Monday, November 30, 2015

The Adventure Begins

Guten Abend from Deutschland! My husband and I arrived yesterday morning. We spent that day napping and hanging out as we were exhausted from the flight. We are currently staying in temporary housing in Herzogenaurach, Germany until we find our permanent place in the Nuremberg area for the next month or so. The hotel that we are at has extended stay apartments complete with a kitchenette. And I mean kitchenETTE.



Today we registered with the German authorities, got our visas, opened a bank account, and went grocery shopping. Tomorrow, I start work. We were able to fairly successfully go food shopping after finding some simple dishes I could make over the next few days. I'm sure you are wondering why bother with the cooking. Well, I spent 2 out of the last 3 weeks living out of a suitcase and going out to eat in Germany when I was here on a business trip. Then, I was home for the week of Thanksgiving and cooked a little with my family. Also, there is nothing nearby in terms of food (and I refuse to eat at the hotel restaurant every day/night). Now that I am back here, I do miss cooking on a regular basis. The movers packed everything major so I won't have access to any of my kitchen gear for a while until it arrives *sad face,* I did bring some random ingredients and my chef knife with me. Available to me in the hotel room is a couple of sauce pans and a couple of saute pans, a fish spatula, a whisk, a cutting board, dishes and cups, a microwave, a coffee maker, stovetop with 2 burners, a dish sponge, and a towel. So, I have to be creative over the next month or so.

I had picked out this Spaghetti Pangrattato with Crispy eggs from Smitten Kitchen. Except I forgot the breadcrumbs and parsley it called for along with not being able to find parmiggiano-reggiano. So I had to be a bit creative. I sauteed garlic and onions in olive oil then added a little chicken stock, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes, then tossed with spaghetti. I fried up a couple of eggs to top the pasta off with and then served with some bread. Although I accidentally dumped too much salt on it since I opened up the wrong side of the salt shaker. Oops.


And sorry for the blurry picture. This was an adventure all right. 

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

BBQ

I guess I've left everyone on quite the cliffhanger with my move, right?

I completely apologize. This moving to another country thing is insane! I spent the last 2 weeks in Germany for work and then I am home this week for the movers and the Thanksgiving holiday. Yesterday consisted of sitting on our couch for 5 hours catching up on our DVR while the movers did all of the work. Haha. My husband and I fly out on Saturday to officially move to the Deutschland. I promise that I once I arrive in Germany, this blog will get exciting again. I also haven't had a chance to cook much lately which is KILLING me. 

The movers came and took all of our stuff away yesterday so we are now homeless. A.k.a. living with my parents until we leave. We decided to go to a newer, local BBQ joint in Raynham, MA called 2 Jerks for a nice, American lunch.

We started off with a plate of bacon. Yup, a whole plate of bacon. It is even called Plate of Bacon (house smoked candied bacon). Amazing obviously.



We also had their homemade cornbread. My friend, Tyler, owns a brewery called Brewmaster Jack and they had his beer there!


You can pick 2 meats and 2 sides. I picked pulled pork and brisket with collard greens and fries. My husband had spicy sausage and pulled pork with mac and cheese and fries. So good.


The inside was also perfect for a nearly last meal on American turf.


Tomorrow is food lover's heaven...Thanksgiving! I hope everyone enjoys the holiday.