Birthdays and Breakfasts!

Birthdays are so much fun...

The last couple of weeks have been a bit tiring. It seems like my kids have had colds or viruses for three weeks running. One or the other of them has woken up in the night coughing almost every night. 

None the less, this week we celebrated my sweet boy's birthday. One big cultural difference here is about birthdays. In the U.S. your birthday is your special day where everyone treats you special. They give you presents, they bring you a birthday cake, and they pay for your dinner. Here they still bring you presents, but you are responsible for having a party. You invite the people, you bring the cake, bring everyone to your house to celebrate with a party that you have prepared. If you go out to dinner on your birthday, you pay. For example, we (all four of us) were invited to an amusement park way back in September to celebrate the birthday of the department chair. We didn't have to pay for a thing, including lunch!

When someone has a birthday there is usually a small celebration at their workplace. I made a cake and icing was put in a cleaned out jam jar for easier transportation. I put the un-iced cake on my (only) cake platter and then wrapped cellophane around the whole things. It has a huge hit and there was none left for Russell to bring home. We had a activity packed weekend, so I think I ended up making 3 cakes - all of them chocolate!

German cakes are not nearly as moist as a cake from the U.S. It was a fun novelty. Russell overheard one person mention how moist the cake was. A person next to him said, "You mean undercooked?". Of course that person went back for seconds of the "undercooked" cake!

The next day we wanted to have a celebration at home, so I made another cake. Actually, I doubled the recipe because I needed a third cake for the next day.

Remember when I mentioned I only had one cake plate? Yeah, well Russell left it at school to be cleaned in their dishwasher. I like to think I am adept at improvising, so I put this otherwise unused tort pan to good use. This is definitely not my prettiest cake, but by this time I was pretty tired.

Below is a picture of us, pre-candle-blowing-out. Can you tell which boy was having a turn on the virus roller coaster?

Our Friday was especially busy - we went to two separate parties. The first party was a get together during the afternoon with the families of our older son's schoolmates (this party NEEDED an apple pie). The class parents decided to have a class party after the Christmas holidays to avoid the chaos of one more holiday party.

The next party was that evening. One of the other families we have befriended is moving a few blocks away to a bigger place. It doesn't take much to get the people around here motivated for a party. Chocolate cake and left over apple pie rounded out the party nicely, I think. 

Luckily, our youngest was recovered enough by Saturday to attend the birthday party of a classmate. All of the children and the parents of the Birthday Boy met at the bus stop near the elementary school. From there the group went to a bakery called Cibaria. This is what he brought home - 5 hours later!

Just in case you can't tell, he made two airplanes, a shark, a regular brotchen and a loaf. I will have to remember that chocolate chips make great windows.

Speaking of baking things, we had some friends over the next morning for a Traditional American Breakfast.

Breakfast, American Style
One couple we have come to know pretty well has invited us to various things, so we decided to return the favor. They were excited to hear how an American breakfast differs from those in Germany. Breakfast here is pretty different than in the U.S. At a traditional German breakfast table you would find bread (generally rolls), sliced meat, cheese, and jam. There may be fruit and granola-style cereal, or a boiled egg (only on Sunday). The meal is almost more of a morning snack, or even what we might consider a light lunch.

But, what should I make as examples of American breakfast? What normally comes to mind is pancakes, waffles, or bacon and eggs - but those seemed a little ordinary (German Pfannkuchen and Waffeln are really good, and Spiegelei is pretty common) I finally settled on biscuits and gravy as a nice southern recipe, and eggs Benedict because I figured it was something they hadn't seen before (yes, this is a bit much for one breakfast, but I just served a half portion of each). I had to use a new biscuit recipe because I did not plan as well as I should have and didn't have enough butter. I used a this recipe - they turned out beautifully I think.

I finally was able to use my biscuit cutters!

A few people have been asking, so here is the recipe
J.P's Big Daddy Biscuits

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Gradually stir in milk until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
3. Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead 15 to 20 times. Pat or roll dough out to 1 inch thick. Cut biscuits with a large cutter or juice glass dipped in flour. Repeat until all dough is used. Brush off the excess flour, and place biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet.
4. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges begin to brown.

J.P.'s Big Daddy Biscuits

The Hollandaise sauce is ready, gravy is almost ready and water is ready for egg poaching.

Of course this is not something you would eat regularly in the states, but for the occasional treat, this is great.

The wife of the couple brought me a little gift - dark chocolate with cashews. She told me these are just for me. However, I may share with Russell. After all, he did just have a birthday!