Holiday sale Bahlsen gingerbread lebkuchen cookies, Rieglein foil wrapped chocolate bells, santas, ornaments

Stock up on Lebkuchen gingerbread before they are gone for the year!


These cute little Santa's are just the right size for munching, Look how cute the two hiding behind the snow covered trees are. We should eat them first! These Riegelein chocolates are of the finest quality.



There are only a few of the Riegelein Assorted packs left. They contain a Santa and a Father Christmas, three solid milk chocolates with a foil design of a rocking horse, a bear and an auto. Zoom, Zoom!






Also in this mixed tray are two fondant eggs, as well as a fondant star & a heart. The chocolate covered filled star and wreath are very yummy and the crunchy non-perils go well with the deep chocolate flavors. Rounding the assortment out are two fruity European style gellee candies.

Akora Lebkuchen comes covered in a either whole milk chocolate or dark (pictured). Imagine biting into a spicy pillow of gingerbread only to find a moist and delicious fruit filling. That is a mouthful of pure heaven that should be on every ones tasting "bucket list".

View the complete selection of delicious German lebkuchen cookies here.
All are fresh dated at least through the end of May, 2009.

Dr Oetker Chocolate Raspberry mousse Supreme

Buy Chocolate Raspberry Mousse here

For a quick, easy delicious and elegant dessert this Chocolate Raspberry Mousse by Dr Oetker is just the ticket. To make all you need is 1 cup of cold milk a bowl and a mixer (I use a stick mixer) whip together for 3-5 minutes. Spoon into dessert cups and chill for 2 hours. Add fresh raspberries and maybe a mint leaf and you will get raves!

We also have the regular Dr Oetker Chocolate mousse mix as well as a Toro Norwegian Chocolate mousse mix. If you want a light variety Dr Oetker has Light Strawberry mousse mix and a Light version of the Dark Chocolate Truffle mousse mix that are also of the highest quality.

For something even tastier (to me) you could also pull out all the stops with the Dr Oetker Classic Creme Brulee this is a cooked pudding mix so it will take a little more time but if you have one of those cool mini torches that are so popular this is you chance to use it!

Let it snow for Hannuka!!

It has been snowing for over 24 hours!

So tonight is latkes, chicken soup, presents for the boy and a town blanketed in snow. It can't get any better than this!

German Coffee Prodomo is low acid from a unique processing

Buy German Dallmayr Coffee here

prodomo

Dallmayr coffee is good for people with coffee/stomach sensitivities. If you like a robust taste I suggest that you try another brand like the Swedish Zoegas. I like all of their selections even the decaf has a bold taste.

Every cup brings a lingering reward - that special, unmistakable taste of Dallmayr prodomo. Its secret lies in the raw coffee that is used: exclusively the finest highland coffees from the best coffee-growing areas in the world. The varieties that make up the special aroma of Dallmayr prodomo originate in Ethiopia. There, Dallmayr’s coffee specialists have been visiting the fertile southern regions of Sidamo and Harrar for many years at harvest time to select the best coffee from the preferred higher climes for further processing. In the Ethiopian highlands, the fully ripened, red coffee cherries are still carefully picked in the traditional manner from naturally grown coffee flowers or in small rural plantations. Then they are “washed” using a special technique. These high-quality Ethiopian coffees are then blended in precise proportions with other exquisite highland coffees from Asia, and Central and South Africa, to produce the distinctive taste of Dallmayr prodomo.

Dallmayr prodomo is exhilaratingly full-caffeine whilst at the same time irritants and bitter compounds have been removed prior to roasting by a special refinement process. This full-aroma roasting process imparts that signature taste - a real delight for all coffee connoisseurs. It’s also suitable for those who tend to react sensitively to coffee. Guaranteed made from 100% Arabica beans.

Extra Spezial is a combination of exquisite, authentic high-quality moccas and the finest mountain-grown coffees from only the best coffee-growing areas; it has a special, pronounced aroma and a pleasant taste. Guaranteed from 100% Arabica beans.
Exquisite coffee composition, delicately spicy and of superior quality

A high-quality coffee that is gentle on the heart and stomach: Dallmayr decaffeinated. The finest Arabica highland coffees are carefully decaffeinated, go through a special refinement process to extract many irritants and bitter components, and are then perfected by the special Dallmayr full aroma roasting technique. A harmonious Dallmayr coffee – caffeine free. Guaranteed from 100% Arabica beans.
Decaffeinated yet fully aromatic.

Winter is here, it's time for Toro brand Norwegian Yellow Pea soup

Buy whole yellow and green peas at Marina Market We are sampling this soup in the store during the month of December so saddle up the pony and come on down! I am going to sample soups all winter in my quest to see which ones will work well in the crock pot.

Fall and winter mean that it's time to brush off the Authentic Norwegian Cookbook and get a recipe for a tummy warming thick hearty pea soup. I also like the Keri Diehl's Swedish Pea Soup recipe at About.com:Scandinavian Food which I find very interesting because it has ginger and grainy mustard added to the soup.

I think that sounds very intriguing, the Dutch mustard I would use for that would be ZAANSE GRAINED MUSTARD which is really grainy, but not so much as tracklements mustard. Another really good mustard- and a mustard festival metal winner is the SIERRA NEVADA STOUT MUSTARD 226G . I just spread this mustard on sourdough Havarti grilled cheese

sandwiches the other night. They were really, really good! The Sierra Nevada mustard was really fluffy. I don't think I've ever had a mustard with such a strong (stout) taste that was so fluffy.

I love this Norwegian Cookbook by Astrid Karlsen Scott. Not only because she shops here (and had said she will add me to the resource page in the next addition) but because this is a fantastic cookbook!





Marina Market also carries Knorr and Maggi German dried soup Mixes.

Abba Kalles creamed Caviar, Abba Swedish cod roe and tomato in a toothpaste tube

Buy Scandinavian caviar in a tube here.

Creamed cod roe is an interesting product. The cod eggs are mixed with potato and a little tomat (tomato) paste and sometimes dill. The mixture is marketed in a 'toothpaste' style tube which is ingenious as it is thrifty -you use all of the product and you can control how much you use. If you like a briney taste I think you would enjoy this, since it is mixed with the potato and tomato the taste is not the same as with plain brined caviar, the sacs have all been blended so there is no crunch. In the photo the cracker is has mayo (also from a tube) covered with sliced egg and then a squiggle of caviar to decorate and enhance to taste of the egg. Really good brands of creamed caviar are Abba's Kalles caviar, Norway's Mills cavair and Larsen's Danish creamed caviar.

If cod roe is not your thing you can also get Abba mackerel and tomato or Abba salmon pate in a tube. And crab and tuna also come in tubes and are great for taking on road trips or camping.

Buy crispbreads here.

I prefer eating this on the dark sliced European style rye bread I talked about yesterday or on a bit of Crispbread.

Seen here Crisp Bread has been around since the Viking exploration and was a staple of their diet.

Crisp bread in Swedish: knäckebröd, spisbröd, hårdbröd, Danish: knækbrød, Norwegian: knekkebrød, Finnish: näkkileipä is a flat and dry Nordic type of bread or cracker, containing mostly rye flour.

Crispbread is a staple at the store where we enjoy pieces of it covered with peanut butter. High protein high fiber a perfect snack! An interesting fact about knackebrod: If you have never seen the bread, they are bigger than a dinner plate and have a 2" hole in the center. There are about 12 rounds in a package. There are serving pieces for them that consist of a large wood disk with a cylinder in the middle that you use to hold the bread in place. Kind of how those stand alone paper towel stands keep the bread upright. But originally the holes were made for a pole and the crispbread were stored above head level in the kitchen so they would stay dry and mice couldn't get to them.

Georgous truffles made with love by Life (not Death!) by Chocolate

Check out Life by Chocolate This is a chocolate maker that is another Foodbuzz featured publisher. They make organic, free trade and vegan varieties of truffles and bon bons.

They make both a milk and dark chocolate gianduja and here is what they say about it:
"A beautiful blend of dark chocolate and hazelnut butter in a milk chocolate shell to create a confection of pleasing proportions. Enjoy this Italian puppet inspired delight. How could you go wrong? ."

















One of my families favorite treats is marzipan. Here is a picture of Life by Chocolates freshly made marzipan- it looks so delicious and creamy, I love the almond on top!

Here is a list of marzipan that we have at our store.
As I have said before marzipan is said to have been invented in the Middle East. It is interesting to me that there is a Mexican marzipan that is made of peanuts not almonds! The actual size is about a half dollar and about 1/2 inch thick.

Lutefisk, Lefsa, yah, yah, you betcha

Yes they are real! Buy a Lutefisk TV Dinner here today!

Lutefisk TV Dinners are very popular especially in families where only one person likes Lutefisk.

In the spring and summer months it is a familiar sight to see a lone person on the bench in front of the store eating a Lutefisk TV Dinner prepared in the store microwave.

If it's wintertime in the Northwest and the rain and wind are blowing the eating will usually be in the store. We like to get into the spirit early in the season by playing Stan Borenson. I love Stan, when he comes through town he always stops in for Poulsbo Pickled Herring .

When you have a taste for lutefisk you will probably also want to get

Lingonberry Jams and Drink syrups (saft) or Fresh Frozen Swedish Lingonberries by the pound

And of course Lefse- Lena's Lefse is the best we have ever tried hands down. It is made by traditionally by hand with whole real (dinner plate sized last year!) potatoes. Never made with potato flakes like most commercial

Buy Lena's awesome handmade Lefse here.

For anyone who can't take the leap of faith to try lye soaked codfish then I suggest "Our Best" Swedish Meatballs 2lbs of tender, delicately spiced Swedish Meatballs. A perfect Scandinavian style Winter dinner that can be made in minutes.

Klene black Licorice from Holland

Buy Klene Dutch Black Licorice here!

Here are some commercials from the the Dutch Drop (licorice) maker Klene (Clean-Ah) who have been making the candy since 1876!

I find it interesting that the commercials have the character of Johannes Klene picking up big chunks of sea salt when it is actually ammonium chloride not sodium chloride in salty licorice.

A woman came into the store yesterday and said that she made the licorice ice cream from the recipe I posted for her birthday and it was fantastic! I think that was the one from epicurious.com.

Commercials:

Sugar free licorice The search to make the best Drop Licorice Looking for the salty taste in Drop Licorice

Finally Coke and Pepsi will sweeten with Stevia!

This is an FYI. I love using stevia

Coca-Cola Co. is expected to launch a drink in the U.S. this week made with Truvia, a sweetener derived from stevia, even though FDA has not officially cleared the additive. Coke plans to market three flavors of a juice drink in its Odwalla line that contain the sweetener, according to people familiar with Coke's plans. Pepsi has several drinks ready to go in the U.S. market with the sweetener, three flavors of a zero-calorie SoBe Lifewater and an orange-juice drink called Trop50, containing half the calories and sugar of OJ. However, Pepsi is waiting for FDA to clear the additive. Coke also aims to put the sweetener in a version of Glaceau Vitamin water early next year, according to Beverage Digest, reported The Wall Street Journal

STEVIA EXTRACT APPROVED AS FOOD ADDITIVE BY WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION !!!!! Last week in Geneva, the JECFA ( Joint Expert Committee on food Additives) of the World Health Organization approved the use of steviol/glycosides ( the sweet substances of the stevia leaves) as a safe food additive and assigned a ADI ( accepted daily intake) of 4 mg/kg of body weight. This means that in the future all European Countries will be allowed to use stevia extracts not only as a sweetener but also as flavor enhancer in many food applications. This is a great victory for the consumer and brings a great deal of satisfaction and sense of accomplishment for Steviafarma/Stevita which since its inception in 1988 believed and worked hard to make stevia a safe, healthy and natural food to be enjoyed by millions of consumers around the world. During the last few years many companies, with very little or no experience in the stevia business have indicated their intention to enter in this business. We welcome this interest and the positive awareness that it brings about the benefits of stevia as a natural non-caloric sweetener. Years of experience, and as leaders in the agricultural and extraction phases of the stevia business allow the Stevita brand stevia a deserved ranking as the best in quality and the favorite brand of stevia in the US and world markets. Here is a nice review of Virgil's diet root beer at Forever a kid blog.

International Holiday sweets

Holiday cookies, chocolates, marzipan and more form Norway, Sweden, Finland, Holland and Germany.

The interesting History of Baking soda and Baking powder.

Alba Pottasche or pottassium carbonate

Here is a recipe using pottasche from CanadianLiving.com

Pflastersteine is actually called 'Basler Leckerli'. I did not take the time to translate the measurements, we use scales in Europe when we bake. Also there is an ingredient listed you can not get in the states Pottasche, I think I used baking soda instead (haven't made this in a year and forgot to write it down). Basler Leckerli 375 g honey 250 g sugar 12 g pottasche (or baking soda) 1 shotglass kirschwasser (cherryschnaps, make sure it is the german one, it is not sweet at all) 65 g each candied orange and lemon peel 90 g chopped almonds a little bit of cinnamon 1/2 tsp cloves a little bit of ground nutmeg 625 g mehl Heat the honey in a pot and melt the sugar in it. Let it cool a little bit. Add the baking soda and the kirschwasser. In little batches add the lemon and orange peel , almonds, spices and the flour. Work into a dough. Cover it and let it rest overnight. The next day roll it out on a greased cookiesheet (about knifethick) and put into the preaheated oven. Bake 20 min @ 200 degrees celsius (400 Fahrenheit). After baking cut in rectangles or triangles. Can also be glazed. If you have questions or need help converting, you can e-mail at foxylady9109@aol.com. for the conversion try german.about.com/library, they have a conversion table. If you would like, I have another spice cookie recipe to share, it is called Berlinbread. Hope this helps. Frohe Weihnachten/merry Christmas

About.com German Christmas Recipes

Pfeffernusse
By The Canadian Living Test Kitchen Canadian Living Magazine recipe : December 2007