Christmas, Mexico & Weddings...

It was sure good to be back in the US for Christmas! It was great to see all of our family and friends! On December 19th, our good friends Mike & Lorena, had their baby Isabella Sofia. We were so happy to get to meet her! She is so sweet! Here are some pictures of her!

Baby Isabella @ 2 Days old:

Me, Mike, Isabella, Lorena & Mike Z:

We had the opportunity to have everyone over to our house for Christmas, which was really great. We all just hung out, ate, opened presents, ate, drank wine, ate and just had a great time. It was very relaxing and for me, a really special Christmas. In the catering/restaurant business, this is usually our busiest time. But, because I got back so late, I didn't have a lot of catering to do. So this year, I really got to spend a lot of time with the family. It was just perfect and very needed!

Here is a picture of just some of the family:

Raul & I during a competitive game of Continental:

For New Year's we went to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico to visit Mike'e mom's family. This is the first time that I had met most of them and the first time that Mike has seen many of them in many, many years. In fact, they remember him as little Mikey. Aww... We had a great time, of course, centering our time and company around the dinner table. We ate so much good food from barbacoa to albondigas (Mike's favorite) and tamales. Not only did I bring some corn tortillas back with me, I also brought back a 5-pack of pounds.

Mike enjoying his barbacoa and Mexican coke.... YUM!:

Despite the issues that are occuring in Juarez, we had a great time and I was grateful to be able to meet some of his family. Heading back to Austin, we stopped in El Paso and had the chance to meet up with a friend, Ana. We had a great time catching up on old and new gossip over a few tasty margaritas!

Lastly, we headed over to Dallas to celebrate the wedding of Dain and Vail. We were so glad to be a part of it and to be there for their special occasion. It was also great to catch up with a bunch of Delts (and, their wives/girlfriends!). We all had such a great time and we are so happy for the new, fab couple! At the end of the evening, we continued the party with some more drinks and cookies (Lorena!! haha)! We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of baby Tolbert! Here is a picture of some of the wives/girlfriends and a group shot of the Delts!
We are all situated back in Denmark and getting through these short days of what they call "sunshine"... I call it daylight, grey daylight. I am also learning how to live in the snow and cold weather! Being back in Denmark makes me long for the Texas weather and sunshine again. But, I should be careful what I ask for... the long spring/summers are right around the corner... I am ready!

Christmas Markets in Germany

So, I am a little behind on my blogs, but alas... I am sitting in a cozy (hygge) little cafe in Copenhagen and I am finally able to get caught up on some things since returning here and the holidays and such.

After much anguish from Mike, I was able to convince him to head to Germany for the Christmas Markets before we headed back to the US for the Christmas holidays. I had heard from SO many people that we really needed to go! And, since I know we probably won't be in Europe next winter, it was important to me that we go. We don't have a car, so we rented a car and took a drive down to Hamburg, Germany. The drive was only about 4 hours and was pretty painless (says the passenger who sleeps at the sound of the inginition being turned on). We did have to take a ferry over, which was EXPENSIVE at $150! It was funny though, because the ferry sells things tax-free. And, for the Danes, that means time to stock up on beer, liquor, candies, etc. I find it so odd that you can get Danish beer--- made and produced in Denmark, cheaper in Germany! I guess it just goes to show you how taxes can REALLY get you here in Denmark! Needlesstosay, we saw this tiny little hatchback FILLED to the top with cases of beer. I mean, at LEAST 10 cases. I am sure that poor little car would have bottomed out after hitting a pebble. Here is Mike driving us to Germany... so thrilled I am taking his picture!

I digress, back to Germany. So, we started our little excursion in Hamburg with the.. uh.. Hamburgers (I am not making this up). We went to the beautiful city center and just enjoyed the evening with Hamburger-anian food and German beer and wine! As we were walking around the city center, we first hit the "wine/beer tent". Incidentally, you can always find one at the market because 1)they are everywhere and 2) they are crowded! Mike had a hot chocolate with a shot of Amaretto and whipped cream. I started the night out with a warm glass of glühwein, which is a warm, German mulled wine. I really saw the effects of how that warm alcohol warms you up from the inside out... and, I liked it!
Next, we hit one of the many markets, there were probably about 7 of them, all within walking distance from each other. At each of the markets, we noticed that about half of the vendors were all devoted to food & drink. Which, if you know me, was not a problem at all! The other vendors sold cool things like wood carved decorations (ie. Nutcrackers), soap, steins, etc. This is a picture of the main one located in Hamburg City Center.
Now for the food.. the food was so good! We had everything from this melted cheese contraption (actually from Switzerland). They take a whole hunk of cheese with extreme heat over it. It melts & causes the cheese to bubble and bake. They then take a scrapper and scrape the goodness onto some bread. See the picture below and drool. And, homemade donuts that they were frying right in front of us! To die for!
Then, as if we needed even more food, we stopped off at Paulaner Brauhaus. It is a very typical (Bavarian) German restaurant. It specializes in Bavarian food and most importantly, it has Schweinhaxe or pork knuckle. To make this special pork knuckle, they take the knuckle, skin on a fry the darn thing. The skin gets crispy & good (what we call chicharones in Mexican-talk). The meat just falls off the bone. I mean, really, does it get any better? I had asked for a salad because I was looking for at least a little something healthy. And, they brought me a salad completely dressed with way too much dressing. I ate it, but man, Bavarian food... is not light at all! Mike is proud of his Schweinhaxe!
Top off all this goodness with lots of beer & wine... we were happy campers. Next stop, Lubeck! We headed over to Lubeck, Germany to continue our tour of Christmas markets. Lubeck is known for their marizpan. They are especially known for Niederegger marzipan (http://www.niederegger.de/) and stollen. The place was an absolute madhouse when we got there, that being said, once I tried the marzipan, I knew why! The stollen & marzipan were SO good! Here is a picture from the Lubeck city center and me holding the largest cinnamon sticks I have EVER seen. I wanted them... Mike said "no".
After a great weekend in Germany, we headed back to Denmark. It was a great experience and I highly recommend visiting the markets if you ever get a chance. There is really something magical and special about them. Mike and I really enjoyed it and, at the end of it all, he was glad we went (which, I knew he would be!).