Monday, February 21, 2011

Clack!

So either I had you stumped on the last "riddle me this" or perhaps my not-so-common item is more common than I thought. Several of you who guessed already knew because you have one yourself:

Eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher

Huh?!? ... you might say if you don't understand German. (
yup, that's all one word!... don't worry translation coming)

Since moving to Germany, there have been many traditions that I have come to learn, and one of them is breakfast. Since hardboiled eggs for breakfast are more common than scrambled or fried, not to mention the eggcups that one puts them in, I have had to learn the "art" of how one actually gets into the egg. If you grew up in Germany, you have probably been taught since a small child how one does this... but for the beginner who has never done it before, a big messy, lop-sided, eggshells everywhere breakfast is not the kind that I dream of, so... that's why I asked for an:

Eggshellbreakingandperforatingdevice for Christmas this last year. (aka Clack... the sound that it makes)

Just put the metal cup on top of the egg, lift the little ball to the top, let it drop and Clack! you have a nicely perforated cutting line to get into your egg. For the average German this might seem completely unnecessary, but for the average Ami, it's a must have.

I inwardly laughed when my husband's Omama admitted that she was a little embarrassed when she bought it because she felt like the other customers and sales clerk were thinking... "what, she doesn't know how to crack her egg open by herself?!?" Which just shows me... it's the common, everyday things that seem so natural that one never has to give it a second thought, that seem to stick out as so uncommon to that someone learning to call this new place and this new culture... home.

Want to read more about the differences between breakfast in Germany and America? Follow the link.

6 comments :

  1. I'll never forget how awkward/grateful I felt one time when having breakfast w/my husband's family: My BIL saw me struggling to use my knife to decapitate my egg, so he reached down the table and took my egg in it's egg cup and said "this is how you do it" while slicing the top off with a speedy thwack. My MIL 'schimpfed' him for doing that, but my husband bought me the egg clacker not long after, ha!

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  2. Hihi! Ich finde deine Berichte über die kleinen kulturellen Unterschiede im Alltag total spannend.

    Aber genau diesen Eier-Klack haben wir seit Jahren auch in Gebrauch. :-)

    Liebe Grüße, Smila

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  3. OMG. I never knew about an eierclacker! How funny. My son needs one of those. BTW, I read your post about breakfasts and Nutella. I so agree! Nutella and Pfannkuchen, OK, but Nutella for breakfast, egit. Then I'd rather eat Peanut Butter Capt'n Crunch!!

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  4. I guess I should have trusted my instincts. Oh, my in laws have adapted to eating our hot meal at dinner because of the children. Otherwise they would not get a hot meal since they are in school. However, we still eat German breakfast. Lots of bread and cheese is being consumed.

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  5. great!!!
    zum ersten mal sehe ich den sinn von diesem eieröffner! vorher erschien mir das ganze nur schönes design, aber ohne nutzen! :)

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  6. I just love those "Clack" :) I am half german, so I am used to cooked eggs but the "clack" is so much more fun! Especially for kids:

    if your "Clack" works well, the "hat" of the egg stays perfect and you can make a "sombrero-hat" for some veggies or so (ok, mom told me never play with food, but I still enjoy it :)))

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