German Translations....

I was in the grocery store, searching the food isles for something exciting to cook for dinner. I did a double take when I thought I saw something on the shelf wink at me.  Yep, I saw correctly…Exactly two days after I posted that it was difficult to find typical pancakes, guess what was sitting so proudly on the grocery shelf-“American Pancakes.” Let’s just say, I didn’t know I was capable of pulling a ‘Michael Jordan move’- snatching and dunking them in my shopping cart.  All I could think of after that move… I will be a hero at breakfast tomorrow!  My next task, to find syrup.  I thought this would be a breeze-NOT.  My I-phone translator was not any help in this category.  I finally found what looked like syrup to me, even though it was called "Zuckerrübensirup".  Seemed like a simple translation to me-sugar syrup.  

I couldn’t stand it anymore, that afternoon, I let the kids in on the “American Breakfast” we were going to have the next morning before school.  The excitement level was so high in this Hoff House, the minute Jason walked in the door, Karina was practically screaming at him, “DADDY, WE ARE HAVING AMERICAN PANCAKES IN THE MORNING!”.  (Shoot, maybe I need to skip all the attractions I take them to and just buy them some pancakes on a daily basis)  The small things in life…huh?!?!?  Good thing my mind still works like a child’s, because I understand AND enjoy these small things! (BTW-the phrase I was screaming to Jason when he walked in the door, “Jason, I remembered my bank pin number today-WHOOP!”)

So, this morning, after my very strong cup of coffee, I began that hard task of un-packaging my “American Pancakes” in order to microwave. (that seemed American enough to me…ready in 30 seconds)  But once the cardboard was off, I realized these were PFLANNKUCHEN cut in smaller circles.  I was still determined to pull this anticipated breakfast off-I really wanted to be THE HERO for just one day!(as you moms know-this is not the norm!!!)  Once they were all nice and warm, I began the American task of loading them up with butter and covering them with syrup.  But this syrup seemed rather slow coming out of the bottle and appeared a tad on the black side.  So, I tasted a finger full and with a gag, realized it was more like Molasses.  I quickly googled “Zuckerrübensirup”.  OH-NO-mommy translation error… This is what my search found:

“Zuckerrübensirup”, also called turnip cabbage, is the all-natural, concentrated juice of freshly harvested sugar beet without the plant fibers and without any subsequent addition. It is caused by the concentration of beet juice, which is pressed from the cooked beet.  It offers a variety of applications in cooking and baking.  In addition to his sweet sugar syrup is not to be underestimated advantages, since it has a high content of minerals such as magnesium and iron”

I decided the best thing to do, put on my “poker face” and try to pull off this American Pancake breakfast despite my bad translation.  After placing the plates in front of Karina and Cooper, I quickly scurried back to the kitchen to make school lunches…and hold my breath for the “yuk” comments to head my way.  I had a feeling that I was not destined to be a Hero today...so much for my Michael Jordan moves.  Here it came, “MOMMY, MOMMY, MOMMY.......THESE PANCAKES ARE BETTER THAN IN AMERICA!!”  Karina exclaimed.  Cooper’s mouth was so crammed full, he couldn’t say a word. 

I am constantly learning new things here in Germany and What I learned today, sometimes it is GOOD to translate things incorrectly!  Tschüs!!!