Burg Lictenberg Christmas Market 2014

That weekend after Thanksgiving, on the 30th, our FRG all went on another "month of deployment down" outing and this time headed to a small Christmas market in a nearby town. It was a medieval market and, with it being the first one I had gone to, I was very much looking forward to it.

I rode to the market with Melanie and Jenny and we saw the rest of the group there. Now that I've been to other markets I realize that this one was "small" but I really enjoyed it. It was set up around a smaller old castle and all the booths were on the paths the wound around the building and its grounds.

This was the entrance of the market.

First - we bought gluwein (my first time trying it!) and it was delicious! Gluwein is a warmed wine with spices and fruits. This one was a white wine with cinnamon and apples.

Jenny and Melanie and their baby gluweins!

There were lots of booths and different items to buy- it was a bit overwhelming! After going to a few markets I think the best way to experience them is in smaller groups. There is so much to see and explore and when you're in a huge group you spend most of the trip trying to find people you've lost while walking around. This time just having it be the three of us was nice and easy to move around.
  
One of the first stops we walked past was making sweet bread. They wrapped the dough into a cylinder and grilled them over hot coals. I knew I was going to get one of them - just waited till we were on the way out! 

It is so impossible to only buy one or two things with all the cute stuff the vendors sell! I loved these iron/wood candles. Jenny bought one of the iron scrolls. I want to say it said something about life (or luck) being better in twos? I don't remember exactly. 

And there was even a goat next to one of the loom tents!

As we walked further into the market it got a bit more medieval-y. There were even some dancers performing near some of the booths.

The dancers.

 Then, with this being a medieval market there had to be creepy medieval-y stuff to buy.

Creepy skull with hair.

And I saw cannabis scented incense? That was a first.

They had fire pits placed around the market- LOVED THEM. It was super cold out so it was nice to have little warming stations strategically placed about that we could visit.

pardon my terribleness in this picture.

massive advent wreath!

 Below are two photos that show a little bit of the castle. 

One of the many things one of the vendors sold were these wooden candle holders. Melanie ended up buying one. They're super cute! I totally wanted one of them!

Before we left Jenny snagged some food. Pasta with bologna and potatoes? It took us forever to figure out that the meat was bologna. Melanie (who is German) couldn't figure out how to translate the dish's name into English and didn't know what bologna was BUT once we pronounced it ba-log-na she knew exactly what we were talking about. I found it a bit comical.

These three cups were our gluwein cups. We ended up keeping them :) At the markets you pay a deposit for the cup and, if you keep the cup they obviously keep the deposit. I wanted to keep it because it was from the first Christmas market I visited.

Lastly, before we left we stopped to snag some of the sweet bread. I got one covered in cinnamon- super yummy! I love all the amazing goodies and foods they sell at their festivals, so sinful.

yummy sweet bread.

The only thing I bought besides food or gluwein was this tree pictured below. It was hand carved and this one was about 16'' tall. I know when we are done living here we will have so many neat Christmas decor pieces and household decor- I'm excited to see what all we accumulate!

The market was fun and very close to home. Burg Lictenberg is only about 20 minutes away. It would be a nice little day get away for next Christmas season and we just might hit it again next year (with Robert of course!)!

Thanksgiving 2014

So LOTS of catching up to do! First- a blog about Thanksgiving.This year I spent the holiday with a few other wives and their families. Jenny, Melanie, Patty and Patty's son Kameron all came over to my place for dinner. Each person cooked (or attempted to cook) dishes and we all came together to eat at my house :).

our attempt at a group picture. not amazing since we used the camera timer and
set it on a bookcase! :)

It was a lot of fun too because it was Melanie's first real American Thanksgiving. She is German and is a girlfriend to one of the guys in Rob's company. We all spend a lot of time together and were super excited to have her there for the holiday- BUT having a first timer amongst us definitely laid the pressure on!

I was in charge of a few desserts, sweet potato casserole, the turkey, and the gravy. The pumpkin pie was easy- just baked a store bought one. My cherry cheesecake bars turned out AMAZINGLY (anything with cheesecake is my absolute favorite!). The sweet potato casserole was good too- pretty sweet but tastey; Kam couldn't stop stealing the marshmallows off the top. Then there was my turkey and gravy- neither were anything near a "win".

TURKEY- So, the turkey had several mishaps. This doesn't surprise me since I've A) never cooked one and B) am a part of the Re family (who is known for cooking mishaps on holidays). Anyways, like I said LOTS of issues. Firstly, the turkey thawed in the fridge for 4 days - which apparently is not enough. When I took it apart that morning it had little ice chunkies in it (first bad sign, no bueno). Then, I learned I think that rubbing down a turkey with seasonings and stuff is ewy. Rob would have laughed because I am so weird about food when it looks like it did when it was alive. So pathetic I know. But yes rubbing it all around was ewy. Then, while seasoning and stuff. I removed the inside baggy and gravy (but apparently left things I shoulldn't have - which we learned later after cooking :/). Then, once the cooking began I learned I only could find the rubber top to my baster and not the actual tube- yet another fail. what is that fail number 4 now?! So basting was horrid, wish we had photos of that. Then came time to check the temperature (another part of the process no one knew how to do). We all hovered around Kam and the oven with YouTube and the thermometer and welp, ruined that step too. Our thermometer said it was ready, and it really wasn't. So since we thought it was done Kam and Jenny started carving it. When starting to carve they found the neck. I apparently let it inside? So unappetizing looking. :/ But, as far as the carving goes- The turkey was only like 8-9lbs and carving didn't work well. Jenny and Kam claim a bigger turkey would have worked better. By this point I'm pretty sure I was grossed out by the turkey- it looked rather mutilated, oh and STILL BLOODY. We were thinking we may have touched the bone when  checking the temperature and that was the problem? Who knew. Point is it wasn't ready so they carved it up and we put it all on a tray and back in the oven.  BUT, no one ever ate it. 

oh turkey...

gnarly neck that I left in the turkey. nasty faces.

they say don't play with your food? oops. we did that.

so many good photos - I couldn't resist.

Then came the GRAVY. EW BAD GRAVY. Why was the gravy so hard?! We used the pan drippings and the gravy packet and some water. It was suuppper runny. We added some flour - bad bet. It was nasty and chunky. It tasted like gravy but lordy not appealing. Lots (and by lots I mean all) of it was thrown away too. Buried right alongside the turkey.

As far as the rest of the dinner, Patty saved the day by bringing a ham but she injured the potatoes with lots of milk and chicken broth. Melanie brought lots of coffee cake and rolls (both of which were yummy and even edible!). My grandma would have LOVED the coffee cake recipe- super coffee-y. Jenny made green bean casserole (which we must have left out of the oven too long because by dinner time it was literally cold, not just a little cold, a lot of cold) and the BESTEST STUFFING EVER. I'd say the best main dishes were the ham and stuffing. The stuffing had sausage in it?! I just know that recipe is happening every year now. Oh and the canned cranberry sauce and the rolls turned out good too :D

my yummy + sweet sweet potato casserole. served
with the perfect mallows.

More side dishes! No one messed up the cranberry sauce!! :D

All in all we had a great time! Lots of laughs and definitely good memories to go along with it. After dinner we all enjoyed some wine and watched Free Birds. The movie was made by the same people that did Shrek and I loved it! It was super cute and I wouldn't mind watching it again next year. We realized there really aren't many "Thanksgiving" movies. The time difference made it kind of a pain to watch the parade but that was really the only "tradition" I didn't follow through with this year. Next year I'll find a way to squeeze it in!!

A Night Out in Idar

A few weeks ago Jenny and I went out to a friend's family bar, called SIMPLYtheBEST, in Idar (a town about 20 minutes from Baumholder). The mom of one of the other ladies from our company owns the bar and she works there on the weekends- Melanie. We ended up having a great time and enjoying some amazingly delicious Italian food.

Melanie recommended we order some food from a little Italian place nearby for dinner- we totally did not regret it! 

We each ordered some pizza rolls; mine were Hawaiian
-pineapple with some amazing cheeses-

Tina Turner and Jenny- Twins much?

Most of the night we played darts and talked. I loved their bar- great size, good music, LOTS of windows (which is great for a European Bar where a lot of people smoke), and yummy drinks. 

While playing darts I realized I suck. They both won games. Me- nada. So sad I didn't get to hold the amazing trophy. :)

 

After the three games, with no Ruwe wins-no surprise since I have zero luck & aim- it was time for some shots and visiting. I love having friends that you can have in depth discussions with. Her mom even came over and sat to chat with us; she's such a sweetheart!

All in all it was a lot of fun and I know we'll go back! Rob will love to go there once they're home.

Halloween TwentyFourteen

This year for Halloween a bunch of the wives and I all went out to celebrate the holiday and another month down of the deployment. We first started at the Tavern (the bar here on post in the Rheinlander) and then a few of us moved the party to the Knot in town. I wasn't planning on going out so I didn't have a costume. In place of a new one I threw on my old Zebra digs from a past Halloween :/ We all had a great time and took a bunch of pictures at the Knot. There were a BUNCH of people at the knot, nearly 99% of them we didn't know, but we stuck around and really had a good time.  I'm supper happy we ended up taking a bunch of pictures!

how adorable. Love these ladies!

gotta love the friends that lick.

No joke, such a small glass for Jenny's mixed drink.
Tragic.

Little Red Riding Hood!
Even with a letter for Grandma.

Patty and I

Gotta love the awkward selfie shots.

Terri and Sharon had put out these super adorable ash trays. I need these for our next
Halloween party when we have a house, with a yard, and a patio that people would
smoke on. Duh. *planning ahead*

Jenny and said super cool ash tray.

And then Jenny and her sad empty glass awaiting
her refill.

:D

The super slutty Pocahontas in the background is the reason
for Katie's reaction. I mean super slutty.

Like this; I know the photo is crappy but said slutty
girl is TOTALLY pulling some guys hands literally like into her lady region.
And I caught this one by accident. Super classy. So happy I don't know her.

two super sweet ash trays just chilling together.

Jen, boogie-ing of course. NBD.

A Zebra and Wednesday. Just chilling.

Terri and Katie

More boogie, of course.

eating Grandma's card? Why not.

and then Melanie came!:D

Sharon and Terri

We all had a great time and the evening was definitely a win. Can't wait till next year when the guys are back- we'll take the Knot back and I'll invest in a new costume!