I had a moment recently when I realized just how much I am interested in food.

My parents were going off on a holiday all over Germany with their friends.

While usually I would give them a list that looks like this:

This time I gave them a list that looked like this:

And as usual, my Mum and Dad did not disappoint.

Will you take a look at this stash!?

It makes me crazy happy thinking of all the new recipes I’m going to try and all the new tastes to experiment with.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the stuff, shall we?

Pretty, pretty cupcake decorations. I make about 24 cupcakes every week, (yes, I know. It’s a bit scary) so it won’t take me too long to get through this 😉

Floral cupcake wrappers.

An assortment of German sausages.

Sausages have been on my mind recently, since I’m editing a book on them. To actually get to taste some of them? Pretty awesome.

Vanilla sugar. A match made in heaven and blessed by angels.

Sea salt

I’ve never used anything except regular salt before. Can’t wait to get all fancy with this baby 🙂

German mustard

And one in a tube! Love it.

Golden syrup

There is an amazing Dulce-de-leche recipe that uses this. It was on Masterchef Australia recently. Will be trying that.

Cheese. Yum.

Balsamic vinegar.

Geez, I feel so fancy 😛 anyone got any recipe ideas for this one?

Also, my best friend went to Leh on a holiday, and look what I got from there.

Sea buckthorn jam- with no preservatives. This will be delish on fresh toast.

And (I’m so excited about this)…

Sun-dried tomatoes! And look how pretty 🙂 A few in a dish of pasta will brighten it up and add so much flavour.

I’m off to spend some quality time with my loot. Have a good weekend you guys 🙂