German Pastries...
...are delicious. There are just no two ways about it. And, as it turns out, there's a shop around the corner that makes their own fresh pastries every morning. Somehow, it took us a few months to find this place, but find it we did--and there's been no looking back. (Just as my parents; during their visit, most of their breakfasts came from our little corner shop!)
I realize that a person should limit her pastry intake, but here's the problem: It takes, on average, 90 seconds to get from the door of my apartment to the corner store. It's a little store, and the pastry counter is right up front, and there's never a line, so it takes about 60 seconds to make your selection, pay and get out of there. 90 seconds back, and we're talking about a 4 minute trip. 4 minutes of your morning, and you have freshly baked pastries.
Now, since I have developed a coffee aversion during this pregnancy, I drink tea in the morning. And tea, as you may know, requires a few minutes to steep. Actually, it takes about 3-5 minutes. And 4 minutes is really exactly between 3 and 5 minutes. And a person has to do SOMETHING while her tea steeps, don't you think? So we get pastries a lot :)
The selection you see in the photo was from a week or so ago. (These were not all mine, I assure you!) There's a strudel, which is kind of like a crumb cake, an apple-strawberry pocket, and a Berliner (Jelly donut). All are rather delicious. They also make their own croissants, both plain and of the chocolate variety, and muffins...the list goes on.
All of this brings us to this morning. As anybody who has ever lived with me can attest, I do not wake up well. I am what the Germans call a "Morgenmuffel", which is to say I am not a morning person. In Jena, this has been a bit easier because I am free to sleep until 9 or 9:30, and then laze around for awhile before I get started with my day. (I do realize that all of this is about to come to a crashing halt come July.) I love my sleep, and I always wake up wishing it were not quite time to wake up.
Add to that my recent pregnancy symptoms, and mornings have not gone well for me of late. I just can't sleep, and I NEVER have trouble sleeping. If I'm not up using the bathroom or drinking water (a terribly vicious cycle), I am trying to find a position in which (a) my hips don't feel like they're broken and (b) I can breathe. I can manage one or the other, but it's hard to get both at the same time. And, of course, the baby does some form of martial arts while I'm trying to sleep, which I really love but which can be a bit distracting.
All that to say, last night was a very bad night, so I decided to try to sleep in a bit this morning (or, more accurately, lay around a bit.) Michael got up to start his day, and after a while he came back in...with a cup of hot tea and a delicious pastry breakfast! My favorite, even: half a strudel and half of this delicious pastry filled with Nutella and something like vanilla pudding.
It was an absolutely wonderful way to start the day.
I realize that a person should limit her pastry intake, but here's the problem: It takes, on average, 90 seconds to get from the door of my apartment to the corner store. It's a little store, and the pastry counter is right up front, and there's never a line, so it takes about 60 seconds to make your selection, pay and get out of there. 90 seconds back, and we're talking about a 4 minute trip. 4 minutes of your morning, and you have freshly baked pastries.
Now, since I have developed a coffee aversion during this pregnancy, I drink tea in the morning. And tea, as you may know, requires a few minutes to steep. Actually, it takes about 3-5 minutes. And 4 minutes is really exactly between 3 and 5 minutes. And a person has to do SOMETHING while her tea steeps, don't you think? So we get pastries a lot :)
The selection you see in the photo was from a week or so ago. (These were not all mine, I assure you!) There's a strudel, which is kind of like a crumb cake, an apple-strawberry pocket, and a Berliner (Jelly donut). All are rather delicious. They also make their own croissants, both plain and of the chocolate variety, and muffins...the list goes on.
All of this brings us to this morning. As anybody who has ever lived with me can attest, I do not wake up well. I am what the Germans call a "Morgenmuffel", which is to say I am not a morning person. In Jena, this has been a bit easier because I am free to sleep until 9 or 9:30, and then laze around for awhile before I get started with my day. (I do realize that all of this is about to come to a crashing halt come July.) I love my sleep, and I always wake up wishing it were not quite time to wake up.
Add to that my recent pregnancy symptoms, and mornings have not gone well for me of late. I just can't sleep, and I NEVER have trouble sleeping. If I'm not up using the bathroom or drinking water (a terribly vicious cycle), I am trying to find a position in which (a) my hips don't feel like they're broken and (b) I can breathe. I can manage one or the other, but it's hard to get both at the same time. And, of course, the baby does some form of martial arts while I'm trying to sleep, which I really love but which can be a bit distracting.
All that to say, last night was a very bad night, so I decided to try to sleep in a bit this morning (or, more accurately, lay around a bit.) Michael got up to start his day, and after a while he came back in...with a cup of hot tea and a delicious pastry breakfast! My favorite, even: half a strudel and half of this delicious pastry filled with Nutella and something like vanilla pudding.
It was an absolutely wonderful way to start the day.
2 comments:
Oh, I remember those sleeping problems. Did you try using pillows to support your hips and belly? I'm a side sleeper and that helped me. It was more a problem during my first pregnancy, the 2nd pregnancy - I just fell in bed and fell asleep right away. Sometimes I think your body starts to get ready to have fewer hours of sleep.
Those pastries look delicious. I love carbs!!!!!
What a wonderful guy!!! And while it may not be quite theologically correct, I am pretty sure nutella is a staple in heaven.
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