Friday, November 25, 2011

What the sidewalk says, Part II




Someone really has something to say.  One my way into work this morning I was once again greeted by messages on the sidewalk.  Today, it was both Ewigkeit (Eternity) and Perspektive (Perspective).  This time in colorful chalk, and much more deliberately placed. I am not sure why I find this so fascinating, but I do. 

I had another thought about a "political" meaning for this.  There is a vote on Sunday in our state (yes, Germany has states- 16 of them) regarding a certain controversial project that I don't want to name on this blog. If you live in Baden Württemburg, then you know EXACTLY what I am talking about.  For those who don't and are interested I give you a little riddle:

2 words

1st word clue:  STR and planes

 2nd word clue:  The numer seen on Emma (circled in red).



Anyone have any thoughts on what this means?

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Things that make me smile

Thanksgiving is tomorrow.

Our city's Christmas market opens tomorrow.

Going to my favorite cafe in the city and the soy cappacino and veggie omlette I will be enjoying along with the wonderful conversation.

Drinking Gluwein on Friday.


The fog making ice crystals on my coat and in my hair.

A hot cup of tea.

Yummy cheese assortment courtsey of my wonderful mother in law.

Passing someone who is spinning with delight.

A cell phone that works and that takes decent pictures. Oh and that can actually write a text message.

Looking through a window and seeing a group of children participating in an art class.

Going to the bakery and no having to utter a single word other than "Ja, bitte" amd " Danke."

The pups.

The hubby.

Left over cake from Sunday.













Friday, November 18, 2011

Die Komisch Elefanten

that is how Emma and Millie were desribed to my niece by her father the other weekend. . My niece is only 4 months old. I highly doubt that she will remember the moment she first met Emma and Millie, but I'd like. If only for the humor in it. Meine Komish Elefanten.

For those who don't speak/read/understand German,  komisch Elefanten means strange Elephants.

It's a fair, fitting description. I have two very strange elephants. Today, let's focus on one of these elephants: Millie. I'd like to give her a moment as top dog.



She certainly deserves it because normally the situation is reversed.  



Let's get  back to Millie ( Emma will get her own post here one day).




We adpoted Millie back in September of 2008.  She was our wedding gift to ourselves.  Okay, we went to the pound to see the cute puppies and ended up leaving with one.  We are weak humans with big hearts.  We do not allow ourselves to visit animal shelters anymore.  If we did we would have a house full of dogs.  David does, on occasion, visit the website for the local animal shelter.  As of yet, he has held strong, but I worry.  The man has such a big heart.

We were drawn to Millie because of her sweet and timid nature.  The poor thing was so frightened of us. She had obviously been abused by a previous owner. We couldn't leave her, so we took her home with us, thinking she would be a calming influence on our wild, stubborn Emma.  We were wrong. Complete. Total. Failure.

Picture taken shortly after Millie was adopted.

Now, Emma is still wild and stubborn, albeit better trained.  Did I mention that it took my dogs almost 18 months to graduate from dog school (it is a 6 month program).  18 months.  Granted, dog school in Germany is intense, almost military like.   But still...

Despite their wild nature, i still love and adore my elephants.


In addition to her latest moniker, Millie has aquired a few other descriptive nicknames in the past 3 years:

Skitz ( My youngest's brother's nickname for her.  He also likes to say that she is short a few screws)
Blondie (David's brother's nickname for her)

Judging  by her nicknames, you might be thinking that Millie is a bit of an airhead. She is actually really smart. She loves life. She is so happy.


No matter how smart my elephant is, she still has her moments of questionable judgement. A particular incident involving an avocado comes immediately to mind. Yes, she ate an entire avocado including the pitt. Did you know that avocado can be toxic to dogs? Yeah...we were lucky.   There was also the time that the lenses from David's glasses disappeared in the middle of the night.  The frames were still there, but the lenses were gone. It was never proved, but 3 years later I am 100% certain that it was Millie who ate the glasses. 100%.

I must share Millie's latest "food"eccentricity with you...rotten apples.

I wish that was a joke.  She discovered this new "treat" about two months ago at David's parent's apple orchard.  Early in October, David and I went to help his mother pick apples for making apple juice.

Yes, my inlaws always have homemade apple juice.
Yes, it is amazing.
No, they don't press the apples themselves.
Yes, making apple juice is really fascinating.

I was fortunate enough to witness this process this year.  I am kicking myself  for not having somekind of camera with me to share the process. Maybe next year.  Back to Millie. We were at the apple orchard and had the dogs tied up to the tree.  The ground was littered with rotten apples that had fallen from the tree.  At first, Millie left the apples alone. She happily hung out with us, excited to be outside.  After about an hour, she got bored. We noticed that she was eating something. Worried that she had decided to feast on some grass, we moved closed to inspect her "treat".  She had found a rotten, slightly alcoholic apple that was hers for the taking. She took it.  Along with a second.  Crazy dog.

The next day. I offered her a piece of my apple after she whined and begged.  She took it in her mouth only to spit it back out moments later.  Apparently, the only apples that are worth eating are ones that humans will not touch. Ha!

This past weekend I found a rotten apple amoungst the apples we have at home.  I decided to give the apple to Millie as a treat. She took all day to eat the apple.  First, she carried it to her bed.  Staring. Admiring.  Lip licking.(Okay she doesn't have lips so she was what, mouth licking?)  Fast forward to 8 pm.  She still hasn't touched the apple.  Finally, I make a move to take the apple and put it in the trash and she goes for it, Taking small bites so she can savory the rotten, alcoholic goodness.

Millie guarding her apple. (Sorry for the bad photo.)


For the curious bunch, apples are totally safe for dogs. As long as the don't swallow the seeds or eat too much.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

What the Sidewalk Says

Every morning I ride my bike through the schlossgarten (castle garden) on my way to work. It is the prettiest and also most direct way to work.  The schloss has an offical garden with a gate that closes at a night (more to come later on that). Outside the gate one finds playgrounds, bike/running trails, and more.  Once I exit the gate, I enter a long strech of sidewalk.  I have seen all kinds of things happening along this sidewalk, most memorable being half naked college students laying their clothes along the train track and drinking beer.  According to husband it is some sort of "welcome to the new school year" tradition. Interesting....


Oh the never ending amusment from working at a university.

Back to the point...today there was actually something written on the sidewalk.  It was the first time I had seen such a thing here.  My alma matta was notorious for having sidewalks COVERED in sidewalk chalk advertismentents. (Sidenote:  I looked for 10 minutes to find an example of the sidewalk ads at GT and had no luck.  For such a tech saavy university, there are suprisingly few photos availble :( )   It was such a simple reminder of home, but still a welcome sight on a dreary Thursday morning.

So what was it that was written on the sidewalk?
Picture courtesy of hubby's cell phone camera


Ewigkeit means eternity. I saw this written probalby 10 times between the gate and my office. It was also written all over campus.  While this is much simpler than what I was accustomed to seeing at GT, it still felt like a friendly reminder of home.

I was compelled to blog about this because I felt that I didn't walk away with a clear message.  I always assume that most messages here are political statements or people protesting the construction of something (such as Stuttgart 21), but this one did not strike me as such. It must mean something, but what.  I am stumped.  My other thought was that the message had some sort of religious meaning to it.  A reminder that short, but eternity is forever? Or am I just thinking that because of my personal beliefs?  I still have to wonder why someone would write something so many times.  It must serve some purpose, or not. 

Any ideas? Am I the only one that ponders these sorts of things?







Wednesday, November 16, 2011

2006 World Cup





In 2006, I studied abroad in Metz, France.   I spent the summer studying not only chemical engineering and marketing,  but also the world around me.  This particular picture was taken the day of the final match of the 2006 World Cup.  France vs. Italy.  I remember coming back early from a weekend in Barcelona because I wanted to be in France during the final match.  The only place we were able to find seats was in an Irish bar.  I remember that I sat with two dear friends of mine (amongst other students whose names are now forgotten)  and ordering a diet coke.  The only other thing I remember was this woman, wandering the streets playing the accordian.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Unpublished Memoirs, Part II: Procrastination works every time....or not

January/February 2010
 
Firstly,  I would like to note that before I moved to Germany, I used to think that the lines of laundry hanging over the streets was such a charming touch. I still find it charming, albeit also a bit disgusting, but still charming.  I cannot imagine that laundry really get clean hanging above a dirty street in a city.  However, I am certain that the laundry is only hung above the street because it has a no other place to go.  Apartments here are tiny, why fill the already limited space with racks of laundry.  On almost every balcony/terrace and in almost every garden here, one is bound to find hanging laundry at some point during the week.  It is just how life here is.

So today is laundry day.  Or rather, our laundry is out of control so I must start washing clothes now.  Why the wait? Why the procrastination?  Well,  I hate hanging and folding laundry.  Particularly the hanging, unhanging (is that a word, or did I just make it up), and folding  part.



November 2011


I know, I didn't write much back in 2010, but I still find this topic to be relevant. Plus, I left you all with a bit of a cliff hanger. Why is it exactly that I find laundry to be such a pain here? 

One reason: We do not own a dryer.  Here are my(our) reasons why:

1) A dryer is super expensive to own.  Energy is expensive here, plus David and I aim to live a greener lifestyle and excess energy use via a dryer just doesn't jive with our livestyle.

2) We don't have space. Even in our spaceous (80 m2 or 860 ft2) apartment, I have no idea where to put a dryer.

Now for the most important reason:

3) No matter how much I whine or cry,  David isn't going to let me buy one while we live in Germany. I have to get over it.  I have. I have moved on to bigger battles. :)

None of this changes the fact that I HATE doing laundry.  It is my least favorite chore, unfortunately it is the most necessary.  Even in the states, I found laundry to be a never ending task, but without a dryer it takes planning to have clean clothes to wear everyday. I am 150% sure that this the reason why my husband has enough clothes to go 2 months without doing laundry. The first time I went to his apartment, he had a chair COVERED in clean laundry.  I don't think he went through the laundry and put it away until his parents came to visit. 

There are 3 time related challenges that laundry presents:

1)  Everything must airdry.  This required somewhere between 1 day (above 80 degrees F) and 1 week ( below 40 degrees F).  Thus, if i want to wear something on a specific day I can't just procrastiate and wash it at 9 pm the night before.  Not happening unless I want to wear wet clothes or spend 30 minutes with a hairdryer try to get the waistband of my jeans dry. True story. I don't recommend doing this.  It is NOT worth the effort unless you have nothing else to wear.  By nothing else to wear, I mean that 100% of your clothes must be hanging wet on the laundry racks.  100%. Basically, it is never worth the effort. 

2) We don't like to run the washer past a certain time.  We live above other people who prefer that we not run our washer at all hours of the night. Technically, we do not have a written statement in our apartment forbidding us from running the washer after a certain time, but I try to be a good neighbor, even if one of our neighbors disagrees (another topic for another day). My goal is to finish running the washer by 9 pm.  10 pm in cases of absolute emergencies. Yes, laundry emergencies exist. :)

3)  I am not home much on weeknights. I get home before 6 pm maybe one day a week, maybe, if I am lucky.  I am a busy bee and I like it that way.  As you know from reason #2,  that mean that I am only home at most for 3 of the self-allowed washing hours.  A tough challenge when a load of laundry takes somewhere between 40 and 95 minutes to run it's course. Enter the best invention ever (Okay, maybe not ever, but a great one, nevertheless) :  the timer function.  Just load, add soap, set, forget, and come home to a freshly washed load of laundry waiting to be hung.  I did this just this morning.  I love the feature.  The only challenge that it presents, is that you have to remember to take the laundry out of the laundry upon arriving home.  Otherwise, you get moldy laundry, and that is NOT good.  Fortunally, our washing machine has a light blinks when a load finishes. We usually notice the light in reasonable time.  It also has an annoying buzzer, but that stops after about 20 minutes. 

It really isn't that bad. Laundry is a pain whether one has a dryer or not.  Laundry is a fact of life.  Just like death and taxes.

 I could be worse. I could have to wash everything by hand, hang it dry, and then iron it.

Ironing. Please, do make me go there. Ever. *Shutters in horror*


Friday, November 11, 2011

Commute

Small Backstreet

Schloss Garten

View from my Office



Settlers of Catan Bus

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Brought to you by subsidized food prices

Red Peppers.  I have a  weakness for red peppers.

In the states, red peppers are super expensive...like $1-$2 a pepper.   Here in Germany you can buy three peppers for that price.  Yes, three.  LOVE. IT. 

Thank you subsidized grocery prices.  It is because of you that I am able to make one of my favorite soup recipes on a regular basis:  roasted red pepper soup.

I found the recipe for this soup randomly about a year about when I was searching for a vegan roasted red pepper soup.

This soup is delicious on it's own or with a nice melty grilled cheese.  A great alternative to the standard tomato soup. 

By the way, my fellow veggie lovers should totally check out this website.  It is a great source vegan recipes.  Every recipe that I have tried has been delicious.  :)


Roasted Red Bell Pepper and Chickpea Soup

Ingredients:
  • 3-4 red bell peppers, roasted, skins removed (or from jar)
  • 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika powder
  • 1 small onion
  • 1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 cups vegetable bouillon
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • chopped parsley or cilantro and sunflower seeds as optional garnish

Directions:
  1. Roast and peel and slice the peppers. Alternatively if using store bought in a jar, choose 3 large peppers and a bit of the liquid they are stored in.
  1. Drain the chickpeas and rinse.
  2. Chop the onion and carrot and mince the garlic.
  3. Heat the olive oil in a soup pot and add the onions and carrots.
  4. Saute until the carrots begin to soften and the onions become translucent.
  5. Add the peppers, garlic and vegetable bouillon.
  6. Add 3/4 of the chickpeas and bring the soup to a gentle boil.
  7. Ad the cumin, coriander and paprika powder.
  8. Puree the soup (I use an immersion blender).
  9. Season to taste with salt and pepper and possibly a dash of cayenne.
  10. Add the remaining chickpeas.
  11. Serve the soup garnished with chopped parsley or cilantro and a few sunflower seeds.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Unpublish Memoirs, Part I: The Eye of the Beholder


From November 2009:

After living in Germany for six weeks, there is one thing that stands out to me:  How the definition of beauty changes depending on where you are.

In the USA, beauty is thrown at us from every angle. We see it on TV, on the covers of magazines in the checkout line in the grocery store: it is everywhere. If you wear the right clothes or have you hair styled the right way, society will accept you and everything will magically be better and your life will be perfect. In my opinion, the US needs to relax and let life happen.

As I walk around the streets of Germany, on thing strikes me in particular about everyone I see: No one looks perfect! I find that refreshing. You can walk around with your hair a little messed up and you clothes slightly dis coordinated. Not a single person is perfectly coiffed. I love it! Yes, the trendy stuff is still present, but personally shines through here.


November 2011:

I still find Germany to be a place where I am more judged on my inner self than on my outward appearance.  However,  I do feel the pressure to get dressed every day.  I don't mean simply putting on clothes, but actually getting dressing in something other than yoga pants and tshirts.  I love yoga pants.  I live in them on the weekends, but here in Germany I feel extremely uncomfortable doing anything other than lying around the house or going for a walk with my dogs wearing them.  Sometimes I even feel under dressed walking the dogs.   Even going to the grocery store I throw on jeans. Otherwise I get really strange looks.

Two weeks ago David and I had to run into town on a Sunday to drop something off.  We walked through the Schlossgarten which was filled with people, of course.  What did I wear?  My yoga pants.  I felt so uncomfortable.  Everyone around me was wearing jeans and many others were dressed in their "Sunday best".  Okay, the 2011 version of their "Sunday best", but still.  I can only think of maybe 5 times in 2 years when I have seen other people out and about in sweats.  Even my husband, a self-described bum who lives in sweats in the US, wears jeans to go outside and walk the dogs.  I think he has worn athletic pants once( besides for playing soccer) outside of the house and he was doing dirty yard work for his parents. 

I think this discomfort stems from the fact that when I speak, be it English or German,  I  stand out.  Thus, I don't want to stand out too much by dressing like a bum.  I want to blend in.  Be one of the people.  Does anyone else feel this way here? I feel like this is all in my head, but who knows.



Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Lost in Real Life

One of the hardest parts of moving to Germany has been finding my place, my life.  My first year here I was, for lack of a better word, lost.  I had uprooted myself from the southern USA and moved to my husband's hometown.  I was thrust into a life as a housewife, wife to a PhD student, an immigrant, a foreigner....I just felt lost.  One of the most difficult challenges proved to be finding friends, people I could relate to and connect with.  People other than my husband and his family and friends to share this wonderful blessing known as "life" with. I have a wonderful family here, but in order to true establish a life for myself here, I needed to find my own way. 

When I decided to move to Germany, I knew it would be challenging, but rewarding. However, I never anticipated the challenge it would be to make friends.  I remember thinking that since we were moving to David's hometown, finding friends would be easy because he already had an established group of friends.  What I didn't realize was that my husband related to his friends through things like playing soccer and drinking beer (while watching soccer games).  Whereas I relate to my friends in other ways, coffee, girl's night, and talking.  What proved to be more complex than just a battle of the sexes, was the fact that David simply did not have time. The demands on his time made by his job proved to be the ultimate champion and I was left to fend for myself when it came to entertainment.  This is not to say anything negative about my husband. He has a very demanding job. He puts 200% into his job, just as he does our life together. 

At first this was wonderful. I crave alone time and for once it was nice to have endless amounts of time without the pressures of work or school. However, it got old really fast.  There are only so many things to do when you have endless time on your hands.  Things such as reading and watching a movie became less of a joy and part of the everyday grind.  They lost their meaning, significance, and specialness.

The first year here was really difficult. There were many days that I wanted to pack up and move back home, wherever "home" was. I felt liek my dream of living in Europe had been crushed.  This wasn't how it was supposed to be. This was supposed to be the experience of a lifetime, but it wasn't.

I met lots of people in my German class.  Mostly students who were not here for significant lengths of time. Others were older, looking for a way into Germany, to make a better live for themselves and their families.  Everyone I met was transient.  It felt impossible to make friends that I could keep. 

I prayed alot during that first year here.  I felt frustrated that I had given up my life, only to be thrown into what felt like an endless pit of dispair.  It was a dark time for me. I felt isolated and alone.  I felt abandoned.

Slowly, things began to happen.  My life changed.  It started by putting myself out there. Something which I am really uncomfortable doing.  I put my name on a forum for tandem language partners.  Within days I recieved lost of emails from people wanting to meet me.  From this forum, I made my first friend of my own here.  Someone who is still a part of my life.  A German girl, who had lived in the states for a time.  We bonded over cocktail and walks with my dogs.  She loves my dogs.  My dogs love her.  We were taking a walk about a month ago and Emma actually saw my friend and started pulling me towards her, crying.  It was really sweet.

In October of 2010, I enrolled in a new German class.  One that was especially for people who were immigrants to Germany. People like me. 

It was in this class that I met my first American friend.  Another American girl married to a German boy.  Her situation, so similiar to mine.  We both move here in September/October 2009.  Our wedding were actually the same weekend.  Crazy, huh?  My husband always joked that every American in our town knows this girl.  It's true. She is such a sweet person.

Also sometime in October 2010, I received a text from another girl.  She and her husband had really moved to my city. A lady who works at her gym, another american, sings in the choir with my mother-in-law.  She and her husband are so kind and generous.  They have been such a positive influence on David and I. Both are devout Christians.  They have influenced me to finally face my fears and go to church here. Something I was really missing in my life here.

In March of 2011, I meet yet another American girl in one of my German classes.  She is married to a German man,  who like my husband, is a local and a PhD student.  She has managed to integrate herself into her husband's life her, while simultaneously creating a life of her own her.  She is also fearless when it comes to embracing life here.

Lastly, I must include my Irish friend, who also possesses immense bravery.  She moved her to be with here German boyfriend.  She is our group organizer. The reason that we all meet up weekly. She super sweet and always trying to connect and include people.  She is also a great confidant.

Today I am so blessed to have found a this wonderful group of girls that I meet for lunch/coffee every week.  A group that is slowly expanding as we meet others like us.

We talk.
We listen.
We vent. 
We advise. 
We empathsize.
We sympathize.
We console.
We celebrate.
We laugh.
We support.
We lose track of time.  :)

I love it!

Those few hours I spend every week with these girls is one of my favorite time of the week.  I love have a group of people to lose track of time. Thinking about it brings such a smile to my face.  We come from different backgrounds. Have different occupations.  Have different ideas and opinions. Different beliefs.

We do have one, very important thing in common.  We are all trying to make a life for ourselves here.  All try to navigate this multicultural family life. A bilingual life. The challenges it presents.

I am writing this post, so that my friends can now just how much they mean to me. How much I appreaciate them.  Thank you for being my friends.  You know who you are.  :)


Monday, November 7, 2011

Unpublished Memoirs: An Introduction

When I started this blog back in 2009 I wrote alot of posts...then never published them.

That being said, I would like to introduce a new series on this blog.  That's right, I said series...as in multiple posts.  Ambitious, yes, but we all need goals in our lives. Am I right?  I started this blog as a way of documenting my life and thoughts here in Germany. I started strong and then slacked off about 5 months in.  I have been trying to get back to blogging ever since. Maybe it is where I am in my life at the moment, but I really want to start documenting things that happen to me.  My life at the moment is full and I want to remember it.  Both in words and pictures.  (Quick note on photos. Pictures at the moment are lacking due to a broken camera and phone that is in dire need of replacement.  Thus, you all will have to make due with really old photos, really bad blackberry photos, or no photos for the time being.) I have never been one for journaling, but have always admired those who do.  I do really well when I have accountablily, so maybe keeping a journal where others look forward to hearing what I have to say is a good way of doing that. 

Sorry to ramble so much, I am in my head tonight. Back to the point.

I want to publish this posts from back in the day when I first moved here. I also want to update them with my thoughts 2 years later. A persons' perspective can change significantly in two years.  I am no different.  I have grown and changed so much since moving here. I want to record that for myself.

Stay tuned.  Part 1 to come tommorrow.  Really. I mean it. It is written and scheduled.

Maybe soon I will get around to those much promised Turkey trip recaps. :)




Sunday, November 6, 2011

Badisch

This past week, I have made a suprising, somewhat startling discovery about myself.  Something that I feel must be made known on my blog. 

I have an accent....a BADISCH accent. 

For those of you who don't live in Germany,  a badisch accent is the local dialect here in Baden-Wuerttemberg. 

This is rather frightening to me and rather unexpected.  I have always prided myself in not having an accent.  I come from the south and most people would never know it from speaking to me.  So this whole having an accent this is a whole new experience

I found this out from some of my work colleagues,  who were having a good laugh at my expense.  I admit, it is pretty funny.  Some might find it embarrassing, but I am going to go with funny.  Yes, funny.

What is most peculiar about this, is that my husband doesn't really have a badisch accent.  Maybe a sight one, but mine is stronger. I would love to know where i picked this up.  I am sure I picked it up from someone I talk to.  I tend to pick up ways of speaking from people I talk with frequently.  My voice is rather impressionable...it's a little strange.

I am not the first foreigner to pick up an accent.  When my husband moved back to Germany from the USA, he was told that he spoke German with an American accent.  Something that I find quite funny.  Sadly (probably not so to him)  his German accent is back full force.  I can hardly understand him sometimes.  I that is more of a mumbling problem than an accent problem.  :)   I also know several people here who speak English with some kind of accent.  This is usually the result of living for an extended time abroad.  The funniest sounding accents are probably German/Australian accents  and German/Scottish. 

Do any other fellow expats out there find themselves picking up accents? 








Friday, November 4, 2011

Friday Evening Ramblings


It is 7:22 on Friday night and where am I? Work.  Why? Not because I am a workaholic. Not because I have so much work that I can finish it all.  Then, why?  Because I am waiting to meet some friends downtown tonight and I do not have time to go home between work and going out.  Well, technically I had time, but who wants to bike for 30 minutes home, sit for 10  minutes, then bike 20 minutes back into town. Not me! No thank you.  I would rather sit in my office, catching up on email and blogging.

I would also like to point out that I am currently listening to the local soccer team play.  No, not on the radio.  Live.  Real sounds.  That's right I can hear the crowd cheering and booing while sitting in my office.  Not too shabby, huh? 

I must confess that I feel REALLY lame sitting here on Friday night. I am racking my brain for things to do. Ways to waste the time. 

I could go shopping...but I am not in the mood.
I could organize and clean my desk...but it doesn't need it.
I could Skype with my cousin...but need to get Skype installed on my work computer.

***Just checked the Fußball score online because I heard some yelling and singing.  Lots of singing.  Intuition was right.  We scored. Er, they scored.  I am not actually on the team, so no "we."***

I already checked flight prices for my trip home over Christmas....still expensive, sigh.

7:38


12 more minutes.....why can I think of nothing.

Time is creeping.

Does anyone else ever feel this way?

This entry is pointless. I apologize.









Thursday, November 3, 2011

Pumpkin recipe #346327827

I know, pumpkin recipes are EVERYWHERE this time of year in the US.  Germany is no exception.  Pumpkin soup ( a German fall staple) can  be found in restaurants throughout Deutschland this time of year.  Farmers market and grocery stores alike are filled with endless varieties of this seasonal star.

I hosted a party the other weekend and was planning to make these (with pumpkin as a substitute for sweet potatoes. Unfortunatly,  i ran out of time and didn't end up making thes delicious rolls.  However, I had already prepped the pumpkin.  Long story short,  I had pureed pumpkin sitting in my fridge that needed a recipe.  

Monday night I was reading throught my google reading and was hit with the perfect recipe: Pumpkin, Millet, and Chocolate Muffins  via Joy the Baker.  Problem solved.  I sent hubby to the store for ingredients (just chocolate, I had the rest on hand) with the promise of piping hot pumpkin, chocolate chip muffins.  I didn't mention the millet because he would  just scowl and whine.  Millet in muffins is delicious.  I know. My mom used to make millet muffins.  Yummy.  Actually, muffins are one of the only way I find millet to be pallatable.  Plain millet...gross.  Just saying....  Anyway....  I made these muffins using my new measure cups.

            (Left: My old measuring cup,  Right: my new measuring cups. A gift from a wonderful friend. :))

The delicious result.  This particular muffin was enjoyed as I typed up this blogpost.


Make these.  Super delicious and somewhat healthy. Hubby agrees, too!

Sorry for the bad blackberry photos.  My phone needs replacing....like yesterday.