Often it's the carnivores, but not this time ;)

Usually I think of myself as quite a sane person.
Sometimes though I really wonder what's going on in my head. It's the most peculiar thing, I tell you.
Like some days I can never be sure if I'll be on time... Either I'm super early, I'm punctual or I miss my train  by a minute. That's when I think: how come?
Today was one of those days again. I actually had enough time to make it, but somehow I didn't manage to do so. The funny thing is that I know I can do better, because I already did thousand times before...so seriously, why?!
Well... no idea really... I just have to try harder next time I guess.

Different topic: I just have to tell you something about what's going on in Germany now: epidemic.
Don't know if you heard about this but there is this virus called "EHEC". It's one of those 'eboli' things.
Here some No.s for Germany:
Over 2800 people are infected, more than 600 are serious cases and so far 29 people died!!
Apparently the numbers are going down, but that doesn't mean it's over yet.
There is no real cure at the moment. They are still searching for the source.
As far as I'm informed they narrowed it down to following:

I think they are called 'sprouts' in English, or maybe not :P

Before this they were warning the population about cucumbers, tomatoes and salad. But apparently that warning was unnecessary.

Oh well, ever more reason or an excuse to eat Junk food, right?! ;)
Carnivores are spared this time...

5 min only - riggghhtt

It was one of my friend's b-days today. So we cooked some dinner, ate some cake and also some sort of designer ice-cream in the shape of a wine bottle. So good!! I'm still stuffed.
 Real nice evening...
I walked home right through downtown. Listening to music and minding my own business with a fast pace.
Out of nowhere I see 2 people rushing towards me. One asian looking man and a blonde woman. I figured they might be asking me for the way, so I stop. That man approaches me asking me sth in broken german I didn't really catch. SO the woman explains:
"We are both Theology students and have to give a lecture tomorrow. We still have some homework to do. WOuld you mind giving us 5min of your time to help us out?"


Unsuspecting, I agree. Only to listen to sth I barely understand because that asian guy trys to tell explain sth to me. He had such heavy I accent that i could barely follow. The woman helps out.
Just then I realized what's going on, but didn't want to be rude and didn't interrupt.
After what felt like an eternity I was able to excuse myself and get on my way.
Man I had to laugh about my naivety... I just believe the best in people.
Now I wasted about 20min or whatsoever for nothing really...

I wanted to help. But I assume they thought that they were the ones who tried to help me.
Man.. I don't mind that people want to believe in whatever that is they believe in.
But I dislike being tricked into a conversation/lecture I didn't even want in the first place. Also I don't like it when someone tries to force their beliefs on me.... seriously...

I guess I learned my lesson...

Other than that my last few weeks have been fun and busy... the weather has been pretty nice mostly, so I just had to enjoy the sun ^^

Well I have an early class tomorrow so I'd better catch some sleep ;)

Nighty night

Ice-cream, gelato, Smoothies to come ^^

Saturday I had to go to univeristy. One class only: Italian.... too bad that it's n 4h class!!
Also the weather was just fabulous. So sunny and hot!
I had to stay inside till bout 1.30pm.
Then I was going to meet up with my parents n my sis in downtown.
There were so many people out there that day. Crazy!
I didn't find them right away, but I didn't mind: People were giving out free chilled coke in front of the Limbecker. So I treated myself to one.
My family and me grabbed some lunch with some of my parent's old friends. Real nice.

That very day I finally got a fridge with an integrated freezer... :D
Best thing ever! No I can go back to eating Ice-cream, gealto, making Smoothies and whatnot ^^

Sunday was just as beautiful.
We went to the

 

Really love the band ^^ 

Seaside, yeah that's right!
Nah actually it's just the Seaside Beach at the Baldeneysee again. Awesome day with awesome company and awesome weather! I even got to read some of that book I'm supposed to finish for class!

The rest of this week was ukay so far. College is keeping me busy as usual.
Plus: It's still nice and warm and sunny and all.

Monday night I had my 2nd time of "Korfball". Super fun! The people are real nice. We even have 2 english girls coming and this time an American girl visiting. So half of the time you hear me talking in English. Sweet, sweet. I didn't really think this sport is going to be rough or anything. But we this time we were all on it and all over. People kept bumping into each other or even into that pole-thingy. Once I even got hit that hard that I kinda smashed to the ground. Luckily I don't bruise that easily, so there's only a small blue spot next to my knee ^^

Tomorrow there'll be another party at the 'MuPa'.
And Friday there's this private party at my friend's place.
Saturday night is the Eurovision Song Contest in Duesseldorf which is pretty close. So we might even go to its downtown or sth. We'll see.

No egg hunt this year, but still a typical Easter

My Easter wish has been granted:

beautiful weather for the long weekend. Awesome ^^

On top of that I had lots of family downtime. Nice!

Our family's easter tradition:

Easter Sunday we always have a big family breakfast at either my aunt's or my mum's. This year my aunt was our host.

It was quite warm, therefore the table was set in her backyard. She served all kinds of food and eggs in all its varietys: cooked, scrambled, sunny-side up...

Afterwards we sat down in another corner of the backyard: talking and enjoying the beautiful weather with chilled drinks and ice-cream...

I played with my little cousin: jumping on the trampolin, soccer, and what not... It was so much fun and a good workout at the same time ;)

Gosh how that reminds me of my Au Pair time, and of how much I miss my kids!! (Well well, I can't wait for September to come, that's when I'll see them again :D)

Last year's Easter:

A.'s hostfamily invited me to their easter dinner (as my family is jewish ;) ).

It was pretty awesome. They are such lovely family.

They also had an Easter tradition: an 'egg-cracking-contest' (that's how I'd describe it at least). I loved that part. So fun and such nice company. It sure was an Easter I'll never forget. :D

The first ones to try...

and here we go again...

A. got into the next round

But lil M. just had a better technique I suppose... ;)

I wasn't so bad myself, but I lost against the older finalist

The final: Little M. ruled ^^

Anyways, back to this year:

Sunday afternoon we also had  a BBQ with my grandma. Soo delish & sunny! 

This Easter was really nice, too bad my dad had to work in the mornings... other than that no complaints :)

Monday was the last day to relax in the sun. In the evening my sis and me took the train back to Essen. It was quite crowded, but we were lucky enough to get seats for the whole ride ^^

Today I had one class this morning and I'll have another one this afternoon. In between I should be running some errands.... nothing too stressful though.

Yet tomorrow will be another busy college day. Not so much looking forward to that :P

Happy Easter!!

On Monday I didn't have any classes. A perfect opportunity for my mum, my aunt, my cousins and their friends to visit. Mainly they just came to the city to go shopping. But before they parked in front of my bulding to check out my new appartment. - Approved!Later on we walked downtown and through all the good stores we like. I even bought new pants and a sweater. Sweet ^^

After that successful day of shopping we sat down in the sun and got some gelato. Awesome!!

Then 2 busy days.

Thursday morning was my last class for this week. Loooong weekend, yeay (:

Mainly because of the holidays of course.

Nevertheless the past few days have been amazing. It's quite hot for this time of the year. Apparently in Germany the weather is even better than anywhere else in Europe. haha

Yesterday my little cousin turned 5! So we went to her place. They celebrated in the garden with lots of good food and waterballoons. I guess you can imagine how everyone somehow got involved in that water fight ^^ At night my uncle made a bonfire. And my aunt served some dinner: Veggies, baguettes, dips and self-made pretzels. So good.

Today is Easter Sunday. But I'll tell you more about this next time ;)

A fun weekend follows the next...

Especially when it starts one a Wednesday. I went home for my cousin's B-day!

Always good to see my lovely family (:

Thursday I helped my father with papering our hall. Well just so you know: upstairs, downstairs and the stairs.... so we had days of work to do. But I had to be back in Essen for Thursday night:

A party in a club downtown with free Dunkin Donuts! Yumm!

I went there with some friends to meet up with some friends and even bumping into unexpected ones...

That's how I like it ^^ 

The not so fun part: Awaking the next day with a cold, thx parents for handinig it over to me :P

Sure I won't let myself get down by that. AFter staying in bed the whole morning I walked downtown to get some herbal medicine. Really helpful! I felt so much better just after an hour!

Also I had some errands to run. That same night there was a friend's party: Sensation white, you hear me?!

He made chilly, salad and other yummy things. He even organized black lights!! Also those armbraces that light up in the dark ^^ Very considerate of him I'd say.

Saturday my sis and me went back home. Over the rest of the weekend my dad and me worked on getting the hall done. Takes up so much time. Then Monday was my dad's B-day and we almost did it all. Yeay!

More relatives to see, more cake to eat... awesome :D

Tuesday back to reality.... my mood was high and sure good enough for the early and long day...

The weekend started so amazingly good...

Friday I had a bunch of friends over at my new place. The kitchen isn't that big, but we squeezed everyone in there :) After we went dancing in that same club I went to the other day... Pretty fun: good music, awesome people, what more do you want?! 

To sum Saturday up: Awesome!! :D

The weather was amazing (all sunny blue sky) so we went to a "beach" nearby at a big lake (called Baldeneysee or sth like that). We brought food, blankets and whatnot... Played a lot of volleyball, some frisbee, some card games, some other stuff, talked a lot and laughed even more ^^ Just hung out with some friends... so as mentioned before: Awesome!

Today I had some repairs to do at my old place and am finally done with that chapter, not that it wasn't great one ;)

After I met some friends in downtown to grab some ice-cream! Like there's a way I could actually deny eating 'ice-cream'!

For a change tons of stores were opened this Sunday (which is usually not the case). Therefore and because of the rain we took a stroll in the shopping center (Limbecker Platz). How's the chance of meeting people you know, right then & there? Must be at least a little high, cuz we did meet some :P

Spent some time together before going home, again there was a lot of laughing involved and free coke for whatever reason :)

Back at home I wanted to be productive and clean the bathroom.

But yeah, smart move, Desi!!

I was in the middle of cleaning it the 1st time. Altough It wasn't even that dirty yet ^^  

But instead of things getting done, somehow I managed to make a big mess. My luck has it that I try to clean that glass shelf and it shatters. haha

Nah, not in a few pieces but in hundreds of tiny ones: 

Scattered all over, in the sink, in the closet beyond that, in the bathtub, all over the floor and under the other closet. 

Good job!! - Not! Man I had to laugh so hard about my own mistake, Just someone like me is able to whip up sth like that... haha

Yeah, and that's how I spend like 20min finding all those tiny glass pieces! And to top it off I still had to scrub everything else after. I guess I was lucky enouhg not to hurt myself that much, no visible scars or anything :P

Nevertheless an awsome weekend I'd say ^___^ 

Unfortunately I don't really know anything about Baseball...

This much I know:
Something about 3 strikes and being out.
Ukay I might no more than this, but I sure won't know any correct terms :P
Allright, so what's the deal? Why am I thinking about Baseball?
Hm good question, bot quite sure....
I was thinking about failing 3 times and so my brain somehow came up with that strike thing ^^


Yesterday I made Chocolate Chip Cookies again.
They are good. Buuuut I'm still not convinced. Like I know I can do better.
Just got to figure out what I'm doing wrong. I just don't know
Maybe it's because I have to convert all those 'cups', 'ounces' and whatsoever into the metric system. Maybe wrong amounts...


Or I just need someone to show me how to make the perfect ones :P
Guinea pigs step forward... I seriously need help!!

I shouldn't be writing here right now, instead...

I should be studying. Ukay so right now it all should be about my final 2 exams. But meanwhile I'm also searching for a new place, because my roomie wants to move out soon. She's about too graduate next semester and won't really need to stay much longer. Seriously she just got 2 classes!!
I'll be fully booked next semester. So I'm trying to get things straight as soon as possible. So I'm busy finding a new flat with a new roomie and being a little stressed. For some reason I feel like I'll be messing sth up eventually. I don't know yet what it's going to be but it'll happen...

At the moment I can only tell you this much: 
Recently I rule in the kitchen (at least for now)! Dude, I made this delicious risotto from scratch today. Who knew I was such an amazing cook? - I didn't... until now. Most likely nobody else is going to find out because I won't be able to create the exact same. Yeah sure, I can try and make something else instead. Question though: Is it going to be as good? And what is it going to be? I guess one just has to be brave and find out :P

Hopefully next week I'll have enough time to give Chocolate Chip Cookies another try. I really want to eat them and this time get them right (you know, just like the ones in my head)....

Note to self:
Bake those cookies and bring the camera more often to anywhere ^^

My day started pretty slow...

It was dark outside and freezing. I just didn't feel well (wonder why?!).
I prefered staying in bed and watching whatever good stuff was on my laptop. 
In between I ate some breakfast and eventually felt even worse than before.
Finally facebook (well actually one of my fb-friends) was referring to the results from that Literary Studies exam we wrote last week. We were able to look 'em up today!
I could just think: Oi, now the day is totally screwed...
At least that's what I figured, but fortunately I was wrong . In fact, I didn't do so bad afterall (won't complain here ;) )... so my mood went up and everything looked so much brighter to me.
Later that day I was trying to avoid my studies for a while, but ended up doing at leats something.

At night some of my and my roomie's friends came over. (It was this surprise thing we had planned for my roomie for a couple days now).
Turned out pretty well: 
Pizza, wine, all sorts of candy and lots of talking involved :D
So sort of an awesomeish day ^^

BTW: I'll have to move soon, so I'm looking for a new place (again)!
Sweet, huh?! - NOT!!

triple C

Ukay this past week I made Chocolate Chip Cookies, actually twice.

Monday: My first batch was waaaaay to sweet for my taste. Otherwise they were ukay. My roomie really liked them, at least someone did, right?! ;) Note for next time: Use more than 1 baking tray, otherwise one will just have a gigantic cookie :P 


Ukay so Wednesday 2nd try, this time a few adjustments to the recipe (to thge one I used before): only half the sugar!! Aaand guess what - still a tad too sweet. Still not what I've been looking for. So I figured maaaybe I should take a different recipe :P

So I asked on fb for a good CCC recipe and a few of my friends helped me out (guess the other one's just want to keep their favourite recipe a secret :P ). Now I'll just have to find the time and motivation to give it another shot ;)

--> I just really want to eat a awesomely delicious cookie like the self-baked ones I ate before.... is that too much to ask?!  

FYI:  I've rarely ever baked those cookies before and whenever there was always someone around who knew what needed to be done.... apparently I don't, because I seem to be missing something here...

Yup, so for today I stuck with my good old marble cake recipe and that sure was a great decision (at least something I'm able to bake) ^^

distraction...

My friend I. told me about the 'Road Stop' today.
Now I wanna try it but... I have to wait for the right moment.

There are some things I'm looking forward to and some I'd rather erase.
Like my finals ... I sooo wanna skip them.

Things I can't wait for:
seeing my dear friends from all over the world (miss all my crazy and awesomest friends!!)
& one very important thing... SUMMER!!

How is it possible that there's still snow left?! The weather was pretty nice the last few days but it's gonna get colder again.... that means I'll most likely be seeing more snow this year.... ohhh man
Ukay Desi, enough time spend on keepin urself from studyin :P

One last thought: I'm pro healthy environment. So, Recycle people! Thanks :D

cake n candy day

I really like my last weekends: I just did whatever I felt like... especially eating lots of Pizza, cake (the self-baked kind), and candy (the good kind, from that awesome dutch sweet shop 'Jamine')
Everything was going pretty well until that stomache aching part began... oi, now it's hard to fall asleep... uk n the headache doesn't make it any better.
Somehow I don't mind that much, because the weekend was fun nevertheless :) Was at my parents & my sis... nice family quality time with lots of laughter, discussions, games & more laughter.
Also we went to the Netherlands, buying groceries... just love doing that, I always get lots of food & candy... couldn't resist haha
Lately I've been catching up with some people I haven't talked to for quite some time... For some reason I always get excited about every tinsy tiny note I get... brightens my day, just so u guys know ;) 
Uhh n I also got some instant coffee (not nearly as awesome as the good stuff, but nevertheless pretty decent) Got some of that tonite n ate some Haribo Smikkel-Mix (bought it in the Netherlands aswell).

That TV Show 'Glee' just aired today in Germany for the first time, dubbed of course... really ruins half of it's humour (as expected)...
I prefer the original language... same with other shows like 'HIMYM'... half the wit gets lost during dubbing (though I have to admit that 'GG' did a pretty good job). Worst part always: the idioms!!
Sometimes I can't seem to tell the differnece between german & english sayings anymore... sorry 'bout that... don't mind you laughing though as I usually laugh along anyways :P

once again please, still wasn't enough...

The last day of 2010 was pretty fun!
We had way too much food, staied up way too long and didn't sleep long enough! Fun level was at awesome, we played Singstar n Tabu for instance!
No wonder we were a little tired on New Years.
But if that's the price you have to pay... then here you go.

In fact we had so much food that some of the ppl came back yesterday nite to help me gett 'rid of it'!
And guess what?! - We still have some stuff left (candy & drinks mostly)!! I mean... hello?!... 9 people not enough, huh?!
But ukay I guess they'll just have to come back for another round :P
Also the occasions are always involved with lots of fun sooo... who am I to argue... haha

Yup that's pretty much all for now...

Uebersetzung:
Der letzte Tag des Jahres 2010 war ziemlich gut!
Wir hatten viel zu viel zu Essen, sind viel zu lang aufgewesen und haben viel zu wenig geschlafen! Und jede Menge Spass, wir haben unteranderem Singstar und Tabu gespielt!
Also kein Wunder, dass wir an Neujahr ein bissl mued waren.
Aber wenn das der Preis ist, den man dafuer bezahlen muss... dann hier bitte sehr.


Genau gesagt, hatten wir soo viel zu Essen, dass einige der Leute wieder gekommen sind um mir zu helden, dass ganze 'Los zu werden'!
Und ratet, was?! - Wir haben immer noch einiges ueber (Knabberzeugs und Getraenke zum grossen Teil)!! Ich mein... hallo?!... 9 Leute sind wohl immer noch nich genug, oder wie?!
Na ja, dann muessen alle wohl noch einmal wieder kommen fuer ne weitere Runde :P
Ausserdem haben wir immer jede Menge Spass an solchen Abenden... also will ich mich ja gar nich beschweren... haha


Yo, das war's erstmal wieder...

too early for x-mas

It's still November. Is that too early for Christmas cookies, Christmas candy or Christmas whatsoever?

For instance: I don't mind eating a cookie once in a while, but can you blame me?! Chocolate chip cookies are awesome.
If I'll eat a so called "christmas" cookie now, in December or even March... it doesn't quite matter, as long as it tastes good.
A christmas cookie sure creates a certain mood though, a christmas feeling... so maybe one should just stick with it during that certain season.

Why do I come up with this? 
All the stores are overflowing with x-mas stuff already. I'm afraid I'll be sick of it once the actual thing starts. I mean Thanksgiving is still to come and the Christmas market starts in Essen today. yep... at least for a month one can also get non-christmas-related Churros ;) haha (always look on the bright side of life)

anyways I don't mind one getting all christmas-preoccupied. If that's what you wanna do then go for it. Just don't forget what Christmas is about ;)
btw I won't deny any offered novemberly baked x-mas cookies...

Uebersetzung:
Es ist immernoch November. Ist dass noch zu frueh fuer Weihnachtsgebaeck, Weihnachtsbonbons oder Weihnachts-irgend-was?

Beispielsweise: Hab ich nix dagegen, ab und zu n Plaetzchen zu essen, aber koennt ihr's mir veruebeln?! Choclate Chip Cookies sind einfach super.
Wenn ich einen sogenanntes "Weihnachtsgebaeck" jetzt, im Dezember oder Maerz esse... das macht keinen Unterschied, so lange es gut schmeckt.
Obwohl ein Weihnachtsplaetzchen doch ne bestimmte Stimmung verbreitet, so ein weihnachtliches Gefuehl... also vllt. sollte man einfach dabei bleiben waehrend dieser bestimmten Saison.

Wie komm ich bloss darauf?
All die Geschaefte sind momentan ueberfuellt mit Weihnachtsgedoens. Ich befuerchte, dass ich davon genug haben werde, sobald das richtige erst mal anfaengt. Ich mein, es war noch nich mal Thanksgiving und der Weihnachtsmarkt beginnt schon heute in Essen. yep... zumindest kann man jetzt fuer nen Monat etwa auch nich-weihnachtliche Churros dort bekommen ;) haha (immer das positove im Leben sehen)

wie auch immer ich hab nichts dagegen wenn manche total weihnachtsgeschaeftig werden. Wenn es das ist, was ihr wollt, dann bitte sehr. Vergesst nur nich, worum es bei Weihnachten geht ;)
nebenbei bemerkt: ich habe nichts gegen mir angebotene novemberlich gebackene Weihnachstplaetzchen einzuwenden...

Food

Talkin about food usually makes me hungry. You just picture some great meal u desire right away. Like that dog-food-bell experiment. It's crazy... at least I'm not drooling (yet) ;)
Lately I've been a little proud of myself. Seems like I'm getting the hang of cooking. Or you know.... not starving and still eating somewhat healthy n yummy. Like today we had a cucumber salad n couscous with veggies. Pretty sweet! Yup, n of course that I didn't take a picture of :P Also going out n getting those spicy Chow Mein or those Falafel Kebab thingys. Sooo good I didn't even have the time to stop n take a pic for those ppl who don't know what I'm talkin about.
I knew it after all this food talk.... gotta get some Stracciatella gelato from the freezer :D Also for my roomie because that's just how nice I am :) N sorry no pics for u guys. It is just too good haha

I had to spice 'em up, then they were burnin good :D

Spaghetti with self-made Bolognese sauce ^^ 

This is what I got at the college cafeteria... it was huge!
Uk n this is the more unhealthy part :P

Uebersetzung:
Uebers Essen zu reden, macht mich immer hungrig. Man denkt einfach direkt an was wunderbares zu Essen. Wie bei dem Hund-Essen-Klingel Experiment. Es ist verrueckt... zumindest bin ich (noch) nicht am Sabbern ;)
Letztens bin ich etwas stolz au mich selbst. Scheint, als ob ich langsam den Dreh raus habe zu kochen. Ode rihr wisst schon... nicht zu verhungern und trotzdem noch halbwegs gesund und lecker essen. Beispielsweise heute hatten wir nen Gurkensalat und Couscous mit Gemuese. Ziemlich super! Natuerlich hab ich da jetzt kein Foto von gemacht :P Auch ausgehen und diese scharfen Chow Mein Nudeln zu essen oder die Falafel-Taschen. Sooo gut, dass ich nicht einmal die Zeit hatte davon n Foto zu machen fuer all die, die nich wissen wovon ich rede.
Ich wusste es, nach all dem Essen Gerede muss ich nu einfach etwas Stracciatella aus dem Kuehlfach essen :D Auch fuer meine Mitbewohnerin, denn ich bin einfach so nett :) Und sorry Leute, keine Fotos fuer euch, es ist einfach zu gut haha

coffee's not just coffee...

how dare I...?!
 ... Desperation!! 

unfortunately, looks better than it tasted :/

I came back to Germany mid of June. Avoidin coffee for some time. There just was no point. I didn't see how anything can even slightly reach my high and (I must admit) very spoiled standards (of coffee).
FYI: very odd thing... 2 years ago I would've never dreamed of ever drinkin any, not even the tiniest drip of the black brew I hold so dear at times... Things change... constantly.
Anyways... June/July I spent 3 weeks in Italy, and yeah I totally craved the gelato... soooo delicious, Italian foods & drinks are just too good... I'm talkin Tiramisu, Sgroppino, Wine, Pizza, Pasta here.... and so much more. Italian Coffee n Espresso is also pretty good. Then again my italian way of living preferes the cold gelato n juicy fruits. 
Californian lifestyle was (coffee n tea-wise) 'Peet's Coffee n Tea'... way better than Starbucks (no offense). Their drinks are just amazin :) I almost like all of them, mmhm... except for the ones I don't like maybe :P
In the summer time I can't help but love their Jasmine Lime Tea Cooler - my absolute fav. Here the rule: Either you'll hate it, or you'll love it.

Eventually in Germany I was going to come around consumin coffee once in a while... for my defense: I'm a student. From what I've tried, it was ukay, but nothing special. Few times I might even have tasted a hint of something that can be accepted as 'good'. In the end there was just nothing I really care about anymore... Really, I just want the 'real' thing, something that deserves the title 'Coffee'... please with a cherry on top

Uebersetzung:
Ich bin Mitte June zurueck nach Deutschland gekommen. Den Kaffee mal fuer ne Weile vermieden. Das hatte einfach keinen Sinn. Ich hab nicht gesehen, wie etwas nur ansatzweise meine hohen und (ich muss zugeben) sehr verwoehnten Standards (des Kaffees) ereichen koennte.

Nebenbei bemerkt: eigenartige Sache... vor 2 Jahren haette ich nicht mal davon getraeumt auch nur welchen zu trinken, nicht mal den kleinsten Tropfen des schwarzen Gebraeus, dass ich manchmal so gern habe... Dinge veraendern sich... andauernd. 
Wie auch immer im Juni/Juli war ich 3 Wochen in Italien und ja ich hab mich total aufs Eis gestuerzt... sooo lecker, aber italienisches Essen & Trinken ist einfach zu gut... Ich rede von Tiramisu, Sgroppino, Wein, Pizza, Pasta... hier und so viel mehr. Italienischer Kaffee und Espresso ist auch ziemlich gut. Aber dann bevorzugt mein italienischer Lebenstil das Eis und die saftigen Fruechte. 
Kalifornischer Lebenstil war (Kaffee und Tea seits) 'Peat's Coffee and Tea'... viel besser als Starbucks (nichts fuer ungut). Deren Getraenke sind einfach unglaublich :) Ich mag fast alle, mmmhm... ausser evtl. denjenigen die ich nicht mag :P ..
Im Sommer kann ich mir nicht helfen, aber liebe den 'Jasmine Lime Tea Cooler' - mein absoluter Favorit. Aber hier die Regel: Entweder liebt man ihn, oder man hasst ihn. 

Schliesslich in Deutschland war das nur eine Frage der Zeit, bis ich wieder Kaffee konsumiere... zu meiner Verteidigung: ich bin Studentin. Von dem, was ich probiert habe, es war ukay, aber nichts besonderes. Wenige Male habe ich eine Spur von dem gefunden, dass vielleicht als "gut" betrachtet werden koennte. Letztendlich ist dort nichts mehr, dass mir so viel bedeutet... Ich moechte wirklich nur das "Wirkliche", etwas das den Titel "Kaffee" auch verdient... ganz liebes bitte.  

how Aldi can put a smile on my face...

Hey y'all!
I was in the supermarket Aldi the other day and was surprised to find this:

'Wow', you might be thinking now, 'Walnuts...hu?! Not very uncommon in a supermarket. So what is she surprised about?? :P'
So yes smartypants, they are quite delicious, but that's not what I aim to talk about here. For all those who care for the details in life (like me :P ) you'll notice that this is a Trader Joe's product. Yeay!! That's the key :) You gotta know that this is one of my favourite stores in California. Didn't know they have some products here too. Mostly fruit in cans, dried fruit, nuts...that type of thing. Apparently we had it for years already, I just didn't notice :P How a visit in the States can sharpen your view on details like these ;) It felt like walking next to a field of flowers, bending down to find sth special that has been there all along just unnoticed. We should pay more attention to the details! Might put a smile on your face, like it did to me ^___^

Uebersetzung:
Hallo ihr alle!
Ich war letztens im Aldi und war ueberrascht dies hier zu finden:

s. Bild oben :P

"Wow" denkt ihr bestimmt jetzt, "Walnuesse, ja?! Nicht sehr ungewoehnlich in einem Supermarkt. Also was ist sie so ueberrascht?? :P" So, ja ihr Schlaumeier, die sind lecker, aber dass ist nicht direkt worauf ich zu sprechen kommen moechte. Fuer alle diejenigen, die sich um die Details im Leben scheren (so wie ich :P ), merken, dass dies ein Trader Joe's Produkt ist. Juhu! Das ist der Schluessel :) Ihr muesst wissen, das dies eines meiner Lieblingsgeschaefte in Kalifornien ist. Wusste nicht, dass man auch hier einige ihrer Produkte erwerben kann. Zumeist Fruechte in Dosen, getrocknete Fruechte, Nuesse...solche Sachen eben. Anscheinend hatten wir sie schon seit Jahren, ich hab es nur nicht bemerkt :P Wie ein Besuch in den Staaten deinen Blick schaerfen kann auf solche Details im Leben ;) Hat sich angefuehlt, wie neben einer Blumenwiese herzulaufen, und dort etwas ausserordentliches zu finden, dass dort schon die ganze Zeit war, nur unbeachtet. Wir sollten Details mehr Achtung schenken! Koennte euch ein Laecheln aufs Gesicht zaubern, wie es mir geschehen ist ^___^

Mac n Cheese

our version (I wish :P )

this is the actual one...

yummy

Mac n Cheese is the american version of the german understanding of Spaghetti a la Napoli in my eyes (btw my friends agreed ;) ). Sounds complicated, the way I put it :P Ukay, ya, I'm very good at makin easy things sound highly complicated ...haha one of my talents...
anyways uk, imagine u are in Germany. Someone asks u to make a dish that kids'll like. So u cook Spaghetti with tomato sauce. In the States one answers this question by makeing Mac n Cheese. As simple as that.

I got this new cookbook for my b-day: Jamie Oliver - Jamie's America. So 2 friends of mine E. n S. wanted to cook sth so I offered to use one of Jamie's recipes. S. was late , so E. n me decided to make the Jamie's Mac n Cheese creation, alone by ourselves - just... our way. So we added some veggies n baked it in the oven. Dude I tell ya, it was edible, even tasty. Haha... I have to admit I don't cook very often, neither does E. soooo that's how I wasn't very convinced at first that this was gonna work out. We were struggling a little in between...but we just tried again n there we go........nice job girls! (that's what someone would say, if that person watched us creating what we did. at least in my mind that would be the case :P )

Uebersetzung:
Mac n Chesse ist die amerikanische Version des deutschen Verstaendnisses von Spaghetti a la Napoli meiner Meinung nach (nebenbei, meine Freunde fanden das auch ;) ). Klingt verwirrend, so wie ich das wieder schreib :P Ukay, ya, ich bin sehr gut dadrin einfache Sachen hoch kompliziert klingen zu lassen.... haha eins meiner Talente....
Wie auch immer uk, stell dir vor, du seiest in Deutschland. Jemand bittet dich, eine Mahlzeit zu machen, die Kinder moegen. Also kochst du Spaghetti mit Tomatensosse. Jemand in den Staaten beantwortet diese Frage indem er Maccaroni mit Kaesesosse macht. So einfach.

Ich habe dieses neue Kochbuch zu meinem Geburtstag bekommen: Jamie Oliver - Jamie's Amerika. 2 meiner Freundinnen E. und S wollten etwas kochen, also hab ich angeboten eins von Jamie's Rezepten zu nehmen. S. ist spaeter gekommen, also haben E. und ich uns dazu entschieden Jamie's Mac n Cheese Kreation zu machen, allein - nur... auf unsere Art. Also haben wir Gemuese hinzugefuegt und das ganze im Ofen ueberbacken. Leute, ich sags euch, es war essbar, sogar lecker. Haha... ich muss zugeben, ich koche selten, genau so wenig E. Alsooo war ich anfangs nicht sehr davon ueberzeugt, dass dies klappen wird. Zwischendurch musste wir uns etwas abmuehen... aber wir habens nochmal versucht und so gings.... gute gemacht Maedels! (Das wuerde jemand sagen, der uns beobachtet haette waehrend wir gekocht haben, was wir gemacht haben. Zumindest in meiner Vorstellung, das waere der Fall :P )