feuerzangenbowle

   
   
I headed up to Hannover to visit Mandie at the beginning of last weekend, and then both of us continued on to Essen to visit Suz for the remainder of the weekend. The day and a half we were in Essen were filled with cooking, eating, and getting to know a little bit of the Ruhrgebiet (which, while we were there, was gloriously sunny but cold cold cold), and also with making Feuerzangenbowle -- the first time I'd ever participated in making it (really it was Suz's show!), though I was already quite the fan. It can be a bit hazardous to make indoors; good thing Suz's roommate thought to move the table out from under the low-hanging IKEA paper lantern before we had to think fast and put out a fire. Watching a rum-soaked sugar cone whoosh with flames was immensely mesmerizing and felt much like like I imagine the cave people must have felt while staring into their fires, except for at the end of my fire there was warm alcohol. Delicious.