Touched by a bear’s paw

The inviting nose conjured a melange of aromas – candied orange slices, cherries dipped in chocolate, walnut bread, ginger-infused jaffa cakes and, always in the background, a hot toddy with brandy. It was “very potent”, like a bone-dry martini where the glass gets rinsed with vermouth and then discarded. In the aftertaste we sipped a rich and highly caffeinated Turkish coffee spiced with cardamom. Following the liberal addition of water, we imagined chopping the firewood for that night's stay in our log cabin. Resting, we sat on the pine cone-covered forest floor and enjoyed sourdough pumpernickel bread and bärentatzen: a soft, spicy chocolate cookie in the shape of a bear’s paw.