It’s finally spring (Frühling) here in Germany! We’ve been celebrating the improved weather by grilling outside. Generally this means that everybody brings as much food as they can, and we end up with a wide variety of meats, veggies, breads, spreads, drinks, etc.

While the sun is shining a bit more now, the actual warmth is still hit-or-miss…hence the heavy winter coats we’re all still sporting.

Of course, what gathering would be complete without champagne. This bottle was opened in honor of the sun showing through the clouds for more then five seconds.

We also cooked a fantastic Iranian dish called mirza ghasemi (میرزا قاسمی). Eggplants are grilled until they char and start to collapse, then they are mixed with garlic, tomato, spices, and a couple eggs. Best enjoyed with fresh flat bread…delicious!

Our American contribution to the feast was a dessert — cheesecake with tangy berries. Of course, in true expats-living-in-Germany fashion, we had to substitute half the ingredients from the original recipe. This happens a lot when cooking here…we start with a recipe calling for graham crackers and vanilla extract, but we end up using butter biscuits and “vanilla aroma” (which comes in liquid form but is oily and not the same as vanilla extract, confusingly).

Anyway, the cheesecake was delicious.

We’re not the only ones celebrating spring. Cottbus held a surprise spring-themed festival this past weekend. The local mall was overrun with performers, mall-themed snacks, and taiko drumming…classic element of spring, I guess.

It was a typical Saturday of errand running, except instead of getting groceries we got cake and entertainment in the form of whimsical fairytale performers. Case in point — this phoenix lady, and her clown assistant.

And these “sax puppets” (their own name, I couldn’t make that up) serenading a flower woman on stilts.

Aaah yes, and the headless umbrella-toting businessmen.

And finally, Mr. Tumnus.

Cheers to the weirdest mall shopping excursion yet…the bar is certainly set high for future trips!