The next few posts in the Backyard Adventures series aren't really in everyone's backyard, but they are adventures nonetheless.
These will be about a recent trip to Northern Germany to visit family and friends. I hope to give a brief glimpse of some of the cool things I experienced, cultural food traditions, and of course, recipes.
Let's start our adventures with the most logical meal of the day, breakfast.
Like all of us, breakfast during the week can be a grab-and-go meal, but unlike American breakfast, you usually won't find sugary cereals.
Instead, they will grab a roll and cheese or sliced deli meats. Or it might be a bowl of yogurt with fresh fruit. Another option would be muesli. Museli is like what in America we would have as overnight oats. The oats are soaked in the milk of your choice or even served with yogurt. Additions to muesli can be nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and honey. If you were to bake muesli with some additional sugar, you would have granola.
On the weekends, especially Sunday, you might have a combination of these things and include eggs, sausage, and bacon, or when I was there, I had German breakfast meatballs (Frikadellen - the recipe here isn't mine, but I will be making them soon). You might also have fruits, veggies, or sweet rolls as well.
What is also nice about Sunday breakfast is it happens more around brunch time, and when with family or friends can go on for hours. You sit and talk, nibble, sip coffee, and enjoy what life offers because most everything is closed on Sundays except restaurants, bus stations, and gas stations.
What would you have to drink?
Coffee or tea is usually a must at every breakfast. Germans love their coffee, and we'll talk about their afternoon Kaffe und Kuchen later. It is such a fabulous tradition!
They are also avid tea drinkers and note they consider tea anything that can be steeped in hot water, so there are usually a bunch of herbal teas to choose from. I had three different herbal teas in my hotel room and one English Breakfast teabag. The breakfast drink buffet had probably 8 herbal teas and one black Ceylon Tea.
You will also find mineral water, still and sparkling (I love that), and juice. Germans are big juice drinkers, and I have to say the juice is splendid.
So if you are planning a trip to Germany, or want to vary your morning routine, maybe you want to add some of these different items to your breakfast. If you do, let me know how you like it.
