Stitches, Shortbread and Snow

I expect you are all wondering why I have not been writing lately. I suppose I have other things on my mind, and nothing particularly blog-worthy has been happening. However, I think an update is owed.

I have become more familiar with the city and surrounding villages in the last month or so and I am VERY excited to see everything decked out for Christmas and visit a Weihnachtsmarkt or two! It seems that everyone goes crazy for Christmas just before Der Erste Advent (the Sunday 4 weeks before Christmas, or first Advent). Today I was busy helping Magda (Thomas’ mother) make all sorts of Christmas cookies. I think we have enough to feed an army….or five. Haha.

The baking didn’t go quite as smoothly as I had hoped. I wanted to make 2 recipes that my mom usually makes at Christmas time. Shortbread and Ginger Snaps. I made the latter today and they went off without a hitch; the shortbread was another matter. I think it was the combination of a few factors that made it go so wrong. It is whipped shortbread, so you’re supposed to…well, whip it good. Ha. I underestimated the amount of whipping needed though. That, combined with the somewhat off imperial volume to metric weight conversions turned what should have been yummy, easy shortbread into a gross, finicky pile of butter on the pan. I won’t post the picture here, but I’ll post it on Facebook soon, so all can see and avoid my folly. Haha. Anyway, I tried it again, but decided the dough didn’t taste right, so added more sugar. Luckily, Thomas made me put two cookies on the pan BEFORE I added the sugar, as a comparison. Well, turns out my instinct was dead wrong. The two that were un-tampered with were perfect…The rest taste good too…just…not Shortbread! I guess I learned my lesson though.

Vanillekipferl are a nutty crescent shaped cookie.

Plätzchen is German for Christmas cookies.

Lately I have been passing a lot of time knitting. I learned how to do it last winter and started to make a scarf, but I didn’t finish that scarf until oh…about a month ago. Since I finished that scarf, I have made four other small projects made from my own left over wool that I brought, and Magda’s collection. Last week I went to a charming wool shop in the city of Ettlingen (which has a really cute pedestrian only market area and a couple large, beautiful churches) I didn’t take any pictures, but I’m positive I will go there again, and this time with my camera!

For those of you curious about my language skills: I know my German gets better every time I speak and there isn’t much that I don’t understand these days, so I’m hopeful that I will keep improving without having to take any expensive classes.

I have heard from many people that Vancouver has been utterly cold and snowy for the last week or so, but I think here the cold is just beginning. Every day it seems to get a bit colder and last night it started to snow and there were flakes on and off today. I have no idea what the roads were like, since I was baking all day, but I did hear that they don’t salt the roads or sidewalks in Ettlingen. For aesthetic effects I’m told…but in my opinion, aesthetics only go so far when you slip on some ice and fall on your butt!

Hope you all enjoyed my ramblings! ❤