Brauhaus Lemke

Yeah!!  Beer!! There is good beer brewed in Berlin!!

Now I am not the biggest fan of beer in general, but after living in southern Germany back in 2002 for a few months, I really learned to appreciate a good beer. In the south, it seems that every little town has their own local brewery. Here in the north there is not the same variety and surplus of selections. So I have been having a hard time finding a good beer that I like.  In fact I had given up on ever finding one, but thanks to a chance meeting with some visiting friends, I found one!! We discovered Brauhaus Lemke.

Bier Sampler (LtoR, Original, Pils, Weizen and the Seasonal brew)

There are two locations, Brauhaus Lemke am Schloss, next to Schloß Charlottenburg, and right off Hackescher Markt, build under the raised train tracks, which gives it a nice ambiance, though it can be little loud at moments outside in the biergarten as a train rolls by.

We discovered Lemke after touring Schloß Charlottenburg, it was a nice location across the street from the Schloss and a block from the river Spree. This time we went to their location near Hackescher Markt, which is a more convenient location for us to visit.

They offer a sampling of the beers they brew so you can choose which you like best. They always have a seasonal beer along with the dark original, a pils, and their weizen. The dark was good but I liked their current seasonal beer best.

Roasted seeds (Wheat, Hops,??)

They served some roasted seeds with the sampler, what ever they are exactly, they are used to make the beer. They were quite tasty.

Look Mom all gone!

The Menu

Lemke also had quite and impressive menu. There are mostly German meals from all over Germany, with a few foreign favs, like Hungarian Gulasch or BBQ Spare ribs. Oh yumm! They offer the menu in English and the servers speak English as well, which is always nice for travelers.

Schwäbische Kasespätzle

 















I ended up going with Schwäbische Kasespätzle and Mr. Man got the Pork roast with German dumplings (Knödel- which everyone should try at least once in their life, German soul food, if there ever was such a thing!).

Pork roast with Knödel

Brauhaus Lemke is a great place to visit if you want a good German dinning experience! Or to just have a good beer between Museum visits. It is barely a five minute walk across the river from the Museum Island.

Oh Man, this post is making me hungry!

Squash Soup

It's Fall once again! That means it's pumpkin and squash season!! I love me some squash! You can bake it, mash it, make a pie with it or add it to a cookie, cake or bread mix. It is awesome!!

Though hands down my favorite way to eat it is in a soup. In this form it seems quite healthy and so I don't feel guilty when going back for seconds. hehehe

Garden: FAIL

Gardening this year has sucked!

The tomato plants on their last days

The weather was cool all summer, we never got any heat. That said most of the plants didn't make it. The Tomato plants grew but didn't produce much. The peppers never got bigger then 8 inches and had only one bud that fell off. So no peppers! I tried spinach and lettuce, but nothing really took off.

Last attempt at pumpkins

I have some pumpkin plants growing but it is so late I doubt if they will produce any pumpkins. I have them in doors so maybe it will be sunny and warm enough to get one or two mini pumpkins before Halloween.

Found a 5th caterpillar, hopefully it is the last

I found catapillars on the greens. First two then a week later two more and finally yesterday a 5th one!! What gives!! I moved them indoor after I found the 3rd and 4th. I don't know what to do! I really wanted some good greens. I miss me some southern cooking. Greens and crayfish etouffee, yumm. . .

My Greens are pitiful

Well we will see if I get anything edible from these last attempts.

No Public Transportation

During the week I usually head over to my guy's place for dinner and a sleep over. Which is exactly what I did yesterday with the dog in tow.
Phillip, the hound dog, is a chicken and scared of everything. He does not like riding Public at all, so, I opted for hoofing it!
It is 5.8km, that's 3.6miles! (I googled it) It took us about an hour and 20 minutes. It was a straight shoot more or less but long, and full of obsticales. Pedestrians, bikes, cars, and millions and trillions of things that needed to be sniffed.

A fourth of the way there crossing over the canal.

The U1 to Warschauerstraße, heading over the Bridge.

Crossing the River Spree under the train tracks, 2/3rds of the way there.

The Berlin skyline from the bridge

 We made it safe and sound. Phillip was so tired that as soon as he was given a comfy place to lay out we didn't hear from him till the next day.
Then the next morning we retraced our footsteps all the 5.8kms home.

This time I opted for off leash,(except when crossing busy streets) it was easier then I thought it would be.

This is the same bridge we crossed the evening before but we were in the area underneath the red bricked section. It looks cooler from outside. You can't see much coming from the other side.

The bridge is right next to the beginning of the East Side Gallery, a preserved section of the Wall that has been painted by many artists over the years.

It was a good walk, I learned a little bit more about how my city is connected. I had been to a few of the places I past but never knew they were connected in such a way. It is completely different to walk from place to place then to sit in Public and pop out at different spots on the map. I am wondering what other areas to explore this week while I have the dog for a walking buddy. Cuz Lord knows no one else will.

Doggy-sitting and Allmende Kontor

I am Babysitting Phillip this week.

He is the Family Dog of the Toddler I babysit

So for our morning walk we went out to Tempelhof, the Retired Airport that was the location of the Berlin Airlift. It has been open to the public a little over a year now to be used as a park and location for events.

All over Berlin people walk with their dogs off leash, well most do. Though techniqually it is not allowed. 

List of Notices (aka rules): Mandatory Lead Policy, bummer!

There are a few nice sized dog runs fenced off around the grounds. We only made it to one, the rectangle shaped one, this time. But we still had plenty of fun!!

 FUN in action!

Sniffing out the vermin. . .

that is one big rabbit hole!!

Then we investigated what was going on in the area next to the BBQ grounds.

It was a little makeshift village of container gardens.  

Turns out this area has been designated for a community garden. It is named 'Allmende Kontor,' the medieval term for community garden. It's really cool! Here is an article about it from the Huffington Post.

Compost Bin, nice . . .

Anti Nuclear Energy Flag

Though the area is a little dodgy looking, don't let it get to you because the plants are growing very well in their containers. There was really full heads of lettuce and greens, way better then what my Balcony Garden has been looking like.  Jealous much? Totally! I would add more pictures but blogger is being difficult and not loading them. poo. . anyway . .

Maybe this is something I can do next year. It is so close to my apartment and it would definitely beat my balcony garden!

German Language Websites of organizers: 

Rübezahl Gemeinschaftsgarten

Allmende Kontor

The Ständige Vertretung

Most people know about the Berlin Wall and that from 1961 to 1989 it separated the West from the East. 

(source) Berlin Wall and Brandenburg Gate

During this time the two Governments; the West, Federal Republic of Germany and the East, the communist German Democratic Republic, had no official Embassies in Berlin for one another. To compensate the Ständige Vertretung was created. It basically is a Restaurant/Bar that was a hot spot for politics and culture. 

Ständige Vertretung, Schiffbauerdamm 8, 10117 Berlin-Mitte

When the Wall came down, and the new united Germany took up Berlin once again as the capitol. Thousands of people moved from Bonn to Berlin. The StäV, (Ständige Vertretung) became a little piece of home for the relocated Politician. Here one can have a glass of Bonn's local bier Gaffel Kölsch and dine on specialties out of the region. 

Menu with their cute owl logo

It is a nice interactive piece of Berlin's History to visit. Stay and have a bier at the bar and check out all the nostalgia and nicknacks mounted on the walls. The bathrooms are surprising very nice too!

Inside view of the Bar

If the weather is nice, sit outside next to the Spree, the river that runs through Berlin. There is a nice view. You can see all the different advertized riverboat cruises as they go by. You can choose the one you prefer to maybe do later.

View of the River and the Tour Boats from the terraced sidewalk.

I really like to take people here when they are visiting. My mom and I enjoyed a nice mid-sightseeing snack on her last visit! It is in a good location in the middle of the city, to relax and regroup and choose your next course of action.

Outside next to the StäV's riverside terrace

Salad Pizazzl

Salads; your either love them or hate them. I love them though I often find myself getting board with them. I just am not the greatest at Salad Pizazz! Though I have been working on that and have learned a few things since I reintroduced salads back into my diet. I hope to come up with some more delicious salad bling!

I like to go ahead and wash all the lettuce and greens the first time I open them. It saves you time and from a hassle later. Besides I am more likely and willing to make a salad if the lettuce is already cleaned and prepped.

Have you ever added Pickles to your salad?

Or maybe Jalapenos?

I had never added pickles to my salads until I read that Skinny Runner adds pickles to her's. Wow, it really livens up a salad, and Jalapenos were just a natural progression for me. I love me some Jalapenos!! Ay Picante! I add them to my salad thinly sliced, not whole. I also avoid the seeds, a few are ok but too many and my mouth is on fire! When done right, and by 'right' I mean ' to your personal preference', it really gives your taste bugs something to work with.

I always try to add a protein to my salads, It just makes it yummier and more satisfying. To date I have added Pistachios, cashews (not salted), pecans, almonds, sunflower seeds, and even sesame seeds. I have a whole bag of walnuts still to open and try on a salad. I am hesitant because I think I may have a settle allergy to them. I like them and can eat them, but after a few my mouth gets dry, an artificial dry. Nothing worse happens, but I just don't enjoy the cotton mouth effect. So far I have plenty other bags o' nuts to use. No rush on the walnuts.

Often in place of or heck even with nuts already in my salad I like to add beans. Before I would just pop open a can and have at them. I have since learned from The Daily Green food news blog, about the hazards of canned goods, and so have started to prep beans on my own. It is quite simple and not really that time consuming at all.

These are my usual Dressing Ingredients. I mix some mustard with the mayo if I want a thicker dressing, or with milk if I want it thinner. I always drizzle a little olive oil over my greens. The capers and the lemon juice are back ups if I don't have anything else to provide a punch. This all said I have discovered that a dressing is not always necessary. WHAT? yep! It's not so necessary when the plate is loaded with so much flavor already.

This salad was delish' and no dressing. Grilled chicken and mushrooms from the night before, hummus, alvocado, and feta. It was a little over loaded ( a lot overloaded!) but I didn't want it to go to waste. Leftovers can be a surprised salad topping! Who'd thunk!

This salad I just had for lunch the other day. A plate full of lettuce, with Feta cheese, pickle slices, jalapenos slices, pistachios and get this, Hummus!  (FYI: Hummus is a Middle Eastern puree of chickpeas and sesame seeds. You can read my post about how to make it, here.) I drizzled a little olive oil on the exterior ring of lettuce and then when to town. This was so yummy. I added my home made Hummus to a salad for the first time ever and I will be doing it again! So crazy good and good for you.

Homemade Hummus

Hummus! Oh Hummus! This is a middle eastern spread made from predominately chickpeas and sesame seeds. I have enjoyed this dish since I was a kid, but I never tried to make it myself until this year. The main change was that I got a food processor for my birthday from a good friend of mine. That helps!

I eat hummus most often as a veggie dip. It is great in sandwiches and as an additional side dish to dinner. I also just recently discover it is quite good in a salad.

To make Hummus, you first soak some chickpeas over night, it is the same processes as I wrote in the Beans post. Then the next day you boil the bloated beans until they are nice and soft.

Once cooked I pour them into the food processor with some of the water from the pot.

I blend them a bit to get them started before I add the other ingredients.

The most important thing is the Tahini, aka Sesame puree. This really helps to smooth out the chickpeas mixture and adds to the flavor.

Tahini is a lot like a natural peanut butter. The sesame oil collects at the top and needs to be mixed back in before it is used.

I have never fallowed a recipe for Hummus word for word. With Hummus I find it is best when I just go by my own taste buds.  But here is a link to a recipe.

Along with the Tahini you also need olive oil and lemon juice for a good Hummus.

I also like to add finely chopped garlic, though this isn't mandatory, but without it the Hummus is pretty bland.

Throw all this in and blend. I usually need to add a little more Tahini or olive oil a few times until I get the right mix. Take your time and don't worry about making mistakes. It is very hard to miss it up, but it might take you a few attempts until you figure out the right mixture.

Though once you do, wallah! Delicious Homemade Hummus!