I could get a photo. It was both sweet and spicy at the same time - like no pickle I've ever had before. I like it but Adam did not (he's strickly a bread and butter pickle man).

Oh the beer!! We drank lots and lots of beer! Again, the beer was so much better than any beer in the U.S. And I think Adam has only had one U.S. beer since we've been home because nothing can compare to the brews in Bavaria! Pictured below is weissbier and a radler we enjoyed near the English Garden. During our trip Adam drank mostly weissbier. I fell in love with radlers - half beer and half lemonade. So freshing, especially for someone like me that can't drink a ton of beer.
Adside from all the beer we had at cafes, we visited beer gardens and beer halls. Adam's favorite beer was Augustiner and we visited the Augustiner beer hall. We also visited the famous Hofbrauhaus. While in the English garden we drank at the beer garden by the Chinesischer tower. Below are photos of the Hirschgarten, a beer garden a few blocks from our hotel. We went there twice!

Here, Adam enjoys a liter (or mas) of dunkel beer.

Of course we need pretzels with our beer! I ate several soft pretzels on our trip. The outsides were quite hard but the inside was so soft and doughy! In the background of this picture you can see the little shanty where you go to get your beer.

Ahhh! The beer garden cuisine! Let me say, I am hooked on currywurst! A sausage covered in curry ketchup with a side of fries! I was sure to bring home a bottle of curry ketchup and we're going to recreate this dish! I had currywurst 3 times on our trip!

Adam's favorite beer garden fare was schweinshaxe - a pig leg with incredible crispy skin! In this photo he had it with potato salad but other times he had it with fries.

After spending 3 days in Munich, our friends Susi and Jeff came to pick us up to take us to Susi's hometown, Furth im Wald - about 2 hours from Munich.

While in Furth we had some great food! We had one of the most traditional Bavarian meals, schweinsbraten - sliced pork served with gravy and a knodel. One of the best pork dishes ever!

We also enjoyed some local schnapps one evening! And we knew we loved schapps because we've had it several times at Susi's house in Maryland.

In Furth Adam mostly enjoyed Erdinger beer, brewed locally.

One night we went to a beer tent and Susi and I enjoyed gluwein - a hot spiced wine - because it was a very chilly night for July!

Below is a photo of Susi's sister serving up a snack of little sandwiches - delicious bread, some smothered in herbed cream cheese topped with cucumbers and radishes and some topped with sliced cheese and a gerkin.

We were also in town for Susi's son's christening. It was very special becuase I am his U.S. godmother and we was able to be there for the service. After the christening, we went to a restaurant for a champagne toast, dessert and coffee. Here is Susi in front of the dessert table.

To sum things up, we had pork and beer every day and were as happy as can be! We had an amazing trip and we cannot wait to go back soon!

New take on "tea"

I get sooo many magazines every month. Fashion and cooking are my favorite - so much I want to buy and cook out there. Sometimes I never get to take the time I want to really read every magazine. And I never get to try all the recipes I find.

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It's been quite sometime since I've read one of Martha's Living magazines. Over the weekend I looked through the March edition and found many things I want to make. She featured ideas on how to make "tea" with your French press. I put tea in quotes because it is what we refer to as tea but not tea because the tea plant is not being used.

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I bought this beautiful little French press in Paris when I was there studying in 2006. I don't use it much but I want to start - soon I'm heading to One Good Woman to get some coarse ground beans.

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Anyway, Martha suggested some ways to make 'tea'. I made the thyme, apple and ginger brew. I sliced one apple, 5 pieces of fresh ginger and rinsed a handful of thyme sprigs; put it all in the bottom of the French press and poured boiling water on top. I let it steep for 10 minutes, pushed down the press and poured myself a cup. The 'tea' is nearly clear but I could distintly taste all 3 of the flavors. A great way to use up the fresh thyme (leftover from a fish dish). I didn't even need sweetener and I'm a big Splenda fan.

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I'm definitely going to try this 'tea' method with mint leaves this summer.

White Sangria

Yesterday, I was very happy to be able to spend the day with my dear friends Rebecca and Jesse. I always want to cook for them and they're so great at wanting to help too. So between getting a little too red by the pool and deveining shrimp (gross!!), we mixed together a scrumptous white sangria from the Paula Dean July/August magazine.


1 bottle dry white wine (but we used a Niagra wine, which is sweet)
1 cup apple juice
1/2 cup orange-flavored liqueur (Cointreau)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
24 oz. lemon-lime soda
1/2 lemon sliced (we used a whole)
1/2 lime sliced (we used a whole)
1/2 granny smith apple sliced (we used a whole)


In a large pictcher, combine all ingredients except soda. Let sit in the refrigerator for an hour. Add soda right before serving with lots of ice!

A few glasses of this is a perfect afternoon treat!

Photos by Bec

Pomegranate Lemonade Spritzer

In the latest edition of the Paula Dean magazine, there is a recipe for a Pomegranate Lemonade Spritzer. I thought this would be nice to make for my mom for our Mothers Day dinner. Paula recommended using Minute Maid Pomegranate Lemonade but the first time I read the recipe before going to the store, for some reason, I thought this was a frozen concentrate mix. I get to the store and can't find this type of frozen concentrate so I buy pink lemonade concentrate instead. I get home and realize Paula is referring to a bottled drink so I go to a different store and can't find it. So I ended up buying pomegranate cranberry juice instead.

This is the drink concoction inspired by Paula Dean:

64 oz. pink lemonade (I used frozen concentrate and followed the package instructions)

2 to 3 cups ginger ale

2 to 3 cups Sprite

2 cups pomegranate cranberry juice

Mix all together, garnish with lemon and lime slices and serve immediately.

This was yummy but make sure you have enough people to drink it within a few hours otherwise it will go flat!