Peanut Butter Fudge Pie

We love anything chocolate with peanut butter! It is really the ultimate combination of sweet and salty. I had a recipe pinned for a Peanut Butter Fudge Pie with Peanut Butter Salted Caramel that sounded amazing. I adapted slightly out of laziness. I did not have any caramel topping and did not feel like making my own. 

The pie turned out really delicious even despite one little mishap with my ingredients. When buying roasted peanuts, I just grabbed a container that said "Golden Roast" on the label. AFTER making the pie, my husband told me that he noticed the back of the label included ingredients like paprika, garlic, onion powder... Ugh! We ate the pie for dessert and I honestly could not tell, but I would definitely double check next time I purchase peanuts for any purpose. 

Brie stuffed garlic bread

Potlucks always push me to try new recipes! I love to search Pinterest for new ideas and often come across some real winners. I hosted an event at my house and wanted to make something with brie cheese, but did not want the standard baked brie with crackers. I came across a recipe for brie stuffed garlic bread and it was perfect! So cheesy, gooey and delicious!

Blueberry Danish

I had purchased a box of puff pastry with no real plans on how to use it. With an HOA board meeting coming up (yes, I'm one of those crazy people who served on an HOA board), I wanted to bring something to share with my fellow board members. I found this recipe on Pinterest and thought I would give it a try because I love cheese Danish and adding blueberry and almond could only make it better! They turned out really great. I really should make these again soon...

Lemon Cream Cheese Cake

One of the neighbors on my street planned a potluck for everyone and I used it as a chance to try out a new recipe. Originally I planned to try a recipe for lemon poppy seed bars, but the grocery store on base was out of poppy seeds so I decided to try for something else instead of stressing out trying to find them at another store. I ended up grabbing some cream cheese while at the store...just in case. When I returned home and searched Pinterest for recipes for lemon desserts, I found this one for lemon cream cheese cake and thought it sounded good for a summer evening get-together. 

It is always a risk trying a new recipe for an event. I worry a bit about if it does not taste good. That was especially on my mind for this occasion because we are new to the street and I had never shared baked goods with my neighbors, so they would have no idea that I am generally a good baker. Luckily they told me the cake was really delicious and I confirmed when I tasted it! It did not have as big of a lemon punch that I thought, but that may be because instead of lemon zest I used a couple drops of lemon essential oil. I also had to bake it quite a bit longer than the recipe stated, but I am not sure if that is an issue with the recipe or with my oven. If you try this one out, just keep an eye on it and take it out when it is no longer very jiggly in the middle. 

Garmisch

 

Our most recent trip was for Charles' birthday week. We hit the road and visited Garmisch in Germany. It is right near the border with Austria and the funny thing is that the route actually took us partially into Austria. We did not stop anywhere in Austria, so that is still unexplored territory for us. 

One of the top attractions in Garmisch is the Gorge. It was a pleasant walk down to the entrance and then once we were inside it was fantastic! It was so cool which was a relief after walking down to it on a warm, sunny day. Although, the hike back out of the gorge had a bit more of an incline that I would prefer. At least by that time some clouds had rolled in. It worked out perfectly because right as we were almost back to the car it started raining. The parking lot was right outside the 1936 winter Olympic stadium so we were able to walk through there at the end, too. It was really cool to be able to see something from that time period. 

For lunch on our second day, we visited a place called Waffelhaus. It was nothing like the American Waffle House, thank goodness. I was so surprised to see chicken & waffles on the menu that I had to give it a try! Charles had the strawberry waffle. Both were equally enjoyable. The restaurant had a lovely outdoor patio seating area. 

Another food item that I really enjoyed was from the bakery we visited on our first morning. They were from Garmisch's oldest bakery; I had the almond croissant. It was so delicious! I'm still craving another one. 

For Charles' birthday, we rode a scary (to me) cable car to the top of the Alpspitze. It is not the highest peak in Germany; that would be Zugspitze, but that was 60 Euros per person for the cable car ride. The cable car up to Alpspitze was only about 30 Euros, so that was a better option for us. We were rewarded with some amazing views! It was the perfect day for it. The weather had been calling for rain all day, but luckily it did not start raining until later in the afternoon. 

We stayed at Edelweiss Lodge which is a military resort in Garmisch. The hotel was not at full capacity so some services were not available, but it was lovely and probably less crowded than in normal times! The front lawn had lounge chairs facing the gorgeous view of the mountain. Like our obligatory "relaxing with our feet up" vacation picture? Staying at the resort felt a bit like being on a cruise because they have their own restaurants, pool, gift shop, etc. Everything we bought could be charged to the room which was very convenient. Plus all the staff we interacted with were so friendly! One day we went down for a late lunch and I inquired about the soup of the day. The employee offered to let me taste it to see if I would like it. I am sure they would do that for anyone, but I was really happy with that extra bit of service. 

The resort had a small mini golf course that we enjoyed on our first night! We did not keep score, but I think Charles won the first round and I may have done marginally better the second round. Plus those views...!

Our room was facing the mountains and had a nice little balcony. It was so peaceful!

The hotel had this mural on the wall that we found entertaining. After driving around Garmisch that week, I saw a lot of murals painted on homes. Is that a Bavarian thing? I never did look it up. 

We had a great time in Garmisch and I could see going back to experience it in another season. I bet it is beautiful in the fall, too! I read a blog where the author thought Garmisch was lacking some personality or history and fell flat to them. Reading that prior to our visit did lower my expectations a bit, but I was happy with our trip. The scenery alone was worth the visit! 

Luxembourg City

While staying in Trier for a weekend, we chose to hop over to Luxembourg for a day trip. It was so easy and affordable using the train. Public transportation throughout Luxembourg is free, so our train ticket from Trier to Luxembourg and back only covered the part through Germany. This was the first time either of us had visited Luxembourg, so it made it the first new country we could cross off our list during our time living in Germany.

Walking around Luxembourg City was easy and full of sites! 

To make sure we saw the major spots, we took a ride on the Petrusse Express. It was a cute little train car ride through the streets of Luxembourg City that gave a bit of history through the recorded audio tour. It was offered in a variety of languages so people from all over can enjoy the information. It was not the best tour I have ever been on, but it was affordable and gave us the highlights.

 

Just before leaving the city to head back to Trier, we stopped for sandwiches and coffee at a café. I swear I pointed to a tomato and mozzarella sandwich, but when we bit into them it was tuna and egg. I am NOT a fan of tuna or hard boiled eggs so this was a major fail for me. The bread was decent, though, and held me over until we returned to Trier and indulged in quiche and wine at a local weinstube. 
 

Trier, Germany

We had a long weekend with Friday being a "Family Day" on base due to the end of school. There are definitely some perks of living overseas! We spent it in Trier, Germany. We had perfect weather all weekend, even if it was a tad warm our first day. One of the top sights in Trier is the Porta Nigra which is a Roman gate right at the entrance to the old town. 

One of the first things we did was grab some food and drinks. The Paulaner biergarten was down the way from our hotel (Holiday Inn Express) and despite having zero tables in the shade, we decided to go ahead and eat there. We were pretty hungry! Even though it was a bit sweltering in the sun, we thoroughly enjoyed our food. Paulaner is a Bavarian brewery, so the food wasn't unique to the area of Germany that Trier is in, but the food was tasty nonetheless. Charles had this dish that was some kind of cheese ball served with a salad, pretzel and bread. It was tasty. I had weisswurst (white sausage) served with a pretzel and sweet mustard. 

Trier has numerous old buildings to explore and one was the Dom and the adjacent church. Like many churches throughout Europe it was filled with amazing pieces of art and craftsmanship. 

A volunteer told Charles (in German) that if you stand on this star in the church that you will be able to see all twelve apostles painted on the columns. He told us a few other details about the church, but sadly I was not able to understand due to my VERY limited knowledge of German. But his passion for the building was very palpable despite the language barrier. I love how some things are just universally understood.

The area of Germany that Trier is in is known for Riesling wine. Being that it is my favorite type of wine, I was pretty excited to try some while in the area. We chose Weinstube Kasselstatt for a late lunch and wine. We could not beat the view of the Dom and church from our table! Plus the wine and quiche were delicious! One blog I read during my research phase said that if you don't drink Riesling in Trier, did you even visit??? 

Another Roman building found in Trier is the amphitheater. It was neat to walk around and imagine all the people who have walked inside throughout history. When we first arrived there were some gladiator reenactors practicing in the arena. It reminded me, somehow, of watching vintage baseball in Connecticut and Ohio, even though it was a completely different sport and period of history. 

Both days in Trier were eis (ice cream) kind of days! On our first day, we got cones from a walkup gelato stand and on our second day we sat at an outdoor café for sundaes and a view of the Porta Nigra. I had a frozen yogurt sundae which was a bit different from frozen yogurt in America; it was a bit more sour tasting. But it still hit the spot after walking around all day! 

 Charles thought Trier was a bit grungier than he was expecting and we saw a good amount of graffiti around town. I thought this face was fun, though!