Lost - and found picture

I love pictures -not so much pictures of myself, but pictures of loved ones, friends and family.

If my house were on fire, I'd save the kids, the pets and then the pictures. Everything else can be replaced.

Breakfast Hash Brown Casserole (enhanced with Bacon)

This week's theme for Monday night dinner is "breakfast foods".

I love American breakfast foods.

Growing up in Germany, breakfast was not my favorite meal.  Unlike today, where the German breakfast includes a variety of toppings for rolls (and is really good), back then it was rare to find sausage or cheese on the breakfast table.  A typical breakfast would be either Muesli (a mixture of oats, fruits and nuts in milk) or - more often - bread or rolls with butter and jam, and if you were lucky, a soft boiled egg. Today's German breakfast still differs from the American in that most German breakfast foods don't require cooking - and that it includes the fresh crunchy rolls that really are to die for.

My mother was obviously familiar with my dislike for anything sweet, so she would actually serve sausage (Aufschnitt) or cheese for breakfast at home, but I remember quite a few instances on vacations where my breakfast choices consisted of a hard-boiled egg, a roll or bread, unsalted butter and a few varieties of jam.  I'd often just put some butter on a roll and salt it for some flavor.  Sometimes I'd put egg slices on the roll, but none of it was very satisfying to me.


When I was 6 or 7 years old, my parents took me on a trip to Great Britain.  This is when I discovered the British breakfast for myself:   Bacon, eggs and the wonderful fried tomato. Not a glass of jam to be found anywhere. I was in heaven!

A wedding cake and Tiramisu

This happened a while back, but it's definitely a story that should be preserved for posterity. 

It was Christmas 2009, my stepdaughter Maya was in town with her family.  She had been talking about getting married to her long-time fiancé that year, but as far as I knew no date had been set - and we were quickly running out of year to make the event happen. 

It was during during an informal family Christmas celebration on 12/28/09 (Monday) that she told the family about the small wedding she was planning for that Thursday (12/31/09).  The wedding was going to take place at her cousin Ryan's house and Maya's best friend was going to perform the ceremony.  She was inviting close family only, so she was expecting about 20 people. As I heard it the first time that night, that plans sounded good. 

After the Christmas party the I took the grand kids home with me, because they wanted to spend the night at Oma's house (i.e. my place).  We had a busy evening.  

My own wedding had been a small affair: justice of the peace, bride, groom, two witnesses and a red rose... so I didn't really think much more about the upcoming wedding that night.  

It wasn’t until the next day (Tuesday) I that I started thinking about the actual details of that little wedding get-together Maya was planning.  There were going to be 20 people at that house.  They were going to need something to eat or drink....

I decided that I'd buy some snacks, maybe some champagne, but then – as I was standing in front of a Black Forest cake at the bakery section of Sam’s club with my granddaughter - I suddenly realized that the traditional food for a wedding was actually – a cake….  Why had I not thought of that earlier? 

Happy Belated Birthday

Happy Belated Birthday to my stepson.

Silly me, I completely forgot that his birthday was yesterday, not because I forgot the birthday, but because I didn't realize that yesterday was the third....  Apparently, I do that a lot.

But that's not why I am writing about the birthday issue. I am writing this because of the word "belated".

See, when I first moved to the States, I would find greeting cards in the store that read "Happy belated birthday".  I had no idea what "belated" meant.  It was not a word I learned in school.  (I could have looked it up in a dictionary, but never did.  And yes, this was pre-google.)

Since the "belated" birthday cards could usually be found right next to "Happy Birthday to granddaughter" or "Happy birthday from uncle" I decided that the word probably meant something similar to "related".  "Belated"/"related" - you see the connection, right?

I figured that a "belated" was somebody who was not related, but not quite a friend - an acquaintance so to speak.

I took me a few years to figure out what it really meant.....

How I Caused an International Incident...

I worry! - A lot!

My kids can tell you that I worry about them the most.  If I come home, and one of the kids is not there, even though they were supposed to be – I don't just worry, I flip. 

Truth be told, my first instinct is to call 911.  I don’t -  because calling 911 when your kids are 5 minutes late  or went to the store without telling you – is insane, but just between you and me, that's what I'd like to do.

So instead, I text them (just to find out that they left their cell phone at home) then visit the neighbors (to the kids' utter emberrassment) and call everyone I know to inquire about their whereabouts. 
 
By the way, my kids are 17 and 20 – young adults - not 2 and 5…..

But I digress....

Recently, I have found something new to worry about - my parents.  They are getting up there in age and we've had several close calls in the last year.  Unfortunately, my parents live an ocean away from me - so I worry long distance.

Hobbies: Reading

I love to read - always have.

As soon as I figured out in grade school that strings of letters made words, I was hooked.  I read everything I could get my hands on - and I mean everything!