EuroLife: Day 43

Have no fear! We have received several concerned inquiries since Michael's last post. (Most pressing, of course, was that of our Great Gibbons Matriarch, also know as "Dolly.") We will press on; we must press on! Also, we really want to press on. It's just that we sometimes worry that we are running out of things to say. I have begun to realize that the problem is not so much that there aren't interesting things to say, but rather that we never remember to bring the camera when we're out and about. Every story is a bit better with pictures. I will work on that. In any case, some posts might be less interesting than others, but we are not going to quit our little blogging adventure.

Speaking of fascinating posts, today I bring you laundry detergent. I for one am amused by our laundry detergent, and it is for that reason that Meister Proper is featured here for your enjoyment. Yes that's right, Meister Proper. You might recognize him; he looks a lot like Mr. Clean. What would happen, I wonder, if Mr. Proper were to replace Mr. Clean on American shelves?

As I write this, Michael is watching television. A few days ago, after a 2 week wait, our local cable was connected. We now have about 12 German channels, one of which is Comedy Central, and one English language channel. It's usually CNN, but on Sundays we get the Daily Show. Presently, Michael is watching a special on Trabbys. He just can't get enough of those Trabbys.

Now for two more of my German culinary favorites. I have already spoken with some of you about the about the wonders of German yogurt, but it really merits mention in the blog. It is delicious, creamy goodness, and only loosely resembles what we call yogurt back home. I have to confess, I've been averaging about 3 cups of yogurt a day for the past week or so. It's getting out of hand. Part of the problem stems from my new favorite store. It purports to be a discount Apotheke, but it's much more than a drug store. It sells all sorts of wonderful and affordable bath products, food, bird seed, and nearly everything that you might need short of real groceries. It also sells Wheat Germ. If you have never had yogurt with wheat germ, I recommend you get out there and try it. (I realize that very few things sound less appetizing than something with both "wheat" and "germ" in the title, but it's really good.) When I saw it in Rossman's, I suddenly remembered having it with yogurt as a kid. (Thanks mom!) So, here is my new favorite snack: plain yogurt with honey and wheat germ. It is amazing. I also had an absolutely perfect lemon yogurt yesterday. So, when you all come and visit, we can feast on yogurt.

I suppose I should admit that I am only mostly sure that it's wheat germ that I'm putting on my yogurt. It is, after all, written in German and I haven't gotten around to looking it up.

Lest you all worry that I've moved on from gelato, I had a delicious scoop of coconut ice cream this afternoon. It had been a few weeks, I'm not sure how that happened, but it was delicious. Michael could not be persuaded to join me; something about the piercing wind and the cold.

Now for the second culinary favorite: Pepper. Not peppers, but pepper. Though I was slow to come around to cracked black pepper, I have come to love it over the past 2 or 3 years. When we first arrived in Jena, we looked for peppercorns, but could only find tri-colored pepper. We tried it, and we are hooked. I don't know what it is about it that is so delicious, but I think that even those of you who don't like black pepper would like this. It's milder, but somehow more flavorful. We have been experimenting with quantities and, so far, it seems that it is impossible to put too much pepper on anything. If you can find this at home, grab it!

I suppose that's it for today. As I said, I will try to bring the camera around a bit more. In particular, I'd like to do a post on German playgrounds. German safety standards for playgrounds seem to be a great deal looser than those in the States. As a result, the playgrounds look incredibly fun...if risky :)