Das Würstchen

My local Big Lots store usually carries a few German products.  They almost always have red cabbage and sauerkraut in glass jars, some German-style cookies, and Knäckebrot (a flat bread or crispbread, comes in many variations like rye, sourdough, and multi-grain - usually from the brand Wasa).  

Yesterday I was at BL, and I found a whole German end cap (perhaps in preparation for Oktoberfest??!!?!).  Anyway, I found my youngest daughter's favorite sausage.  

These sausage - 6 links in a jar of brine water - are a combination of an American hot dog and a German Bockwurst.  Bockwurst's skins make the sausage knackig - which means crisp.  In this case, the crisp isn't crunchy (like a vegetable) but more like "crisp to the taste" - hard to explain but think of biting into a sausage and the skin kind of "pops" slightly.  THAT is a fresh sausage.  

The brand Meica is one of the most famous in Germany, and something I remember from my childhood.  I remember commercials like this one:

AND ... believe it or not, these sausage are lactose and gluten free, no artificial colors, and doesn't have preservatives.  Once you open the jar, you should only keep the leftovers for 2 days.  Although, the sausage can be frozen for up to 3 months ... but who would want to do that?!??! ;) 

While almost all sausage have a high sodium content, overall, Bockwurst-type sausage don't have as much fat content as say, Bratwurst.

You can eat these cold (NOT my preference), warm them in the microwave OR in a pot of hot (not boiling) water.  AND then get some German mustard (Senf) from a jar

a tube 

or a squeeze bottle, if you must.

The Meica motto is "Meica macht das Würstchen" ... which means Meica makes the sausage.

In my opinion, they make  some of the best outside of fresh, butcher-made.

Guten Appetit!

Projekt: Von A bis Z (P)

Blogging through the alphabet - AUF DEUTSCH

Letter of the day:  P

FOODS:  *Pfirsich (peach); *Pfannekuchen (pancake); *Pflaume (plum); Pute (turkey); Plätzchen (cookie)

ANIMALS:  der Pinguin (penguin); das *Pferd (horse)

COMMON NAMES:  Peter, Petra, Paul, Pauline, Phillip

CITIES:  Passau, Pegnitz, Pressath, Potsdam

Schloss (castle) Sanssouci - in Potsdam, a city bordering Berlin

WORDS YOU MIGHT RECOGNIZE:  der Pirat (pirate); die Polizei (police); der Poltergeist

VERBS:  plaudern (to chat); packen (to pack); *pflanzen (to plant); putzen (to clean)

GERMAN BRANDS/COMPANIES:  Porsche (vehicles), Puma (athletic wear)

VOCAB TIDBIT: ***********
The German sound "*PF" is used in a lot of words, as evidenced above - here are some more - Pfund (pound), Pfennig (penny), Pfeil (arrow), as well as IN words such as TroPFen (drop) and KoPF (head).

Although the German 'pf' sound is written as two letters, it should be articulated as one single sound. It is called an affricate, which means that is made up of an quick explosion at the start of the sound's articulation - the 'p' stage -, immediately followed by a slow fricative closure - the 'f' stage.

Projekt: Von A bis Z (O)

Moving along w/ blogging through the Alphabet AUF DEUTSCH - Heute/today "O":




FOODS:  die Orange (the orange), das Obst (the fruit), die Obsttorte (the fruit tort); Oblaten (a wafer specialty eaten alone or used with gingerbread)

source

ANIMALS:  das Orangutan (the orangatan) - pronounced "Or-ang-ooo-tan" auf Deutsch; das Ochse (the ox)

COMMON NAMES:  Otto, Oliver, Olivia

CITIES:   Offenbach, Oberammergau, Osnabrück

source

Oberammergau is a lovely town in Southern Germany, home of a famous Passion Play, first performed in 1634.  It is now only performed every 10 years - the next performance is in 2020.

WORDS YOU MAY RECOGNIZE:  der Omnibus (omni-bus), der Ofen (the oven), Ostern (Easter)

VERBS:  opfern (to offer); operieren (to operate); öffnen (to open)

COMMON BRANDS/COMPANIES:  Oetker (food/baking), Opel (automobiles - owned by GM)

Projekt: Von A bis Z (N)

I haven't given up ... I am going to finish blogging through the alphabet AUF DEUTSCH!
Can you think of any words to add?

Today's letter is "N".   Follow the links to the other letters from the sidebar >>>.



FOODS:  Nuss (nut), Nudeln (noodles)

ANIMALS:  *Nagetier (rodent), **Nashorn (rhinoceros), ***Nilpferd (hippopotamus)

VOCAB TIDBITS:
*Nagetier literally mean gnawing animal.  A perfect way to describe a rodent who chews its way through wood, cloth, wiring, and just about anything to find material for nesting.

**Nashorn literally means nose-horn, which makes perfect sense for describing a rhino.  (Nas' is short for Nase = nose)

***Nilpferd literally means Nile-horse since this species is known to graze along the banks of Egypt's Nile River.  Another word for hippo in German is "Flusspferd" which means river horse.

COMMON NAMES:  Norbert, Nikolas, Nicola,

CITIES:  Nürnberg (Englsih spelling:  Nuremberg), Neu-Isenburg, Neustadt, Nördlingen

Nürnberg's Imperial Castle

source

Words you may recognize:  der Name (the name), die Nase (the nose), das Nest (the nest)

verbs:  nehmen (to take), naschen (to snack)

German brands/companies:  NORMA (discount store)

Suprises at Dollar Tree!

Since living in America, I've gotten used to using lotions that come in plastic bottles with lids and pumps - brands like Suave and Aveeno and Vaseline or their generic forms.  But today while browsing our local Dollar tree for school supplies, I came across a little round tin that brought back a soothing childhood memory:  Nivea creme!  Nivea creme has broken into the American market - they advertise on TV and in magazines; there is even a men's line; and the brand is familiar now.   Nivea is branded by Beiersdorf AG of Hamburg, Germany, and for America, it is often made in Mexico and distributed through a Wilton, Connecticut supplier.   HOWEVER, what struck me today at Dollar Tree was the container - the little round tin, in this case a 30mL sized one.  

Nivea is great for kids and adults, for hands and your face.  I was always told to use the creme sparingly as it is very thick - hence it is a creme and not a lotion - and if you apply too much, your skin might feel greasy for a long time.  However, I applied the lotion tonight, and even now as I type, my skin doesn't feel greasy at all.  This creme is great for my rough elbows; it can be put on the feet with socks overnight to alleviate callouses.  It is gentle enough for the face, if you tend to have dry - not oily - skin.  The smell to me is my childhood ... not strong scent - just clean.  

Another creme that I remember from my childhood summers spent in Germany is Penaten creme:

This medicated creme also comes in a tin.  Penaten is owned by Johnson & Johnson and is named after a house of deity from ancient Rome.  Penaten is best known - at least to me - as a diaper creme.  It contains zinc oxide and lanolin.  It is a great barrier creme - it can also be useful to prevent chafing and to sooth sunburns.  I have seen it used for rashes, eczema, burns, and small, irritated areas.  It is a very thick creme, and we always just kind of dabbed it on the area to heal or help ... and did not rub it in completely; the skin just kind of absorbs it over time.  It isn't really meant for full coverage of skin, like a lotion.  According to my mom and Oma, Penaten creme was the solution for almost all skin irritations, injuries, and itchy spots!  

These are just some of the remedies of my childhood.  I was tickled to find the Nivea tin at Dollar Tree today --- the price is right, the size is convenient --- and I plan to go back and stock up!