Pictures of our Weihnachtsmarkt in Lohr, 2012.

It was Dec 7th 2012, a Friday. The weekend had just begun. There was a certain kind of excitement within our home. The Weihnachtsmarkt in town was to begin in the evening. Winter had set in and it was to be our last, both winter and christmas in Deutschland. We had a list of christmas activities lined up for the following weeks. But for now, I was determined to enjoy the christmas spirit our little town had to offer. My kitchen was buzzing with activity. Lots of cookies were in baking, for my sister was to arrive in 2 days. More reason for our excitement. 

All day long, I looked up towards the skies.  I had a wish, just one christmas wish. 

For it to SNOW.....

There was something magical about the mix of snow and twinkling christmas lights. Magical indeed. And I wanted that, for memories.....

Well, at around 4 in the evening, before the markets were to open, the snow flakes fell ever so gently, carpeting the entire town in white.

My wish came true and indeed I had a magical time. All the while as I walked around town, I had the broadest smile on my face that night!!

Adventzeit in Lohr..

The day I discovered the below webcam showing me a glimpse of Lohr I was delighted. And since then, there has been no looking back. I watched the leaves turn an orange yellow, the foggy mist hanging low over the mountains, when the sun didn't shine, I could imagine what fellow Lohrites felt and when it did come out, I rejoiced very much, for them!!

2 weeks ago when I spotted the bright orange truck parked in the Stadt which carried the christmas lights to be put around town, I was excited beyond words. For it was this orange truck that I looked forward to every November. Not being my favourite month at all, what with the changing seasons, dull skies and foggy greys, the oncoming season of advent gave me something to look forward to.  The stringing of lights meant that the city would turn a magical wonderland, straight out of a fairytale. 

Many a day and night were spent walking around town, watching the kindergarten children decorate the trees, sipping glühwein, down a piping hot bratwurst, listen to christmas ensembles being performed or be one amongst the many shopping for christmas gifts.
Now, we just have magical memories of the german advent season.

Cinnamon Ornaments: A disaster

When you look at the pictures, i am sure you must be thinking, disaster?? No way!!

I too would have loved to say the same. When I first saw this on Pinterest, I knew I had to, wanted to make them. After scouring for ways to make them I finally narrowed down to one. Only difference being, i decided to make the applesauce and cinnamon powder from scratch!! That was mistake number 1!!!

Back in summer, I had plucked apples just for the heck of it during our walks and different day trips. I knew that no apple would fall on my head, so to the amusement of my kids and dismay of my husband, I would jump a little, pull a few branches here and there trying to get one juicy apple. In all I had plucked 10..:D  They had survived so long, not rotten in any way, just a wee bit shrivelled. What better  way than to use them for a craft project. The end result, a beautiful apple sauce.

Next was the cinnamon powder. There began my trouble. I don't know what made me think that I could make lots of it myself. My poor spice grinder kept giving up so many times, thanks to the ridiculously hard barks. Before you knew it, my kitchen was covered in powder, I was covered in powder, husband says the floor feels sticky too and now I see, the camera too has a beautiful brown shine.

Then came the kneading part, mixing the sauce and powder together to get the perfect dough. As much as I tried, I never got it. By this point I didn't even care. I was covered from top to toe with this heady scent of cinnamon and Ms A realised how very frustrated I was. From here, she took over. Patiently rolling the dough, cutting the stars out and getting them ready to bake.

(The result of homemade cinnamon powder, the stars looked coarse)

I must say, the final part(baking)was a test for me. I had no clue whether they would come out hard as rock, or crumble like cookies. We had come this far, we would continue.

So there, we should have had a happy ending right?

Well, they came out like stone, black stone, burnt well!!!

(The original baking time was an hour, they had burnt in 35 minutes)

All that was remaining was for me to weep. I had spent 2 hours preparing and covering my entire house and myself in cinnamon and this was what I got. Burnt ornaments and lovely pictures. 

Honestly, they would have found a place in the bin.

Well, the children came to their rescue once again, and promptly painted them. They still have to add a few final touches.

Will I attempt making them again. I do not know.