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German Christmas Market

5 Dec

For the fourth year in a row I went to the German Christmas Market that is held in the downtown core. It runs for a month or so and can be a lot of fun. It is based on the large Christmas Markets that happen in Europe and is German themed. I’ve never been to one of the Christmas Markets in Europe so I couldn’t say for certain how this one compares, I’m pretty sure this one is way smaller but the gist of it is the same…I think?

There is a carousal for all ages that my friend and I meant to go on but forgot, we kind of purposefully forgot as it was pouring rain and we didn’t like the idea of sitting on a wet horse lol There is also a massive Christmas tree that every single person there tries to get a picture in front of, for real, every single person lol, we had to wait for people to clear out so we could get a picture without strangers in it lol

Me

Me

My friend

My friend

Close up!

Close up!

One of the main things about the market is the food, I’d say half or maybe a bit more than half of the booths are food. Most of them are German foods but there is one booth that is all maple flavoured foods, we are in Canada after all! lol πŸ˜‰

For dinner we each got a, hmm, a glorified hot dog I guess, mine was all beef, I think KL got the one that had beef and pork in it but I could be wrong about that. They are topped with sauerkraut and fried onions and if you want there is also ketchup and mustard.

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With your entrance ticket you get a free mug of either apple cider or mulled wine. I know from previous years I don’t like the mulled wine so apple cider it was! Lucky for me I like apple cider lol You get to keep the mug, which means I now have 4 of these mugs lol they are small so normally not a useful size, after all, if you are having a hot drink you want a normal sized mug right? I find them the perfect size if I am having juice though. πŸ™‚

We also got dessert, I got a hot apple strudel and KL got waffle on a stick, which now that I think of it is probably not a German thing since it is at every fair type thing I’ve been to for years now and one of the few booths not manned by an actual German person lol

Hot apple strudel with vanilla sauce on top

Hot apple strudel with vanilla sauce on top

Of the two desserts KL’s was the better option, her waffles on a stick were covered in a strawberry sauce and whipped Β cream and I thought it was way better than my strudel…kind of because the strudel was a bit bland and had raisins in it, ugh, raisins, blech.

There was also live entertainment, it ranged from good, to meh, to funny.

When we got there a group was performing whose name I didn’t catch, they performed a variety of songs, all Christmas themed. The lead singer had the cutest little hat on which you can’t see all that well in the picture because she kept standing directly under a light which made my camera unhappy lol

Can you see her hat? It's adorable!

Can you see her hat? It’s adorable!

There was also entertainment provided by some extremely well dressed drag queens who are way better at walking in heels than I ever will be, not even joking about that! There was a Simone Says game, and at least three separate musical performances, lemme see, there was a Celine Dion, a Taylor Swift and hmm, I’m not sure who the other person was supposed to be but she was entertaining! Basically it was a bunch of people having a great time. πŸ™‚ The Taylor Swift impersonator was wearing such a skimpy outfit I felt bad for her lol even with all her dancing she must have been freezing!

The weather was cold, not super cold but cold, shrug, it is December after all. It was raining the entire time so thank goodness for waterproof jackets and boots! lol I bent my head forward at one point to look down and had a whole bunch of water pour off the top of my head where apparently my hood had been collecting it *rolls eyes* The rain is totally manageable if you are dressed for it, which luckily both KL and I were. I’ve gone other years where I wasn’t dressed for the weather and while I had fun I was also freezing which drastically lowered my enjoyment level, this year I was prepared! πŸ™‚

This market has quickly become part of my Christmas season tradition, I really look forward to it and hope to continue going in the years to come. πŸ™‚

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A Friendly Meal

5 Dec

One of my friends from work is an amazing cook, which is not surprising since she is one of the chefs lol I often ask her cooking advice and I know I provide her with a lot of amusement because of how dumb I am when it comes to food and cooking and well, anything kitchen related lol

The other day I was stopping by her place after aquafit class to pick up an empty tin can (it’s for a craft project but I don’t buy food in cans so I didn’t have one) and when I got there she invited me in to hang out. I think she worries I don’t eat enough, or eat enough “real” food (she seems to think a spoonful of peanut butter doesn’t count as a meal, weirdo! πŸ˜‰ lol ) because she kept offering me food. In the end I got fed dinner, which was nice cause I wouldn’t have eaten anything once I got home due to lack of food and money to buy food lol, she heated up some minestrone soup and made me some toast, isn’t she so nice? πŸ™‚

Then, on my way out she gives me a huge container with food in it, she made me dinner to take home so I’d have food over the next couple days! Crazy levels of nice or what?!

The food this morning before I warmed it up.

The food this morning before I warmed it up.

Doesn’t it look delish? It’s chicken with some sort of parmesan topping, steamed broccoli and rice with carrots and peas mixed in. I think there is something else mixed in to the rice but I’m not sure what…whatever it is, it’s tasty!

I was so worried about warming it up, do I microwave it or put it in the oven or go stove top? Too many options, ack! I felt sure whichever way I chose would be the wrong way and I’d somehow screw up the food lol

Eventually I decided to warm it up in a pan, seemed safest, and I remember my mom warming up leftovers in a pan on the stove and if that’s what she does than it must be right, right? Right!

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I put the chicken in first and then sliced it up to ensure it was warm all the way through, when it was close to being done I added in the rice and the broccoli since even I know those wouldn’t take as long as the chicken lol The parmesan topping ended up breaking in to smaller pieces so some of it got a tad burned but for the most part it was ok.

Heated up and on a plate, Mmm!

Heated up and on a plate, Mmm!

So there we have it, the final product! It was super tasty and I sent her a text thanking her for about the billionth time for the food lol I can’t wait to eat it again tomorrow! πŸ™‚

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