Saturday, March 13, 2010

NewPost

I'm not entirely sure what merits posting today...probably the fact that this weekend is starting off mellow and I actually have TIME to post. AMAZING. Well, we all know that one makes time for what's important...I could be working on a paper for a class called (translated) Creating Living Rooms for Children. By that of course they don't mean living rooms in the American sense of the word, but Living.Rooms. Rooms where children live. You know?
...I don't. Well, I do, but it doesn't interest me a hoot to describe the rooms at work and how they could be improved. And I have an introduction already. So there.

Anyway. We've had a few wild weekends behind us with some spontaneous dinner parties that turned into overnights, me visiting some of my no-longer-work kids, a pro basketball game, gallery visits, more dinners and a whole helluva lot of kilometers. It's been fun. Apparently, it's also been exhausting. So much so that Stephan has actually opted for a formal nap IN BED instead of just dozing off to soccer on the couch. The boy never naps. He's a high-energy morning person. I nap. Whenever I can. I know it's going to be a tough day when I wake up and try to figure out when my next opportunity to nap will be. But enough of that.

Things here are rolling merrily along. We rediscovered the weekly market at Boxhagener Platz on Saturday mornings last week in a fit of sunlight induced spring fever. I bought a few magnolia branches which I'm trying to coax into opening their buds and we decided the culinary delights of this market could not possibly be enjoyed on one morning, so we vowed to return. And we did, today. With the express purpose of eating breakfast. They have such lovely things! Whole roasted fish, turkish breakfasts, waffles, swiss speacialities, sausage by the ton and everything fresh enough to sass you back and flanked by goregous produce. We chose to get a big mix of turkish goodness at one of the stands--my chickpeas in sauce, stuffed eggplant and chicken with mixed veggies didn't disappoint...although it did leave me with a hankering for really good turkish steetfood. I had stuffed mussels from some random vendor after a night of dancing with my landlady and her friends back in the day which occasinoally haunt me still. Is that what being a foodie is all about? I think so. Some things I've eaten just don't let me go. Another example would be the potato salad from Stephan's Grandpa. I could lay down and die happy in a bowl of it. Or his stuffed mushroom caps! The man can cook. He sent us a package of cured meats the other day which has had Stephan making himself secret sandwiches since.

Speaking of mushroom caps, one of the stands this morning had the HUGEST white mushroom caps ever. I got so excited when I saw them...and had to have them. I know they're not going to be close to what Stephan's Grandad can do, but I'm going to try. I'm envisioning a ground beef filling with elements of rosemary and feta cheese. Oooh, I'm already getting hungry. This isn't good.

Aside from the edible experiences of the last few weeks about which I could go on and on...things have been busy and I'm glad to have a weekend where not so much is going on to just kick back and relax. We're meeting friends later on for drinks...but just drinks, not dinner and not here for a change. Also refreshing. I love hosting. I love having people over and cooking and eating and wining together...but sometimes it's great when the action happens someplace else. However, the trip last Sunday to the Berliner'sche Galerie in Kreuzberg was fantastic. Well worth breaking my rule that nothing wild and social happens on Sundays. I went with a friend of mine who did some modeling work for them a while back. The exhibit was great...some really bizarre, thought-provoking art from the corporate collection of a natural gas company here in Berlin. I'd never really thought about it, but I guess it often happens that companies diversify their portfolios and that in large companies some of that "corporate art" hanging around might just be galery worthy. Let me tell you, the GASAG has some cool stuff. It's well worth a visit, although the neighborhood is a bit crap. Not dangerous or anything, just...nothing there. At least not in comparison to the bopping enclaves I'm used to in Berlin.

As interesting as all this is, I can't really surpress my hunger any more, so I'm going to go cruise the kitchen. I got some yummy greek yogurt today, and I think it's time has already come....


love and delicacies!