Happy Valentine's Day

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Lent

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It's been a while since I gave something up for lent but since it fits in so well with my other goals and projects this month I've decided to give chocolate a miss until I crack open that Easter egg.

I've tried to cut out several different food groups in my quest to get back to my target goal.  The most successful has been sweets which I only crave now when I go to the supermarket hungry (which doesn't happen too often).  I also have cheese and alcohol under control but the one I struggle with , especially after Nico's latest projects , is chocolate.  I've asked him very nicely not to be offended when I say no for the next few weeks and if possible, to make dark chocolate as I don't really like that anyway.

So wish me luck!

Nico's Kitchen Adventures

I am the luckiest girl in the world.  I know I shouldn't be smug but I have to share with you some of the delicious treats that my amazing fiance has been cooking up this year.  Barely a week seems to pass without a new project in the kitchen and I am definitely benefiting...though not on the scales perhaps!

Beef jerky from the dehydrator

Apple in the dehydrator

Amazing Flammkuchen (a bit like quiche)

Pear and blue cheese pizza

Spazle with mushrooms sauce

Beef, spinach and blue cheese roulade

 And finally, the amazing and ongoing chocolate project:

Classics

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I think Nico thought I had lost the plot a little bit when I picked this old gem up in the supermarket the other day.  

When I was little, we had a whole range of Disney classics on VHS and for me, it's a big memory from my childhood.  I've talked before about the Little Mermaid and how that was the first film I ever saw at the cinema.  Well, Lady and the Tramp, or Susi und Strolch as it's known here, is another of those classics for me, along with Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin - so now you know what is next on the list Nico.  :-)

To balance our collection out a little, I did order Braveheart the other day.  Firstly, because I'm looking through old Oscar winners lists for inspiration and also to show Nico a little of the country and its history before we head there on honeymoon this summer.

My reading list

As I warned a couple of weeks ago, my reading rate has been slowing down lately as I am getting back into reading in German and starting on Anna Karenina at the same time!  This means I don't have a review this week although both of the books mentioned will be coming up in the future as I am really enjoying them both.  So this week I thought I'd share with you my own 'reading list' for the near future.  I'm still getting used to not having a proscribed reading list from school, college or university and being able to read purely for pleasure and I'm loving it.

As with Anna Karenina, I like to read books before I see them in film.  This is why Les Miserables is also sat waiting on the overflowing bookshelf at the moment.  However, I think I will need a break after Anna Karenina before I start on that one - I could use both of them as door stops!

Also waiting is Songbird.  When I reread Winter in Madrid last year, it mentioned that lovers of that book would also enjoy Sebastian Faulkes works so I had a browse and settled on this one.  If you've read my other reviews, you will know how much I love novels that combine a bit of history so I am really looking forward to this one.

My next German novel will be the second in the Harry Potter series.  I like reading new novels in German but it is obviously easier if I already know the content and it helps me expand my vocabulary.  I actually bought this one after last Christmas with vouchers from one of my classes but forgot I had it because it looks so similar to the first on the shelf!  

The last one sat waiting here is Wolf Hall.  Having read the second in the series - Bring up the Bodies - first, because of the rave reviews, I though it would be good to go back and have a look at this one.  Again, I love the history aspect although the Tudors are a relatively new one for me.

So I think these will last me a while and come in handy for the amount of travelling I have got coming up this year!

The Saturday Update

A really good first week to the new semester this week.  It started off with a great weigh in on Monday so I am hoping to keep that going for the month (although I haven't been very good this week...).  I did a little less cycling as the brakes on by bike froze on Wednesday!  Luckily I managed to get it to work with me and they had thawed by Thursday afternoon!  

Tuesday was parents' day at work and it was mainly nice to meet the parents and review the first semester with our pupils.  Of course there are always high points and low points on such days but the impact of the meetings really showed for the rest of the week.  Friday was school photo day and we were really proud of our lovely well behaved class.

On Wednesday, of course, we were out for the lovely wine tasting.  Thursday was my final evening class.  I found out the courses won't run in the next semester which is good and bad because it means no extra money in the Spring but more time for me and for the wedding planning.  I love teaching adults but it was always hard to come home from my early finish at work and drag myself back out on an evening, especially as it got colder and darker.

The invitations went out to England last week and we have our first RSVPs which makes it all more real and exciting!  We have been fitting more people into accommodation this week and things are just generally starting to take shape.  Loreto is coming over this morning for a girly catch up and to watch My Big Fat Greek Wedding which should be fun.

I have been taking part in Sarah von Bargen's Nine Days of Nice, but I'm a little behind so I will be working on that and some other projects this weekend too.  More on that later....

28 things...go on a wine tasting experience!

On Wednesday, Nico and I headed into town for our appointment in the Bremen town hall cellar.  I love wine.  For a long time, I have wanted to learn a little more about wine and the different flavours and Nico, ever the perfect gift giver, bought me these tickets for a tour of the Bremen wine cellars, including wine and chocolate tasting, and this week we did it.

It was fantastic.  We learnt so much about the process of wine making and storing and also about the history of Bremen and at each stage, we were served a different wine with a well paired chocolate.  

First up was a half dry champagne while we inspected the 'vault' where the oldest and most valuable wines are stored.  That went with an almond praline.  Then were the white wines, first a dry and then a sweet, while we saw the normal storage rooms.

Up last were the red wines.  The first was dry and very nice but the last one blew me away.  It reminded me of a lovely French wine I had had with duck at a Christmas meal with some colleagues in Harrogate and never forgot.  The great thing is that prices are so much better here than in England.  In England, the bottle cost over thirty pounds but this one - 14 Euros.  That's expensive for here but I'll definitely be stocking up before my red wine drinking buddy's next visit!

This is the oldest wine in Bremen.  It costs 20000 Euros for a 'finger' and Queen Elizabeth II was the last person to drink from it!

 And though it was a school night - I felt great the day after.  I would definitely recommend the experience to anyone and they offer tours in different languages as we saw a Spanish one while we were there.