My Top 10 Posts of 2012

My, my, my how 2012 has flown by! This year has been seen the good, like my being a Newcomer and Food Community Leader at Blissdom.

Me being Community Leaderly

The challenging, like learning how to live lactose free as a cheese loving foodie.

Especially when Husband goes bonkers buying local cheese as vacation souvenirs.

I Ate My Way Around Frankenmuth, Michigan

Husband and I ran away last week. We needed a break from our horrible summer and a recharge for the holidays.

We went to Germany by way of Frankenmuth, Michigan. Frankenmuth is like a little Bavarian town plopped itself down in the middle of Michigan. Think of it as Brigadoon with lederhosen.

We laughed. We made up silly words to Christmas carols as we ate, shopped, ate, and saw the sights. 

And most of the sights to see were food!

Different sides of the Zehnder family run the two famous chicken dinner restaurants in Frankenmuth, Zehnder’s of Frankenmuth  and The Bavarian Inn.

We arrived in Frankenmuth late afternoon. After a quick peek at some of the shops, we ate dinner at The Bavarian Inn. I later learned that a Zehnder 88 year old grandmother still cooks in the kitchen 6 days a week!

The dinner portions were bigger than we were hungry for so Husband and I ordered off the lunch menu.

I went for a Germantastic almost all Paleo (no grains) Frankenmuth Combination Plate of Famous Frankenmuth Chicken, Pork Schnitzel, and Sauerbraten (marinated roast beef.)

 I nibbled at the cheese and potato pancakes too.

Glogg Spiced Wine

One of the many things I love about Christmas time is the chance to get my Danish on. There are special food, drinks, and decorations that only see the light of day during Christmas in Denmark.

One of those special things is Christmas Gløgg (pronounced glue-oo-g), a mulled wine punch you light on fire and serve to your guests. Hey, we're Vikings. We like to light things on fire. It's festive!

Keep reading for the recipe!

Celebrating with fiery drinks is less illegal than jumping in a longboat, stealing some sheep, and lighting the village on fire as a parting gift. I think this is how the Nordic countries celebrated in ye olden days. Then Santa Claus moved to Finland and put a stop to that because no one wants to be on Santa's naughty list - not even Viking marauders.

Dairy Free Green Bean Casserole Recipe

I did not ooo and ah over the turkey set on the table during Thanksgiving and holiday dinners as a kid. My eyes were on what I called "those fancy green beans " I didn't learn until years later those
"fancy green beans" are called green bean casserole.

I thought it was a complicated recipe since we only had it once a year. I almost fell over when I found out how simple it is to make.


For some reason, both sides of the family don't make my fancy green bean casserole for holiday dinners. I'm not sure why, clearly they want to torture me. Yeah, that's got to be it.

Husband and I got a craving and we had to bring a side dinner to dinner. We decided on green bean casserole. Husband demanded the "little crunchies"  on top. My family didn't make it with french fried onion, they mixed in sliced almonds.

Pin this recipe for later!

Husband insisted and I insisted. By the power of Grayskull may our childhood memories combine to create the Voltron of green bean casserole recipes and save the world from Gargamel!