a lot has happened in only a short week. we booked plane tickets, train tickets, hotels, b&b's and did some research on places we would like to visit if time permitted. within that week we were on our way to our first destination: berlin, germany. frank needed to travel for work, so we scrounged around and made it possible for me to join him. berlin has completely exceeded my expectations and the little that we have seen has totally altered my opinion of this city. as a history major in college, i studied a lot about european history as well as the world wars. so my idea of germany and berlin was somewhat couched in a historical context. the first half of our day was devoted to getting some sleep (as we did not sleep at all on the plane ride over, enter monster-lindsey) and explore a bit. after a power nap and a shower we took to finding some lunch. i went off the recommendation of ashley from oh, ladycakes and her fiance who are currently travelling europe. on their travel blog they recommended factory girl!, and it did not disappoint. it was just the kind of lunch one needs after a long travel: a salad with torn romaine, bitter arugula leaves, pinto beans for protein and sustenance, sweet, crunchy pomegranate seeds, grapes, tomatoes, walnuts, with splashes of aged balsamic vinaigrette. is was quite the mashup salad but it totally hit the spot! from there we walked through the mitte section of berlin, and to the berlin wall memorial - quite overwhelming given its important role in recent history. from there we visited the brandenburg gate, the reichstag building, and the holocaust memorial. i'm not sure i have words yet to really describe the importance of seeing these landmarks and monuments, all while sharing these moments with my sweet husband. i'm excited for the next few days and our european journey ahead of us.
so, from europe i bring you an heirloom pumpkin bread. a few weeks ago a shop (saipua, you may have heard of them before - seriously talented florist, floral designer, and soap maker!) down the street from us had an heirloom pumpkin sidewalk sale (say that 5 times fast). frank and i stopped by and picked up a few little beauties to make the apartment feel all autumnal and festive. not knowing what i would do with them, i asked if they were edible. they indeed were, but i had no intention of using them for anything specific. a couple weeks later i decided to use up a can of pumpkin puree i had in the cabinet for a banana bread recipe that i wanted to adapt for pumpkin bread. the bread came out nicely, but i was looking to make a few adjustments to the recipe and tried a second time. this time i spotted that beautiful knobby pumpkin with the most perfect wooden stem sitting in our windowsill and i went to chopping it up. she gave me quite the workout - my wrist and forearm was sore for a good 5 days after. in the end it was all worth it as the homemade pumpkin puree made the second version of the pumpkin bread insanely moist - not dense - with a super velvety texture. can i say, that this by far, has been my most favoritest pumpkin bread ever? seriously people, give homemade pumpkin puree a shot!