Supper…Table…Talk

A question that I have often asked myself in the 28 years that I lived in Germany……is how do I make it myself. REcently I was on the hunt to make my owm marshmellow fluff. NOw, you can get the stuff in germany…it does not taste good and it is expensive. SO…..google to the rescue. I typed in homemade marmellow fluff and this is the recipe I found and tried. Worked like a charm–happy baker/ice cream maker was I, as I wanted to make fluffer nutter ice cream.  Still had to make peanut butter, but I will save that for tomorrows post.  NOw this recipe calls for light corn syrup, lucky I still had a bottle. In the future I am going to have to make that myself.

You will need a candy thermometer for this recipe….

the egg whites get whipped and then you slowly pour the hot sugar/syrup/water into the the whipped egg whites, while the motor is running. Very helpful to have a kitchen aid.!

And here the finished product! So easy, soooooooo good, sooooo happy!

Happy Tuesday Everyone……

PS…..pictures are not the best..had to use my smart phone…

A very important sacrement in the catholic church is First Holy Communion. I am almost 50 years old, and I still remember my first holy communion. I received many special gifts, but the one that stands out till this day, is the gift Tante Paula gave to me…..my first hard cover book….Escape to Witch Mountain.

Recently my great-nephew Felix was the first of his siblings to celebrate his first holy communion. For weeks my niece and I planned this event and she listened to me and decided on a bbq for the whole family. Unfortunately, I arrived ill at her home, and was not able to help as much as was planned on. I did manage to set a pretty nice tablescape…….at this point I need to give a shout out to my sister who went and bought the table runners……THis was no easy feat, as she had to take the pictures with her phone…jump in her car and drive down the road, in order to h ave cell reception.  Plus, she had to have a lot of patience with me, since I was working in the ice cream lab and could not always answer my phone! Long story short….we got the job done. Unfortunately, I can not show you any pictures of the complete look(as I wrote I was ill and not quite with it). I would like to share with you a the picture of the small decorations I made.  A co-worker of mine had the idea and I loved it! We took small stones and decorated them with the dove from the invites. The stones served a double purpose….first as a decoation and later all guests were allowed to take one home.

Happy MOnday Everyone

It is that time of year again…….time to put out the word to end the word…….time to bring awareness to the fact that our handicapped, be it mentally or physically need to be treated with the respect they deserve. My alma mater….Pontiac Township HIgh School in Pontiac Illinois hosts a 5k Run every Spring and for the past few years, those of us who live far away are able to take part……We run, we mark our time and we take some pictures…

This year I chose to share with all of you my “home” path…the path I run when I just want to put on the running shoes and run out my house door! This path is great….it is aong the water…..goes through the woods and is exactly 5K!

I hope you enjoy the pictures!…. Shout out to Laura, the force behind this all! She does an amazing job!

Time to go Blog Hopping Again……I had such a good time the last time when we all created a spring tablescape, that I really could not wait for the Broadway HOp! NOw I have to admit something to you all, I had a million ideas….Phantom of the OPera, Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph, and Kinky Boots. But when it came down to finally putting the tablescape together, I ran into a creative road block and was stuck. Thankfully, my niece in Hamburg(peanuts peanuts) mentioned the Lion King to me and well the rest is history! Do enjoy the tablescape…..sure wish I could invite you all now for dinner!

Sharing this post also with the TAblescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch

Mauerweg Fahrrad Tour……Biking along the historical Berlin Wall Path

My Bucket List is long, as I assume so is yours, one item on that long list is biking the Berlin Wall Path. So when my girl friends from Cloppenburg and I started planning our first annual bike trip, the Berlin Wall Path was the logical choice. I live in Kleinmachnow(a former East German Town) which just happens to be along the Path! We had three days to cover 160 Km..should be no problem, right? Well, normally you are right, but we are in germany and the weather is not always your friend and well, then there is the issue with the flat tire……but I will get to that later.

3 Girls ready to tackle the Mauerweg! This picture was taken along the Teltowkanal

The girls were lucky to come in May….the cherry trees were in full bloom. Along this part of the Wall Path, the Japanese Embassy planted these trees…..

Selfie…#2(be prepared…we sort of took a lot of these!)

Time for a short break to take some pictures! It was so peaceful …we hardly spoke, just rode our bikes and took in the world around us…….simply perfect

and then the rain came……we were sort of lost for moment, but thankfully a man and his dog pointed us in the right direction. After about 30 k with no store or bakery in sight, we found a gas station where we could get a cup of coffee and dry off. After about an  hour we decided to brave the storm and get back on our bikes(i seriously just wanted to call a cab that would drive me to a bar) The girls had rain gear…jacket and pants…me? just a rain jacket, no rain pants……..need I say more?

We made it! Oberbaumbrücke! 50 KM later and were at our destination for the day. Which was a good thing, as Petra got a flat tire…….so after enjoying the sites and getting a bite to eat, we boarded a train that would take us back home….where my husband was waiting with the car!

3 happy and now dry Girls at the EAST SIDE GALLERY

DAY 2….the sun is shining and tires are being checked

Checkpoint Bravo…..

Riding through the forest……again the peace was amazing. Along the entire path are markers with information about the people who had tried to flee east germany at those points. We always stopped  to read the markers….it is very hard to comprehend what these people must have felt.

For the most part, the path is very easy to follow…signs all along the way pointing you in the right direction. BUT, every once in awhile that was not the case…….. had to love it! So we would study the map, flip a coin and continue on!

Babelsberg

Selfie Nr. 3…. Glienke Brücke

Time for a break and a can of sparkling wine….oh yea SELFIE Nr. 4

The sparkling wine helped get us through the next part….riding UP HILL!

Yippeee……it is all down hill from here!

To get to our next point, we needed to take the fairy from Wannsee to Kladow….how cool

In Gatow, you can find an orginal piece of the wall in its orginal spot.

My girlfriends are standing in the west while I stand in the east to take the picture….I still can not wrap my brain around the whole concept of a wall dividing friends and family……

a picture is worth a thousands words……..the second flat tire, this time it was me. So I sent my husband and SOS and I sent the girls on their way… they rode their bikes back to Kleinmachnow(app. 20km) and I waited for my husband to come with the car.

This was to my dismay, the end of our tour…the weather for Day 3 was RAIN RAIN RAIN…we managed about half of the path….app. 90 KM, so I am not complaing….

Even though had lots of rain and too many flat tires, we all agreed it was a great time and we are already planning the next trip!

News Flash: Blog gets a new name and will be moving to wordpress, should I ever understand it all!   For now, the name is new and I am still here at blogger!

So… for awhile now I have tried to follow a plan when it comes to running the house and working out. Sometimes I am really successful and well….sometimes I am really NOT! Today I would like to share with you my “PLAN”.  In the free time that is left over after the “chores” and “work out” are done, I try to get some craft work done, some baking done and of course I love spending my free time creating tablescapes…
Of Course all of this takes place around my JOb! You see I work in an ice cream parlor….making the ice cream! i love my job and am very gratefull that I have the job.