Things I love in February

This time I made it to post before the end of the month...

1) My cooking plan
I have not ordered any pizza or other fast food for almost five weeks now, thanks to my great cooking plan. Every Sunday, I take a few minutes to write down what I will eat every evening for the next week and what I will take with me for lunch on Monday and Friday when I have to be at school in the afternoon. Then I write two shopping lists with all the ingredients I need during the week. On Monday and Thursday I go grocery shopping after school and get all the stuff from the list. This system has worked perfectly so far. Usually I eat fast food not because I am too lazy to cook but because I have forgotten to buy any ingedients. And now I always have what I need to cook dinner and therefore there is no need to order food anymore.

2) Listening to The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle
I like T.C. Boyle's novels and short stories a lot and I am still not sure whether I think it is good that one of his novels is now one of the books that have to be read in English courses at school. Still, as a preparation for next year I listen to the audiobook and it is really entertaining and thought-provoking.

3) Our new gigantic wardrobe
It is not completely finished since they delivered not all the parts we need, therefore I won't post any pictures this week, but the wardrobe is gigantic! I will be able to store all my fabrics, crafting material, LARP equipment, the vacuum cleaner and a lot more in it and thus the rest of the flat will be much tidier.

4) Finally reading Dangerous Liaisons by Choderlos de Laclos
This is one of the books I have wanted to read for ages and finally I managed to start.

5) The perfume "L" by Lolita Lempicka
My mother gave me a sample of this perfume and it is the most delightful fragrance. It smells like custard!

6) Pancakes
The ideal food in this awful, bleak weather.

7) My alarm clock
I have this clock since my second semester. I bought it after I had missed a lecture for the second time because I had overslept and I picked the loudest clock available. That means this brave little chicken has woken me for 10 years now and therefore it deserves to be mentioned here.

8) The fact that spring comes closer every day...

Urgh

Everybody seems to be ill at the moment and I do not feel well either. Moreover, test mountain begins again, or - to be more plain - I have to correct tests. Therefore I hope the evil flu fairy won`t strike before Wednesday because I really need to prepare my students for their Abitur in two weeks and I do not want to miss any lessons with my German class. Still, I have a sore throat...
Anyway, when I am not complaining or grading tests, I take pictures and plan my next "real" blogposts so expect fireworks of fun and information within the next few days...

"Cheese"

A friend of mine does not eat sugar. That makes things complicated when I want to give him a small present because usually I bake some cookies or produce other sugar-based food when I want give something small away. In this case, I have a plan b: cheese crackers. They are delicious if not very low-fat, and they are quick to make.

Cheese Crackers

• 450 gr. grated cheese (I took Emmentaler, but I am sure you could use other kinds as well. I would only recommend a rather strong cheese to get enough flavour, Mozzarella for example might be to bland.) 
• 250 gr. flour 
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 60 to 70 ml of cold water
• about 80 gr. of cold butter, cut in small cubes
• (optional: 4 tablespoons or more of herbs and spices)

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. The cheese might still remain visible as individual pieces within the dough, but don't worry it will disappear during the baking progress. As long as the dough is soft enough to work with and does not crumble too much you are fine.
If you are feeling creative, there are many things you could add to the basic recipe. I made some great crackers with a spice mixture for pizza, but you could also add caraway seeds, thyme or other spices.
Wrap the dough in cling film and put it in the fridge for about 20 minutes. (Or in my case: as long as it takes you to go and find a shop that sells baking paper on a Sunday. I always forget to buy baking paper. It is my personal weakness...)
Next roll the dough (about 0.5 to 1 cm) and cut out squares. You can also use a cookie cutter to make cheese cats, stars, hearts or whatever, the dough is pretty crumbling-resistant and the cookies don't change their shape or size during baking.
Bake the crackers at 180 °C for 15 to 20 minutes and let them cool on a grid. They get a bit more crunchy when cold but I prefer them when they still have a soft core.

Keep them in an airtight box and munch them while watching dvds, or wrap them nicely and give them to those who don't eat sugar...

Look at that!!!

Today, I have finally de-cluttered my desk. Yey! I don't think I have to write anything else, just look at this most beautiful place... (Why can't it always look like this?)

(Yes, I know I have to mend my chair, but I always forget.)

Things I loved in January

A bit late, but here it is:

1) Listening to BBC Radio 4 and 4 extra
I have always listened to the radio a lot. As a child and teenager I did not have my own TV in my room because my parents were against it. Instead, I always had a radio and I always listened to it, especially to programs where there was a lot of talking, like Deutschlandfunk or Deutschlandradio Kultur. I still do that, for example while washing the dishes or cooking. Thanks to the internet, I now listen to British radio when I am in my study. Radio 4 is great because they have many many many interesting magazines (one of my favourites is The Infinite Monkey Cage, a program with comedy and science) as well as radio plays. (There are even Doctor Who and Torchwood episodes...) You can also listen to The Archers, the most English of all radio soaps.

2) My new sock wool from Dornröschenwolle

3) "Wiener Melange"-Coffee by Hepa Kaffee
I love coffee and this is my favourite brand by a local roaster in Wiesbaden.

4) My new amulett with the spooky tree

5) Finally having a sofa
 which is long enough to lie on it full length.

6) Reading Ben Aaronovitch's Whispers Under Ground
I got the first volume Rivers of London two times as a present, therefore most people seem to think that this it the book for me. I liked it well enough, but the plot moved a bit randomly and was - at least in my opinion - not very well constructed. The second volume Moon Over Soho was much better ( I got that one as a present as well...) and now I am reading the third volume ( which I bought myself) and it is great. I admit that it isn't "great literature" but it is fun and entertaining and that is what I need right now.