K is for Cookie
Actually K is for Kekse, but I don’t think the Cookie Monster song translates well into German. Another thing that doesn’t translate well are my Christmas cookie recipes. I started out with 5 target recipes and went shopping. I found the ingredients for 3 of them. Some things like Reese’s chips or instant oatmeal just don’t exist in our village. It’s not that Austrians aren’t into baking. There are huge displays in the grocery store of flour, sugar, nuts, spices, and all the stuff needed to make cakes, gingerbread, and all sorts of Christmas treats, just not cookies.
I should have taken the hint when I tried to buy an extra cookie sheet and couldn’t find one among the 20 types of cake pans and spring forms. Instead of swapping between two trays, I decided to just use the one that I had brought from the US. This would have been a good plan except that when I went to put the first batch into the oven, it didn’t fit. It was about 2 inches too wide. After a brief panic, we ended up using the broiler pan set on a higher rack.
Considering the pan situation and a few ingredient substitutes, the M&M (yes! they have those) cookies turned out close to normal, but a little crunchy (read: rock solid). We’ve been eating them anyway, so they can’t be too bad.
A few other things I’ve learned: Vanilla is called Bourbon Vanilla and is a powder, not a liquid. Backpulver is something like baking powder, there is no baking soda, and cream of tartar is called Natron and sold in organic health food stores. I’m going to try my new knowledge out on batch of peanut butter cookies tonight. Stay tuned.
halftime
December 23rd, 2011 at 6:11 am
You found peanut butter?
December 24th, 2011 at 4:54 am
Oh yeah! The grocery store actually gets Skippy sometimes. Other times they have a weird Austrian brand called Marilussy’s Erdnuss Creme which is not bad if you are really craving a PBJ.
I have to admit I’m starting to really like Nutella though, and the store ALWAYS has at least 3 brands of hazelnut spread.
December 25th, 2011 at 8:47 pm
You probably already know this trick. If you get really homesick drive to one of the American bases (there’s one near Treviso) where the commissariat has all sort of goodies. My mom used to get some mexican foods from a friend. For a while one of Debby’s friends would ship to us (in Ca) gluten free pasta from Italy, which had been imported to the US and then shipped back for sale to a commissariat in Germany! In our defense, the pasta is the best gluten free pasta we’ve had.
Can’t believe you guys have been in Austria for a year!