German Cooking

I've been back in Germany for a little over three weeks now, and I finally had my first "German" meal today. Don't get me wrong, I've had German snacks, and foods that are available in Germany but not the States, such as Greek and Italian (trust me, they're completely different over here), but actual meal, tonight was the first.

I made Jaegerschnitzel and knodel. I'd invited Pivo over because I don't really like cooking just for myself, and I'm still working on the whole cooking thing, so he's kind of the guinea pig (last night I made cookies, and I didn't really like the way they turned out from the one bite I had, so I gave him half of them today to take home - he wouldn't take them all). He was a little surprised that I was using a premade dough for the knodel since I said I was making them, but that's how my mom always did it. Why make something from scratch when there are easier ways? And it's not like they were instant or out of the box. According to that argument, I didn't really make the Jaegerschnitzel, either - I just fried the pork and and then added water and a Maggi sauce powder. Either way, I heated, mixed and dirtied pots and pans - sounds like cooking to me. It's definitely a step up from my "take out of bag, place on cookie sheet/pizza pan and heat."

It actually turned out well, and I timed everything perfectly (for some reason, I'm really good at cooking pork; last time I made us chicken and noodles, and I got kind of irritated with the noodles, and boiled things over). And I got rid of some cookies. I figure this way I also don't have to worry about dieting too much because just the fact that I'm cooking with somewhat fresh ingredients has to be healthier than Iraq and my usual, pre-deployment diet. Of course, I am still going to keep a supply of Tombstone pizza and potato skins in the freezer. But I also have yoghurt and strawberries in my fridge. And I finally figured out where they keep the Brita filters in the PX - only had to ask two employees. I'll actually have cold water in my fridge again, and I generally prefer water anyway.