Christmas Shopping Part 2 (Prague)

December 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I’m dancing around in our rented flat here in Prague. Well, obviously I’m not dancing right now or I couldn’t be typing! But there’s something you should know about me -spontaneous dancing and singing are likely to break out at any given time. It must be a genetic thing, because my whole family does it (well, not my dad, he just shakes his head at the spectacle).  Furniture will be pushed back, music, if it is available, will be blasted, wooden spoons and spatulas make fantastic microphones and dancing until you drop will ensue. I’m sure my siblings will be thrilled that I’ve shared this information with you…

There doesn’t need to be any cause for celebration for this dancing to occur, but in this case I’m dancing in celebration of my newest purchase. Fun little Christmas gifts for my kitchen that we’ve picked up on vacation topped off by these two fabulous silicone spatulas. These beautiful works of kitchen art with nice hefty wooden handles, an asymmetrical design for scraping and scooping and are heat resistant to 600F! Be still my beating heart!! Not to mention, they make fantastic air drumsticks…

Also on this vacation I got not one but TWO bottles of real vanilla extract (apparently that’s got some alcohol in it so they don’t sell it where I live in the Middle East so I have to stock up when I’m in countries that does sell it). Also grabbed some coffee extract, because I thought that sounded like a tasty treat in the making. I also picked up a little cookbook called “The Best Czech Recipes”, a kitchen planner with handy conversions and some interesting recipes and a real kitchen timer with a hefty magnet to hold it to the oven. On the last day at the Christmas Market in Munich, I picked up a little wooden kitchen angel (kitschy, I know, but very cute!) and a cookie cutter in the shape of a puppy paw too! Hooray for kitchen Christmas gifts! BTW don’t you fret, I got a a real Christmas gift from J as well, a deliciously soft leather Burberry tote that I could just hug and squeeze!

So, now, back to my dancing!

Filed Under: Food Travel Tagged With: , , , , ,

Christmas (grocery) Shopping

December 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Goodies from the German Supermarket


I suppose most people go on vacation and they go shopping for souvenirs. Postcards and magnets and gifts for their families and the like, right? J and I went to a supermarket today, being as it’s Christmas Eve and nothing was going to be open later for food.

We were grabbing snacks and goodies left and right so we can go be fat and stuff our faces in our hotel room, when J turns to me and says, like any good fiancée would, “Did you need to get any spices or cooking supplies while were here?” Yes, we’re on another continent for vacation, with out even a microwave let alone an oven and he wants to make sure my kitchen is well stocked. Ah, that’s love.

What, you aren’t worrying about your supply of vanilla extract or nutmeg while you’re sightseeing? That’s probably because you live some where with a nice Safeway or Fry’s market that carries those items for under $5 and it’s always in stock. Spoiled much?

So this afternoon we had a little adventure in baking aisle trying to play “guess the german word for nutmeg” and how many “vanilleschoten” should we buy? It’s muskatnuss, by the way, just in case you were wondering, not something they teach you in a standards German class! And we figured at just under 2 Euro’s a pack the vanilla pods were a steal compared to the 15 plus dollars they charge for them at a grocery store here in the middle east, so we went with two…I might pick some more up while we’re here. That’s normal, right? Right??

Merry Christmas!

~Nikki

Filed Under: Food Travel Tagged With: , ,