Welcome to the virtual Geocaching HQ Weihnachtsmarkt 2020!
Since we are unable to celebrate with you in person this year, we are sharing our best Christmas cheer virtually. With the Weihnachtsmarkt recipes below and a fun Christmas game, you are invited to participate from the safety of your home.
Recipes
Glühwein
Ingredients:
1 car (can be substituted for public transportation)
1 human (aged at least for 21 years)
1 mask
1 bottle of Glühwein
1 credit card or cash to taste
1 crock pot
1 outlet
Steps:
- Gently place 1 human into a car or a public transport vehicle. If using public transportation place a mask on the human’s face now, otherwise wait until step 3.
- Drive to Central Market in Shoreline.
- Exit the car or public transportation and attach the mask to face now, if you got there by car.
- Walk into the store and confidently make your way to the booze section. Don’t stir if a store employee approaches you. Simply ask them to point you to a bottle of Glühwein in the seasonal wine area.
- Pick up the bottle with a firm grip of the hand. Not so firm that you would break it, but make sure to hold it firm enough to not let it slip to the ground.
- Walk towards the cash register, preparing your preferred form of payment for transfer.
- Purchase the bottle of Glühwein and make your way back home.
- At home, plug the crock pot into the outlet and turn it on low. Pour in the entire contents of the Glühwein bottle and let it warm up for about 2 hours. Enjoy!
Spiked Eggnog
Ingredients:
1 smartphone
1 refrigerator
1 bottle of rum, brandy, or bourbon (or all three!)
1 carton of store bought eggnog
Steps:
- Download a food delivery app of your choice i.e. DoorDash, GrubHub, Postmates, UberEats
- Open the app and find your local liquor or grocery store
- Add spirit(s) of choice and one carton of eggnog to cart
- Check out
- Wait safely at home for delivery person to drop off supplies
- Run out and grab the delivered items once said delivery person has left
- Combine 1 part spirit to 5 parts eggnog. A typical half gallon of eggnog = 13 ounces of spirit.
- Add more alcohol if the day calls for it.
- Keep chilled. Nobody wants to drink warm eggnog!
Pizzelles
Pizzelles are traditional Italian waffle cookies made with a special iron.
Ingredients:
3 eggs
¾ C sugar
½ C butter, melted
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 ¾ C all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
Steps:
- In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar until thick. Stir in the melted butter and vanilla. Sift together the flour and baking powder, and blend into the batter until smooth.
- Heat the pizzelle iron, and brush with oil. Drop about one tablespoon of batter onto each circle on the iron. You may need to experiment with the amount of batter and baking time depending on the iron. Bake for 20 to 45 seconds, or until steam is no longer coming out of the iron. Carefully remove cookies from the iron. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
For variations on flavors like chocolate, Anise, orange, you can Google recipes!
Game
The game: Track down Signal the Frog® holding a present somewhere on Geocaching.com. The first person to slack us all* the link, receives the rare 2020 dumpster fire coin.
Hint: Only YOU can find Signal the Frog®
*Annika, Brigitte, Ellis, Katie
The Poem
by Brigitte
In 2019 we held happy hours and went out to eat
We had our lattes from Milstead and took our cocktails neat
We left last year strong and entered a new decade
Thinking 2020 could only be an upgrade
Then 3 months in, word came down from the bosses
“It’s time to go home, we need to be cautious!
We’ll see you in two weeks or maybe three”
We had no idea how wrong we’d all be…
Now 9 months later we’re still working from home
A global pandemic, how could we have known?
We’re stockpiling TP while we shelter in place
With video calls the only time you’ll see my whole face
Speaking of meetings on Google Meet and Zoom
Let me blur my background so you can’t see my room
You’re on mute I say, and can you see my screen?
Just an average day working during quarantine!
It’s not all bad, we’re making it work and having fun too
Thanks to Airbnb adventures and sourdough from you know who
But the year’s not complete without a certain holiday surprise
So keep a lookout for a blog post that’s only for your eyes!