First Day of School- German- Style!!

WooHoo!!!

Did you hear that?!  That is the sound of a mother who, although she loves her children dearly, is super-excited that they are going back to school!!!  We had a great summer and, in some ways, I will miss our lazy mornings and fun times, but the kids are tired of each other (and me) and not having enough structure in their day.  They might argue about that structure part, but I can see how much they need to go back to school.  My daughter, who is going into 1st grade (!!), doesn't go back until after Labor Day, but my son started his Pre-K class today.  Where does the time go?  I swear I was just posting cute infant pictures on Facebook yesterday!!  Anyway, we saw a cute idea in Family Fun magazine about a German tradition for the first day of school.  It's called a Schultüte (literal translation- school bag) and it's our new family tradition.

A Schultüte, sometimes also called a Zuckertüte (sugar bag), is a cone-shaped paper goodie bag given to children to celebrate the first day of school.  Traditionally, the first day of 1st Grade, but that seemed unfair so both my kids are going to get one.  I can't take any more cries of unfairness this summer! 

 

The tradition dates back to the early 1800's and started as a way to make the young children more excited about starting school.  The cones are usually filled with treats, small school supplies and other goodies.  Where were these things when I was growing up?!? 

Here is how you can make one for your darlings to celebrate the happiest time of the year (for parents anyway!).....

Schultüte
 For the project you will need:

• large thick paper or poster board
• strong tape or stapler
• tissue paper
• glue
• scissors
• stickers, markers or other decorations
• treats, school supplies, various goodies
• ribbon or yarn

1.  Take the heavy paper and twist it into a cone shape.  Tape or staple it so it will stay put.

2.  Take a piece of tissue paper about the same circumference of the open end of the cone and glue it on.  If your cone is really big, you might need another piece.  If it's a small cone, cut off the excess...they're gonna rip it off anyway, so don't get too fussy.

3. Decorate the cone anyway you want.  Or you could have wrapped it with some pretty gift wrap before the tissue paper.

4.  Fill your Schultüte with all the goodies and then tie up the end with the ribbon or yarn.

5.  Now you are ready to present your kid (who you actually kinda missed) with a wonderful treat to celebrate a great first day at school!  





They grow so fast.  

Friday Field Trip and German Lesson!

Friday Field Trip!

 

Actually it was a Thursday field trip, but that's because we had a dentist appointment today! (No cavities)  So yesterday after we visited Steve (daddy and husband) at the hospital where he is recovering from back surgery, we went to a fun German store I had heard about- Gourmet Haus Staudt.  I was expecting a small store with a tiny café, but this place was awesome!

  They had German snack food and mixes, knick-knacks and gifts, cuckoo clocks, more types of beer than I could count, fresh pretzels, sausages and even some cool hats.  It was a really fun little shop.  I wish we hadn't had lunch at the hospital because they had a German Bier Garten (Beer Garden) in the back where they served sausages and pretzels and sandwiches.  I'm still not eating carbs but the pretzels looked amazing!!  I know where I'm going when I need some carbs :) 

I wish I had more pictures to share but the battery died on the camera.  Oops.  We left with some German candies, some pretzel goldfish crackers that my son HAD to have, and a box of Spaetzle that I made for dinner.  They were basically egg noodles.  But "spaetzle" is more fun to say. 





Speaking of "fun to say"- 

Let's Learn Some German!!

German was once the unifying language of Central, Eastern and Northern Europe.  It is still taught in many areas outside of Germany as a second (or third) language.  German also has the most native speakers of any language in Europe.  So we should learn some....

Good Morning - Guten Morgen       Good Night - Gute Nacht
Good Bye-  Auf Wiedersehen     Thank You- Danke
Yes - Ja     No- Nein      I Love You - Ich Liebe Dich

1- ein        2- zwei       3- drei       4- vier      5 - funf
6 - sechs      7 - sieben    8 - acht    9 - neun    10 - zehn

red - rot     yellow - gelb     green - grun     blue - blau
black - Schwarz     white - Weiss

Monday -  Montag    Tuesday -  Dienstag    Wednesday - Mittwoch
Thursday - Donnerstag    Friday - Freitag    Saturday - Samstag
Sunday - Sonntag

Airplane- Flugzeug      Train - Bahn      Helicopter - Hubschrauber

That all for tonite folks, I'm beat and ready for bed!!  Gute Nacht!!


Aren't these cute?!  The store had every animal you could think of- all made of straw :)

On the Menu: German Food

Guten Appetit!

Are you ready for some German food?  I was, and it was pretty tasty.  German food is very homey comfort food.  Breaded meats, pot roasts, dumplings, sausages and soups are all very common.  Potatoes and red cabbage seemed to make appearances in many recipes I looked at.  Desserts include tortes and cakes that include a lot of fruit, especially apples it seemed.  It was hard to decide.

A very traditional food in Germany is sausage, or "wurst", as it is called there.  There are over 1,000 different kinds of sausage!!  And, as I mentioned before, red cabbage is a popular side dish along with dumplings or potatoes.  So I found a dish that includes all these elements and mixes them with some family favorites- bacon and beer!  The kids don't drink beer , of course, but it will be cooked so the alcohol will evaporate!!  I found the recipe on the internet, but I can't remember where, so I'm sorry that I'm not giving credit where it is due.  I changed a few ingredients and quantities anyway, so I guess I can claim it as my own, right?  The recipe didn't have a real German name so I'm googling how to say it in German.  

Rotkohl, Apfeln und Wurst 
(Red Cabbage, Apple and Sausages)

For the recipe you will need:

• 4 thick pieces of bacon- chopped
• 2 T sugar- I used real sugar
• 1/2 onion- sliced finely
• 1/2 head red cabbage- shredded
• 2 granny smith or other tart apple- sliced
• 2 T apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp caraway seed
• enough bratwurst to feed everyone
• 1lb or so new potatoes
• 1 cup beer.  I found some real German Beer but really "Budweiser" sounds German to me, right?
• salt and pepper.  See my cute German salt and pepper shakers!!

1.  Fry the bacon in a large pan, remove the bacon when crispy but leave the grease in the pan.
2.  Add the sugar and let it caramelize until golden, then add the onions and cook them until they are golden also.  Don't let your onion-hating husband see this step!!
3.  Add the cabbage, apples, caraway seeds, cooked bacon you saved from earlier and vinegar.  Mix it all together and then put the sausages and potatoes on top.
4.  Pour your beer over the whole shebang.
5. When it comes to a boil reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about an hour.  Or until your family comes home from the park and/or the sausages and potatoes are cooked.

I didn't expect to like this that much.  I've never thought that I liked red cabbage, but I really enjoyed this.  It was sweet and sour and such a pretty color!  The potatoes (I only snuck one bite) were soft and fluffy and the sausages were bursting their seams.  I love bratwurst with mustard- yum!  Now for the rest of the family-  my husband said "he didn't hate it" and he finished his serving.  I know he knew there were onions in it and so I expect that was all he was thinking about.  Really, everything was so cooked together it all tasted the same, so I know he couldn't tell they were there if he hadn't known.  My son loved the sausage and potatoes and ate some of the cabbage- he's a trooper!!  My daughter was still mad about leaving the park, so she declared she wasn't having dinner and sat in her room.  Honestly, I would have been surprised if she even tried the cabbage! 

Since it got mixed reviews, I don't know if I would make it again, but I really enjoyed it!!  If you like that mixture of sweet and sour and want something different to try- make this!!  And invite me over when you do!!!

The Berlin Wall for Kids

"Tear Down the Wall!!"

Many important world events have happened in my lifetime, but I have very vivid memories of the Berlin Wall being torn down.  I was recently out of high school when, on November 9, 1989, the leader of the East German Communist Party declared that the citizens of East Germany were free to cross the border into West Germany if they chose to.  That night thousands of people swarmed the wall and took hammers and picks to it!  It was such a wonderful symbol of freedom from oppression to see the wall torn down.  But, to be honest, I never really knew when or why the wall was built in the first place.  Here's what I learned...

After Germany lost World War II, the country was split up.  The Eastern side went to the Soviet Union and the Western sections were divided among the U.S., Great Britain and France.  Berlin was split in the middle.  The Soviet Union (what Russia and some nearby countries were called when they were Communist-run) tried to push the Western Allies out of Berlin in hopes that it would prevent the East Germans from leaving for "greener pastures".  The Allies weren't going anywhere though, so the East Germans declared that West Germany was a threat to the socialist society in East Germany and, in 1961, they built a huge wall on the border between East and West Berlin.  This idea that the West was a threat was not true, the real reason for the wall was to keep the East Germans in East Germany. 

 

 

from the Western side

The wall was effective but not at all popular with anyone.  By the late 1980's the Cold War between the Soviets and the U.S. and other Western countries was ending.  In a very popular move, the leader of the East German Communist Party declared that the people of East Germany were free to cross the border at will.  The wall was torn down and on October 3, 1990 the country of Germany was unified once again.

One of my first jobs after high school was working as a Customer Service Rep at "one of the major car rental companies"- I won't name names but it starts with an H.  Anyway, one day I was helping a nice German man with his car rental needs, I was pretty good at my job and did something that must have been above and beyond what he expected.  He was very pleased, and as a token of appreciation, he gave me (what he claimed was) a small piece of the Berlin Wall.  He said he was there that night and he took lots of souvenirs.  I keep that treasure with all my special things as a reminder that freedom should not be taken for granted.  Some people have to fight for the freedom we enjoy in America!!
 



My chunk of history.

      

The kids thought the idea that people were forced to live someplace they didn't want to was very "mean" and they loved the story of the people destroying the wall.  So we re-enacted  it with legos and action figures.  I should have put it on video. (ah, hindsight)

The "Communists" building the wall!!  Cutest Communists EVER!

 

East German side- note the armed guards and lack of individuality of the people. 

 

West German side- where people are allowed to be free and dress like Superheroes if they want to.

 

 

The wall is down and the people of East and West Germany are celebrating together!!  Life is good.

 

 

 

Week 38: Germany

Guten Tag!


Hi there everyone!  I want to start off the week with a big THANK YOU to everyone who is reading the blog.  Last week I had more readers than ever before- each day was at or over 200!!  Now some blogs average THOUSANDS a day, but I'm just overwhelmed that hundreds take the time to check out our little project.  So thanks for looking- please leave us a comment about what you think!  And before you tell me- I already know I have bad grammar and use too many exclamation points!!!!!  Now on to Germany.....

Germany is located in central Europe.  The capital is Berlin, which can be found on your map at 52.52°N / 13.41°E.  The country has a wonderful charm with fairytale castles and quaint villages, snow-capped mountains and beautiful rivers.  It also has had a major role in both of the World Wars and the government has had, at times, some serious "control issues" (to say the least).  But this is a blog for families with young children and while I think WWII has many important lessons to be learned, I don't think it is appropriate for my 6 and 3 yr. olds.  Please don't think I'm glossing over the Holocaust.  I'm just saving the discussion for another place and time.   So here are some FUN facts about Germany-

• Germany has the largest economy in Europe and the 5th largest in the world. 
• Germany is the largest producer of iron, steel, chemicals, tools, electronics, textiles and is second to Japan for cars.
• Some of the great inventions to come out of Germany include insulin, the pocket watch, gasoline and diesel engines, jet engines, the printing press, the cuckoo clock and the gummy bear!!

• Many classical music composers were born in Germany- a few include Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Brahms.

Beethoven looks so grumpy in all his pictures!

• Germany is home to 700 zoos, aquariums, animal parks and reserves.  The largest zoo in the world is Berlin's Zoologischer Garten. 
• Germany is also home to over 1,300 breweries!  The country has the second highest rate of beer consumption after Czechoslovakia.  The oldest brewery is Weihenstephaner Brewery which has been operating since 1040.

Wow, that's an armful!!

 

With all this going for it we should have a pretty fun week!  My husband is having back surgery on Thursday so please forgive me if I drop the ball a little this week.  I think I have some fun projects planned so check in and find out :)  and PLEASE let me know who you are!!  I'm so curious to know what you'd like to see or any ideas you have to make us better!!