Settling in

First brekkie in the new house

Toast, tea, yogurt, currants & Bungalow Honey & jam

Eliza buys some red currants 

Bea selects cucumbers at the market

One of my worst memories of our China time was our first meal in our home. We had spent five weeks in an apartment suite at the Crown Plaza waiting for our apartment to be warm enough to move into (the complex was new and they didn't turn the heat on that first winter.) At the Crown we feasted on a buffet breakfast that tided us over til we had a snacky supper ... We ate apples, lots of apples, and bad imitation cheese slices. We made peanut butter sandwiches on too sweet Chinese bread, and we consumed the boxes of Kraft Mac and Cheese I had stuffed in suitcases. 

When we moved into our house with its echoey tiled floors and yellow kitchen our first meal was chicken and rice ... Literally a small, bland whole bird and the Chinese grain staple. Served on five wobbly plates that were orange. It was not my proudest moment. We had spent a horrible day trying to shop on a Saturday with three blonde kids who attracted much unwanted attention and my end result wasn't very inspiring. 

I was determined that this go round would be different ... We've spent time at great local restaurants, dissecting flavours and thinking about how to recreate them at home. We've visited grocery stores and sampled different brands of milk. The thrice weekly market has informed us of the abundance of fresh local produce. Today was our first "meal" in our home, and while we still will probably eat lots of apples, we will have some pretty awesome things to complement them!

I had hoped to take breakfast on the patio. Today dawned beautiful bright, but was it was a chilly 56 degrees, so we opted for the dining room instead.

We are going to ride the currant berry theme into the sunset today ... Using a crusty bread (fresh bread dries out quickly!) and cups of our various brands of milk to make a currant stuffed oven French toast for supper ... We also made a currant simple syrup to create our own 

 schorle using my extra classic wasser. 

Obviously Germany will have many more recognizable products than we found in The Middle Kingdom, but the challenges will still exist ... Eliza spent 10 minutes in the flour aisle using google translate to choose the right flour for a dessert she wants to try. 

Sugar and oatmeal and milk come in much smaller packages here, which triggers the reminder we

will shop more frequently and purposefully ... Costco shopping is a distant memory ... But for now, we are okay with that.