Landeskunde und Kultur

So ein Pech!

No Octoberfest this year. Oktoberfest would have been from September 19 to October 4.

So...we make our own!

Here are the three ingredients to make yourself a fun (and safe) Oktoberfest right at home:

Schlager. Essen. Dekorationen.

Schlager Music. Food. Decorations.

Disclosure: On this page there are normal and also so-called "affiliate links." That means that if you click that link and make a purchase, I receive a small commission for it, however your purchase information stay…

Wenn man nicht reisen kann, egal ob man zu wenig Geld hat oder es eine Pandemie gibt, kann man immer das Internet benutzen, um eine virtuelle Reise zu machen.

Es kostet nichts und man kann die gleiche Reise immer wieder machen.

Diese Woche gibt es eine Videoreise nach Bayern. Sie können verschiedene Seen sehen, eine Wiese, verschiedene Städte und vieles mehr.

Kommen Sie für 4 Minuten, 30 Sekunden mit nach Bayern. 

When the time isn't right to travel, no matter if it's because money is tigh…

One of the best ways to put your dollars to use is, of course, to shop locally and to buy from independent retailers. So if you want to shop direct or shop small for German products, one of the best ways to spend those dollars effectively is to shop direct.

You don't even have to search for a lot of things now, either, as I've created a collection of German, Swiss and Austrian products and services right here at GermanWithNicole.com. It's all listed on the Produkte page.

Here are a few highlig…

When you want to buy a German, Swiss, or Austrian product online, it can be hard to track down. Do you search for the German term or the English translation?

What if you want to "shop small?" How do you do that without searching through page after page of online search results?

You can now easily find more German, Swiss, and Austrian products and shop small/direct on the Einkaufen page.

For months now I've been searching, gathering, and creating this collection of German, Swiss, and Austrian …

When you grow up in Wisconsin, potato salad is a fairly common salad. But the "German Potato Salad" I had growing up was...not...what I ate in Germany.

I wonder if the recipes that so many of German heritage here in Wisconsin enjoy are from the generations that immigrated to the US?

I ate a lot of Kartoffelsalat in Germany. As in two servings (at least) at any party I went to. Except for one, that one Kartoffelsalat was not good. It was that bad that I remember it 15 years later. As we say her…

Have you ever had a Grillabend (grill evening)? If you haven't, there are two condiments that stand out the most: Soßen und Kräuterbutter. Sauces and herbed butter.

Sauces are fun, like Curryketchup and BBQ sauce.

But Kräuterbutter? Now that speaks to my dairy-consuming, Wisconsin-raised heart.

What is Kräuterbutter?

Kräuterbutter is simply a bunch of butter mixed with several herbs and some salt. It's really easy to make, easy to enjoy, and sehr, sehr lecker on grilled meats and vegetable…

What are they, noodles? Dumplings?

It doesn't matter--it's SPÄTZLE!

I don't believe you've really had German food until you've had homemade Spätzle.

Maybe you've tried dried Spätzle noodles? They're ok. You can find them at ALDI several times a year here.

Spätzle at many Germanic restaurants here is usually pre-made and then reheated in a pan. They're ok but usually they dry out quickly and then they're tough to eat.

The best Spätzle are made at home. They take time, it's effort, and if you…

der Adventskranz = advent wreath

Do you know the difference between Advent and Christmas?

Growing up, I never really understood the difference. I even got an Advent calendar from my grandmother every year, but nobody ever explained to me the difference very clearly.

So you can imagine that it was a bit of a shock when I moved to Germany and found out: »Advent ist nicht Weihnachten!«.

No, Advent is *not* Christmas. It is the time before Christmas.

Here's how I learned the difference. I use…

At the end of the year a lot of Germans use the phrase zwischen den Jahren. Between the years?! That's not possible!

Or is it?

There are two things you need to know about this phrase zwischen den Jahren.

1. It's a real thing.

A lot of German offices shut down on Heiligabend (Christmas Eve) and don't open again until after Neujahr (New Year's Day). That means all their everything must be done on December 23rd! Since they won't be back to work until the new year has begun, then they have finis…