Food!

Since I have to be a lot more independent with providing my own meals, grocery shopping is pretty exciting now that I get to choose everything I eat.
So far I have been sort of sticking to mainstays of my American diet which luckily has been possible. However, even though I haven't been too adventurous, I have noticed some perhaps more German favored food from the aisles of the grocery store to the restaurants. Then again, I don't go grocery shopping that much at home so I could just be oblivious to what's right under my nose. What follows are mostly the differences - things I didn't list, like pasta, are basically the same.
Anyway, it is true, sausages are a big deal, as well as all sorts of different pork cutlets and paste. The Nürnberg (Nuremberg) specialty is 3 or 6 little sausages in a bun. I tasted it and didn't see the huge deal. Lots of little stands sell these sausages. Mustard is the traditional condiment. Sausages can be eaten for all meals of the day. As for other stereotypical German food, sauerkraut, potatoes, and pickled veggies are definitely around, but there are so many other options.
I did try something called "quark" which is found among the yogurts. Basically it is a fluffy cheese, but it tasted just like yogurt to me, especially because it was fruit flavored.
Basically the same fruits and veggies are found here, though I'd never seen a quince in the US and they are here. Some American byproducts are missing though - corn bread, pumpkin bread, apple cider.
There are cereals, but granola (or unbaked oats) is really popular and there are all types of granola mixes.
There are all types of fruit juices and milk which don't need to be refrigerated. The orange juice I got at first was this type and didn't taste that great - it was concentrate - so I'm glad I found direct juice (sorry that's a translation, I can't think of the English). Most people drink bottled water and there's a lot of carbonated water. These come in giant water bottles that sort of look like when you'd tape two big pop bottles together to make a tornado inside (do you know what I mean?) I saw my first reusable plastic bottle the other day - people carry around their store bought water with them in those huge bottles.
Cheese is popular, but orange cheese -aka cheddar, colby - is basically nowhere to be found.
Also sadly missing is hummus. I did finally find a little jar of it, but it isn't flavored too much to my tastes. Wheat crackers took me awhile to find, but finally I ran into Ritz. Most other "crackers" are really thick and heavy duty.
There are snack foods here, but I haven't seen as many as in the US, especially some of the less healthy varieties like Cheetos.
Instead of peanut butter (which still exists), there's Nutella. Spreading jelly over nutella (like peanut butter and jelly), is apparently not done.
Chocolate is everywhere! And it all looks so good! Lots marketed to kids, and at the moment, lots of Christmas shapes. Plus Haribo gummi bears. And Lebkuchen - gingerbread is all over. There are little houses on the street which sell gingerbread, which is different than in the US.
Breads are not that numerous in grocery stores, because one goes to bakeries to buy it. Mostly I get buns or a loaf of dense bread, basically your only hearty bread options. Bakeries are so tempting because they have all sorts of other delicious looking pastries which are so hard to avoid. Bagels are not common and come to think of it, I haven't seen any, though they probably exist somewhere. Big soft pretzels are also popular. Carb wise I was surprised to find quinoa in the little corner market.
There's a good selection of organic food and lots of packages state that food is made without conservatives (is that the right word? my English is failing). Also, eggs are labeled with how the chickens were raised (do they do that in the US?)
McDonalds, Subway, Starbucks (not in Erlangen though), and Burger King are here. Bakeries are almost fast food like because they're everywhere and have sandwiches at lunch. The other big fast food is Turkish food - including the Döner, which is like meat (or vegetarian option), lettuce, tomato, and maybe a sauce in pita bread, or some other choices of spinach and cheese in bread, for example.
You can find alcohol in grocery stores here. My bar drink of choice is the Radler, half beer and half lemon juice. Hot chocolate always comes with a cookie. Something I have yet to try is a spiced wine, "Glühwein," a very popular drink over the winter months. I drink tap water, which supposedly isn't really done, but it's safe. Unfortunately there aren't water fountains anywhere though.