German Breakfast Box

Guten Tag!

It’s time for another German takeover (the good kind… too soon?) here at Joie de Vivre. Thanks to a long-standing friendship with one of meine Lieblingsfreundin, Christiane, I love German food and culture, including a Brotzeit spread for dinner and making my own Orangina. And since I’m not travelling much (i.e., at all – le sigh) during the pandemic, I’m always looking for foreign foods at local grocery stores and trying to create an international experience at home.

I’m always on the hunt for German and other international products here in the United States, and was thrilled to find a Deutsch-themed box of breakfast goodies while shopping at Tuesday Morning (for my readers abroad, it’s a discount home goods store in the States). I was just casually browsing along the aisles, minding my own business, when it appeared before me, a shimmering mirage of Früstück goodness.

The box came with a lot of classic German items, from Müsli to so-called “fitness” Brot (a dense, delicious bread) to Kaffee. Branding and marketing for German foods and drinks often focuses on health and uses words like vitality, fitness, and wellness in the names of products, including this fitness bread.

And a German breakfast often include an open-faced sandwich made of a combination of bread; butter, jam and/or honey; cheese, and even meat like ham or baloney. I’ve eaten similar breakfasts in the Netherlands and Denmark.

The organic breakfast tea from Teekanne, “Start Your Day,” in the box of goodies was a fun surprise and I’m really enjoying it. I try to incorporate as many organic products in my diet as I can (check out this recipe for homemade applesauce, just in time for fall!) to manage inflammation and IBS and support the environment.

I also drink A Lot of tea, so it’s a win-win for me. I haven’t checked yet but assume I can order more Teekanne tea on the line if in need to. (Now I’m wistful for the Salus tea advent calendar I brought back from a trip to Germany in October 2018. Yes, a Tee Adventskalender!)

A Taste of Holland

Speaking of the Netherlands… Another exciting find in the exact same trip was a large tin of Wilhelmina mints, one of my favorite Dutch treats (second only to kruidnoten, the crunchy, cinnamony biscuits traditionally eaten around St. Nicholas Day). Having a munt or kruidnoten always makes me think of my Dutch friend, Winnie.

I shrieked with joy and may have caused a little scene. Finding delicious munts in a limited-edition tin replete with Dutch cultural imagery is huge cause for celebration, people.

German TV Update

L’Husband and I have been watching The Defeated, a Netflix original drama about Ally-occupied Berlin in the aftermath World War II. The city was divided into four sector – American, British, French, and Russian – and crime and vice ran rampant as the city tried to rebuild itself.

When I say drama, I mean drama (not unlike the vibe of another Berlin-based, post-war Netflix show, Babylon Berlin, which captures the Zeitgeist of the Roaring Twenties). This show is a lot to take emotionally – and we’ve all carried quite a heavy enough mental and emotional load in the last eighteen months – but is also very engrossing and features dialogue in English, German, French, and Russian. I’m a foreign language junky, so it’s right up mon allée, as it were.

What is your favorite special treat to eat for breakfast?

Dankeschön for reading and please subscribe and share!

Beste Grüße,

Katie