Pumpkin Bundt Cake

21 November 2015

A fellow student in my German conversation class often brought in the most wonderful Bundt cakes made by his wife. One Christmas he gave several of us copies of the cookbook, Kiss My Bundt by Chrysta Wilson.

I read it cover to cover and even bought a special bundt shaped pan, but with one thing and another... I somehow never got around to baking one.

So yesterday, for my dad's birthday, I decided to bust out the bundt. I made the Pumpkin Bundt and modified the vanilla buttercream frosting with brandy flavoring. It turned out perfectly!

And I'm totally hooked! The recipes are simple but creative, and the texture is perfect. Love it!

Now, like my colleague, I will have to buy a special bundt cake carrier so I can bring them to work instead of leaving temptation at home.

Berlin Wanderings

28 Septermber 2015

Random sights around town.

The "Fast Rabbit" had a rather amusing sign. I'm not sure this word means what they think it means, it certainly doesn't make me want to eat their food.

A really old building covered in ivy; I can't remember why we wanted to explore it, but explore it we did.

Like many buildings in Berlin, it had a tunnel leading to an inner courtyard, beyond which you can see yet another tunnel leading to another courtyard.

Oh no, I've forgotten the name of this restaurant! It was awesome though.

This was a bar, owned by a man whose family actually were in the circus, and the circus theme is seen throughout the decor. Fascinating place and story!

Some of these are actually real family photos!

I know the bar and restaurant industry is a killer, but I hope this awesome place is still here on my next visit to Berlin!

Walking the Berlin Wall: Ackerstrasse

26 September 2015

Ackerstrasse was the final section I walked on this trip.

Nearby is a museum commemorating the Wall, in addition to the outdoor monuments preserving the fragments of the structures.

From the upper level of the museum you can see down into the preserved section of the Border Zone, complete with guard tower. In the distance beyond is the ever present Fernsehturm at Alexanderplatz.

There were clipboards with statements of visitors from around the world.

In this one place, stones were left to be overgrown by nature. Such a contrast with the previous sections.

That concludes my Wall walk for this trip.

Walking the Berlin Wall: Bernauer Strasse

26 September 2015

The Bernauer Strasse section was particularly poignant because of the indications where the people had tunneled under to escape, as seen by the shiny plaques set in the ground like dotted lines. The upright poles are along the line of the Wall itself.

What's everyone looking at over there?

It's a map of the former layout of the area, in iron.

Shadows along the Wall itself.

The circles indicate where people fleeing the East side were killed while trying to escape.

"Flucht" means escaped (literally, "flown").

C405 "Flown, a person".

Here are the markings of a tunnel, seen from the West side, the poles represent the wall, and the tunnel can be seen continuing on the other side. "Fluchttunnel" or flight tunnel.

We might become lost in the dark musings of tragic history, were it not for children playing to lift us out of the reverie.

Another tunnel seen from the East side, looking toward the Wall as indicated by the poles.

Remains of some of the residential buildings which stood here, most of which were demolished.

People would try to go through the buildings to escape by jumping through upper story windows.

Just beyond that is the remains of a chapel that stood nearby.

To be continued...






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