Leaving your home country to settle elsewhere brings along a loss of your cultural references, no matter whether the move to a new country was voluntary or involuntary. There are two cultural references that will always stick with you, and you don’t want to let them go because they are part of who you are: language and food. That’s why I don’t find it surprising when immigrants who otherwise happily adapt to life in the new country, maintain their culinary traditions, and continue to speak their native language. I do. Continue reading
Tag Archives: gardening
A tiny pear kicks off “The Year of German-American Friendship”
Friends and families from Germany have often remarked that rural northeast Pennsylvania where I live looks just like Germany, and they jokingly ask me, “Doesn’t it sometimes feel like you’ve never left?”
The answer is yes, … and no. In my more than 20 years in America, I have experienced America as a country that is very different from my native Germany in many aspects but I have also found a lot of common ground between the two countries.
Showcasing and exploring how closely Germany and the United States are linked together through deep historical ties and shared values is what The Year of German-American Friendship (“Deutschlandjahr USA”) is all about. And I am excited that Spoonfuls of Germany was chosen as one of 200 partners participating in this major initiative. Continue reading
Almost white asparagus soup
When I was growing up in Frankfurt, Germany, every year from May through early June we had white asparagus for dinner almost daily. And I often complained, “Och, schon wieder Spargel…” (“Ew, asparagus again…”). “One day,” my mother warned me, “You will long for these days.”
My mother was right. Now as an adult living in the United States I do, indeed, long for the white asparagus bounty of my childhood, especially for Cream of Asparagus Soup, which is hands-down my favorite white asparagus dish. Continue reading
Spoonfuls of Germany 