My Easter Celebration

Happy Easter/Passover, everyone! I hope that you enjoyed your ham, brisket, chocolate eggs, or whatever it is that you do to make this weekend special. And if you are reading this from Germany, I hope you went grocery shopping yesterday because all the supermarkets will be closed for Easter Monday, and you won't be able to find any food other than Doener Kebap. But only being able to eat Doener wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

I hadn't done much in the past few years to celebrate Easter, so this year I decided to decorate my apartment, eat candy, and make a delicious meal. Just to recap, the last time I had a real Easter celebration was in 2008, when my friend from Smith College, Hanna, was studying in Florence, Italy, and came to visit me in Hamburg, Germany. Here are some pictures so you can get an idea of how Easter 2008 inspired my celebration this year.

In Germany there is a yeast bread sold at Easter time called "Osterzopf," which literally means "Easter braid." A German friend of mine had given me her family's recipe, and since Hanna was visiting from Italy, I thought it would be fun to make some traditional German Easter bread.

We didn't get around to mixing up the dough until about 10:00 the night before Easter. We also had plans that night to meet David and go to Hamburg's famous Reeperbahn to go dancing. When we returned around 3:00 am from dancing, we were greeted by this monster dough, which had been rising for about five hours.

I decided to braid the dough anyway and bake it, and this is how it turned out. Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of the entire Osterzopf, but I had to carry it with us to the Michaeliskirche the next morning to the Easter service, and it weighed about as much as a newborn child.

Hanna and I also colored eggs, but we didn't really know what to do with them, so we went with David to the Alster, a lake in the middle of Hamburg. There we put the colored eggs in short trees and bushes, hoping that random children would find the eggs and get really excited. Oh, to be 24 again!

Easter 2008 inspired me to make an Osterzopf and color Easter eggs. This year, however, I was determined to let the bread rise for the appropriate amount of time so that it wouldn't turn into a monstrous loaf.

Yesterday I found this German vanilla sugar at a Vietnamese supermarket in my neighborhood. It is an essential ingredient in many German baked goods, though I am still quite puzzled that it was sold at a Vietnamese supermarket.

The braided dough, ready to be baked.

The finished product (notice my Easter egg headscarf and bunny apron, courtesy of the Easter package from my mother). Ironically, the dough did not rise AT ALL this time, so I had a deflated Osterzopf. It was very dense, but it still had a nice yeasty flavor.

I also colored eggs today while the bread was baking. I wanted to put the colored eggs out in the courtyard in front of my building, but I decided to use them for decorations instead. I might eat them for lunch this week, too.

                                                      My breakfast nook

                      It wouldn't be Easter without Lindt chocolate and Cadbury eggs!

Although the Osterzopf didn't turn out quite right, the rest of the Easter feast was a great success!

Spring has Sprung!

Happy spring, everyone! I hope spring is as lovely where you are as it is in Minneapolis. Tomorrow is the March Equinox, marking the beginning of astronomical spring. According to the meteorological calendar, spring should have also already arrived here. However, the ecological spring has not arrived yet, and I imagine it won't happen before mid-April at the rate we're going here.

                  Just out enjoying a spring walk in the crisp 19 degree F weather
                                              (4 degrees F with windchill). 

                               People out enjoying the weather in my neighborhood.

                                                     Mmm, snowpiles. 

                                           Spring in my building's courtyard.

                               Bike frozen to sidewalk at bus stop near my building.

                                                            Pretty snow

 The hipster baristas at the coffee shop on the way to my bus stop are apparently too busy updating their blogs and being ironic to clear the 6 inches of solid ice from the sidewalk.


In all seriousness, this winter truly feels like it will never end. In my last post from one month ago, I was already lamenting this eternal winter, but I didn't think that we would still be getting snow and freezing temperatures this late in March. So what have I been doing to keep myself from going nuts?

Making Caribbean food and listening to Caribbean music always lifts my spirits. Try out these recipes for Caribbean-spiced roast chicken and Jamaican beans and rice. While you're cooking, enjoy some Red Stripe or a lager similar to Negra Modela while listening to some classic Jamaican ska.


I also received an Easter package from my mom over the weekend which included my favorite Easter candy, an apron, and Easter decorations. As much as I love decorating, the juxtaposition of Easter decorations and the snow outside my window was a bit strange. Oh well, I guess this is all I can do for now. Let's hope for sunshine and warmer temperatures.