Food and Grocery Shopping

So, as you all know, I live with a host family.  IES Berlin says that the host families aren't required to feed you, but they may invite you to eat with them occasionally.  That's definitely true with my family! Pretty much every time they cook something, they invite me to eat with them, which is super nice!  However, (and this isn't really a complaint so much as an observation) I'm relatively sure that they don't know that vegetables other than potatoes exist!  Potatoes are a big staple of the German diet - but it's getting really boring to be eating potatoes almost every night!

One thing that I love about German grocery stores is the amazing fresh produce that they have!  Maybe it's because I come from a small town, but I've seen fresh fruit and vegetables here that I've never seen at home.  I honestly don't think I've ever seen a full head of cauliflower or leeks in Fond du Lac, but I bought one of each and cooked them the other day and it was great!  I love cooking fresh vegetables!  The grocery store that's in my building is pretty small, so sometimes I have to go to a different store to find exactly what I want.  But usually I just go to my grocery store and see what they have, and then make a plan from that!  (which is very weird for me, because usually I need a recipe!)  But the problem with using recipes here, is that all my recipes are in American measurements, and they don't always convert perfectly.

Speaking of food that I've never heard of/seen, do any of you know what this is? 

Apparently, it's Celery Root... from what I understand, it's usually used to make soup.  I saw it in the grocery store and asked my host mom what it was.

When I first got here, I didn't cook much - mostly because I felt like it was weird to cook when my host family was home. (I actually still kind of feel like that)  But now that I've been here for a while, I know when my family will be gone, so I usually cook then.  Mostly I've just been cooking enormous amounts of vegetables and then putting the extra in the fridge for later!

Another major difference in terms of food between America and Germany is "food safety". In America, after we're done eating, we immediately put the leftovers in containers in the fridge.  However, (and this could be just my host family, but I'm pretty sure it's a general thing) in Germany it's not uncommon to leave the leftovers in the pot on the stove until the next day's dinner.  At first I was really concerned about that, but then I thought about it... None of the stuff that they leave out is cream or dairy based.  It's usually potatoes (maybe some meat) with a sauce.  Then they heat it up and eat it again.  Now, I wouldn't do that personally, I would definitely put it right into the fridge! But I kind of maybe understand why they do?

Well I'm off to study for midterms!  I'm only really worried about 2 of them, so that's not too bad!