Friday Free For All: German Market

One of the nicest things I’ve discovered so far about Germany is that every city, town, and village seems to hold a weekly farmer’s market, making it easy to find fresh and local groceries.

Today, my friend Colleen, whom I first met in North Carolina, picked me up and took me to her local market over in Sillenbuch (about 10 minutes from our flat). She’s already been in Germany for a couple of years and was happy to show me the ropes. This mostly means that she recommended her favorite things and kept me from buying 800 grams of prosciutto when I only wanted 100! (The metric system is yet another thing I need to get used to.)

There was a little bit of everything there and that’s exactly what I bought–a little bit of everything.

I had just been to the store and was well stocked on vegetables, so only bought blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries. They did have a great assortment of regular and bio choices (bio is kind of like organic but it’s perceived to be even more natural).

Cheese is one of my weaknesses, so I bought some Camembert, creamy Gorgonzola, and fresh feta.

And olives:

I knew I was going to have to up my reusable bag game over here since they are universal, so I ordered this set of three collapsible totes a few weeks ago. They’re perfect to use in the bottom of your cart while you’re shopping, and I also keep one in my trunk to keep things organized. Today I took one along to hold my purchases.

I also bought some prosciutto and spicy salami and a French baguette (I think there’s a charcuterie board coming up for our appetizer tonight).

I also bought a jar of local honey and some fresh flowers to give to our neighbors. We’ve been pretty noisy this past week with movers and deliverymen in and out, and they’ve all been so gracious.

I found a stand that sold them already packaged up in these little containers and ready to go; all I did was add a tag and some ribbon.

Here’s the final haul; like I said, it’s everything I need for a great charcuterie board:

I hope to be back with a few photos of our apartment next week, but while we’re mostly done unpacking, none of the rooms are really finished. It’s a process to be sure!

Have a great weekend, and thanks for stopping by.