January 21 | Germany

Revisiting Around the World in Quarantine on NYE made me miss the experience. I really enjoy the entire process of AtWiQ from learning about a new country or region to planning the details to cooking the food. It’s all exciting to me.

I selected Germany for a very interesting reason. I was looking to use a set of charger plates with pine cones on them. I researched countries that produce Christmas trees and Germany popped up as a top producer. After a little research into German cuisine, it was an easy choice.

Color Scheme: Green, Brown and White

Tablescape

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Menu

First Course: Räucherforelle and Kartoffelpuffer

Dinner began with Räucherforelle, smoked trout, and Kartoffelpuffer, a potato pancake. The Kartoffelpuffer was delicious. It’s typically paired with apple sauce, and surprisingly, the two paired very well. The Räucherforelle was fine, but the small bones in the smoked trout were a turn-off.

Second Course: Königsberger Klopse with Spaetzle and German Rotkohl

For our second course, we had Königsberger Klopse, german meatballs in a creamy sauce. Though they don’t look the best in my picture, they were soooooo good. Since we’re pescatarians, I subbed the meat out for beyond beef. Because of this, the meatballs didn’t stay together as well, but that didn’t matter to us because they were delicious. For the sides, we enjoyed Spaetzle and German Rotkohl. The spaetzle was a lot of fun to make. I bought a spaetzle maker, and I wasn’t sure how it would turn out. Though a bit messy, it ended up being pretty easy. I did crisp them up with some butter, and they really came alive when mixed with the creamy sauce. The rotkohl was good, too.

Third Course: Bienenstich

For dessert, we enjoyed Bienenstich, also known as Bee Sting Cake. This cake is made with yeast which is a bit different from most cakes. Unfortunately, my yeast wasn’t the freshest, so my cake was a little dense. The cake is topped with a honey and almond glaze and baked for 30 minutes. Once cooled, it is cut in half and layered with and a thick pudding mixture. As good as this was without fresh yeast, I can’t imagine how yummy it would be if the yeast was fresh! I will definitely be making this again.

Beverage: Glühwein and Jägermeister

While in Paris last month, I had the opportunity to try vin chaud and fell in love! While researching Germany, I was excited to find out they had their own version called Glühwein. It was super easy to make and made our home smell ever so lovely. It tasted as good as it smelled.

We couldn’t have a German dinner without Jäger shots. I’m not even sure how I convinced Donnell to take one, but somehow I did. It instantly took me back to college and not in a good way. That bottle will be sitting there for a while.

Final Reflection:

Germany was really good. Donnell always says things are good, so I’ve begun asking him to rate the dinners overall. He said he would rate this dinner an 8, and I agree.