One More Chocolate Shop....for now!

So this one is not technically just a candy or chocolate shop, but it is the chocolate and candy shop area that is located inside the department store Karstadt. (http://www.karstadt.de/) I have seen this many places over here as it seems that every big department store has one.

So, what really amazed me was the amount of each line they had of German, Austrian, Swiss, etc. chocolate lines. This wall was only Rebers chocolates; better known as the Mozart chocolates. They make those famous little Mozart balls and I just couldn't believe how much was there, especially since we aren't even in Salzburg. I mean, in Salzburg I understand that since it was his birthplace, but Stuttgart? All the way across Germany they still have this much available? Crazy. Anyway, a whole lovely wall.

Then a whole wall of Asbach and another German brand of chocolate.

Then, of course, you have to have a double sized wall of Lindt chocolates.

And then Hachez and another German brand that I can't pronounce. Okay, so I can pronounce it, I just don't know it really well. It's called Niederegger and the subtitle says Lubeck. Interesting.

And here is their truffle case. Hooray for truffles. All little round ball ones. (Mom and Dad, special note for you guys: We need to find a line of the little round ball truffles....they are so awesome.)

(Mom and Dad, special note for you guys: We need to find a line of the little round ball truffles....they are so regal and European looking. Just a thought.)

Okay, for eveyone else. I swear we will move on to something other than candy now! (:

Candy Hallway!!

Okay, as you all should know, my family does candy. So here's a post specifically about a really cool candy hallway. Literally, it's the hallway between two different parts of Breuninger department store. It's really neat and bright...oh and they carry all sorts of interesting candies.

Here are the gummies!

And they make these awesome little cakes out of the marshmallow candies they sell and deocrate them with gummies. They all have some kind of color theme or something too. Really creative and cute. Would be an excellent choice for a birthday!

Stuttgart Downtown!

So before the party I went into downtown Stuttgart for the first time alone! (Pretty exciting!) I got off at the stop right before the Hauptbahnhof which is the Schlossplatz; where the old and new castle, other cool old government buildings, the old markethalle, the saturday market, etc. all are located. First I took a few pictures of the Schlossplatz:


One of the two matching fountains mirroring the castle front:

One of the many sculptures on the main statue in the center:

A cool old building that I specifically took a picture of because I knew that mom would like the shiny gold stag on top. Looks like Jaeger....and Christmas! What a combo! (;

Here is the inside of the old Markthalle which you can read about here:
http://www.stuttgart-tourist.de/ENG/leisure/markthalle.htm


Actually, if you go here: http://www.stuttgart-tourist.de/DEU/ipunkt/webcam_schlossplatz.htm then you can see the live cam of the Schlossplatz and get the idea and view of the whole area. Cool, eh? You can see the fountains that I took a picture of and the center statue which that lady statue comes from. On the right will be the Markthalle (but I don't think you can see it because it's behind a bunch of trees) and on the left will be the golden stag building. Enjoy! I will post candy store pictures in a little bit! Well, really after my German class tonight.

Piraten Geburtstag!

On saturday, I escaped to the city for a couple of hours and then we were bombarded with six little pirates for a Piraten Geburtstag! (Pirate Birthday!) This is the invitation that I helped the kids make for the party....pretty cool I'd say.

That was part of the Schatzsuchen (Treasure Hunt, more-or-less) where there was a plank walking, a pirate skeleton to kill with water balloons, an ocean full of sharks and islands, and much more. Anyway, it wasn't too bad to have all those kids running around like pirates...it could have been way worse! (: Anyway, Jonanthan liked the cake and gots lots and lots of presents! Including a pirate sticker book (that my mom found) from me, from the states! Yo-Ho!

So, how do you make a Pirate Birthday Cake?

We're gonna find out....

First, you beg your mom for an easy recipe (in English) from the family books at home (and what she would do differently to them!). Then you take a lot of cooking stuff, two different online German to English cooking translators, an online US to Metric translator, a nifty apron (like my brother had made for me), and then you cross your fingers....

You mix all the stuff together and bake it...

Then, this is the part where I'm gonna tell you that everything went perfectly (the first time) and that it took no time at all! Oh, and it turned out looking just like the Lady Washington! Amazing....

Okay, so....in all actuality....the first cake turned out just great and even came out of the oven early and perfectly golden brown! Then, somehow, I must have turned the dial on the oven to hotter while reaching for something, or something, and so the outside was done and the inside was not. Bummer. So, I turned the oven way down and moved it to the bottom shelf where I hoped that it would quickly cook the inside without the outside burning. Well, it didn't quite work that way! But it was okay, but not perfect like the first one. Oh well.

Then, when I attached it to the first one with the chocolate frosting (that I also made from scratch), it proceeded to fall apart....taking the chocolate frosting with it. Crud. So, finally, I decided that it was just plain not gonna work, but the first cake was still good, so I took off the second one and put it aside (well, technically a lot of it ended up on the floor and counters and the rest of it ended up in Ann-Katrin and her friends' stomachs.) But anyway, no harm done. Then I frosted the entire first cake all well-and-good, but it wouldn't stand up because it didn't have the other cake to support it. Just took some interesting creativity (and a little more confectioner's sugar) to make another entire batch of frosting, this time dyed blue, and a new dish to make the ocean to hold up the ship! Woohoo. (Well, it mostly works. Meh.) Then I decorated and decorated and decorated! Hooray! My favorite part. I made waves around the boat, pirates and cannnon candles for the side! And even a mermaid for the front! And I gotta say....for a novice making a cake for a 5 year old boy, it's pretty impressive....See?

And I Bought Something....

I bought something that I totally didn't really need....on one hand, I shoudn't have gotten it because it's kinda big and I'm curious as to how I will get it home....and on the other hand, it's perfect(!) and I should have bought the second one!! So, you see my dilemma there?

It may not look like much to you...I don't know....but to me it's perfect! It is kinda big though....but oh well, I may have to ship it home.....I'll get over it! (: And I can enjoy it in my room here for a year before I bring it home to go in my kitchen. So perfect!

Day-Trip to Degerloch, Deutschland

So, I got away for a day to see some new sights! I only went to the next town over and only for a couple hours, but it was in between school, kindergarten, swim lessons, Jonathan's birthday plannning, cupcake baking, and so many other things...so I'm pretty impressed. It's just a little village called Degerloch that is located just in between here and the main city of Stuttgart. There is basically just one street of any "shopping," but it was nice to get out of the house anyway. Now I will show you around! These are just some cool buildings from around town with various shops in the bottom and such.