Our German Kitchen

Countless times we’ve heard people say… “Wow, you have a big kitchen!”  and we nod.  It appears we have the largest kitchen in Germany.  While this can’t possible be true,  no one that we know has seen one larger.  And for this, we feel incredibly blessed.  Most German kitchens are lovingly referred to as ‘one-butt kitchens’ large enough for only one person.  I guess this kitchen is an ‘eight-butt’. 

Our landlords are an Irish family who spent some time in the United States before building this house in Germany, therefore it has an ‘American inspired Kitchen.’  We are lucky to have quite a bit of storage, an amazing amount of counter space, and a door leading from the kitchen into our dining room area.    The German parts of our kitchen are the small cupboard sized fridge, the ‘Easy-bake’ sized oven and the no garbage disposal, which is a ‘no-go’ here in Germany.   

Since Europeans buy their groceries fresh every couple days – this sized fridge  is really all they need.  For us it gets REALLY packed and then REALLY empty weekly.   Below the fridge is a very very small freezer.  Two small drawers that can hold a bag of chicken, a container of ice cream, and a few packages of vegetables.    Luckily we were issued a small ‘American sized’ refrigerator which is downstairs in the basement.  It basically holds all our drinks and extra milks (which by the way can only be purchased by HALF gallons) and holiday leftovers (which is a lifesaver).  Having a second freezer is really helpful as well.

My little oven is square so my cookie sheets don’t fit… but I have a big round pizza pan which fits perfectly so that’s what I use for cookies.

{ Things I’m looking forward to in an American kitchen… a garbage disposal… a big fridge… a big pantry… a built in microwave so it’s not on my counter… a large oven… a stove with TWO large burners instead of just one… and, since I’m dreaming… even more storage! }  Can NOT believe it’s only 3+ months.  Time is flying by!  More on all that later.