5 May 2009 - Celebrating Cinco de Mayo

[Just with the Cinco de Mayo reference, I feel I should give a Latin track. I'm going with La Camisa Negra from Juanes, who is perhaps almost as hot as my May 5 delivery, as described below. Almost.]

Hudson has finally arrived and it has been worth the wait. Such a handsome devil with such menacing-looking “eyes” as you can see in the photo (but which are even more fierce when you see them in your rear view mirror approaching at a rapid speed).

As I believe I reported earlier, it took about 2.5 hours for the dealer and I to come up with the configuration for this specific vehicle, versus the one or two minutes it might take in the US due to reliance on packages and far fewer individual options. It took about the same amount of time to explain the features to me, which took place in a special car delivery room at the dealer. The salesperson was kind enough to do so in English, though I have insisted on keeping the controls in German which will be a bit challenging.

For those of you who care, here are a few specs:
- Audi A5
- Deep sea blue pearl effect (not quite Priser Blue)
- 3.0 TDI (oh yes, diesel.... Can you hear the throaty growl through this blog?)
- Six-speed Tiptronic transmission with paddle shifters (yes, I got an automatic)
- Quattro with sport suspension
- 19” wheels

So, why Hudson? Well, the sleek and hard lines of the car strike me as very masculine, like a guy with a six pack (of abs, not beer). So I wanted a good German-sounding first name. I was leaning toward Fritz when I went to configure the vehicle and the salesperson noted that, um, “Fritz” would be speaking with a woman’s voice on the navigation system. Ohhh…. So I solicited input from people on androgynous sounding German names and all they came up with was Kim. I am not driving a car named Kim (like Bonnie is so much better….). So I was discussing this with one of my best friends (code name Green and as mentioned in the back home posting) and she volunteered to allow me to use the name she has in mind for a daughter, should she ever have one. That’s right – Hudson. I liked it. Not exactly German, but it reminded me of several things. Rock Hudson. (No, not that awful Hudson Hawk flick with Bruce Willis.) The Hudson River. And let’s not forget the Hudson brand of American automobiles that was phased out in the 50s or 60s after AMC bought it. (Seriously, though, what were they thinking? That people would really rather buy a Nash or a Rambler than a Hudson?)

So there you have it. I could go on about the individual options, but, well, I’d rather go back down in the garage, curl up in a supple leather seat, pop in a DVD, put a beverage in a cupholder, open the sunroof, and have an androgynously-romantic movie night with Hudson.

1 May 2009 - When Consumer Products Collide

Beer. Shampoo. Not a lot of things in common between the two items that I can think of. In fact, it sounds like one of those non-sensical analogy multiple choice problems you might have on the SAT exam. Unless you live in Germany where one can buy beer shampoo. Not joking. I have it.



Now, before you go thinking that I have a morning drinking problem, let me assure you that it is truly shampoo and not made for internal consumption. In fact it doesn't even smell like beer. Much. It is part of the Guhl brand line of haircare products. (I agree, saying you'd like to put some Guhl on your hair sounds about as bad as saying you'd like to pour some beer on your head, neither of which would seem to be statements issued by someone with a clear (if not clean) head.)



So the background.... I ran out of my American shampoo last week, but made a conscious choice when I was in Chicago over Easter not to restock since clearly there must be something over here that would do just fine and that Mario could set me up. Alas, Mario has quite the waiting list and I don't have an appointment with him until next week (let's ignore for now how the grown-out scissorhands 'do looks and pains me each morning).



So, hoping to score some Wella or Schwarzkopf (literally, black head) products, I headed to the DM (which I am told is short for Droggerie Mart -- and who doesn't love a good drug mart?). I only saw Wella styling products, not shampoo et cetera. There was some Schwarzkopf action, but then I saw the Guhl line. They appeared to be color-coded. Naturally, I gravitated toward the blue line, but then caught out of the corner of my eye the phrase "Bier Shampoo" which would be part of the brown line (neither of which lines should be confused with the blue line and brown line Els in Chicago).



Apparently (this is based, of course, on my nascent German skills, unassisted by a dictionary there in the DM aisles), the brown line is designed for (go figure) brown hair. It is not a coloring product, but is supposed to enhance natural color. (Jury is out whether the yellow line would assist unnatural blondes....) I had had something similar in an Artec product way back when, though it was actually a color-depositing product, if I'm not mistaken. I have also heard tales that if you mix double-strength coffee with shampoo, that has a similar affect, though I never tried that out. I just have not traditionally considered pouring beverages other than water onto my head a normal thing to do. But I'm trying to expand my horizons (and perhaps downplay some of those, um, silver highlights in my hair). Anyway, the brown line's first step is beer and is to be followed by the walnut conditioner. I think there should be some sort of special treatment (weekly or something) product that would be kind of like dessert. I would recommend a dark chocolate base....



In case you were wondering, the blue line is not for older women with blue hair, but apparently is their "clean" line. By comparison, then, one must assume the brown line is a dirty, nutty, drunk product line.... And I kinda like it!

30 April 2009 - Breaking the Fast

[Perhaps "Breakfast at Tiffany's" or was there a soundtrack to The Breakfast Club?]

Breakfasts here are a bit different from what I'm used to (some form of protein, a few carbs with Actimel and coffee chasers). When I was staying at the Liv'in (which now seems like a very long time ago), they had a breakfast buffet of sorts. It included cold cuts of meats (generally containing pork, I was quite certain), fresh cheeses, some fruit, yogurt, some muesli type cereals (for which not-very-cold-and-certainly-not-skim milk was available), sliced cucumbers, and a wide assortment of breads and rolls. They would also make some scrambled, boiled or fried eggs upon request. Hmmm.... There were too many options for me to make any sense out of and I usually just had some yogurt and a roll with some cheese and cucumbers, the latter of which always made me think I was having lunch.

I suspected that this type of spread was not generally available in the typical German household, but since you don't really discuss your domestic situations, this didn't exactly come up in casual conversation. A few weeks ago I was in a baking mood and mentioned to my neighbors that I was going to bake some muffins (cranberry and currant muffins from the Mayo Clinic cookbook that are surprisingly tasty and not too bad for your health). The recipe cranks out about 18 muffins, which obviously I could not consume, so I asked if they would like some (before I realized that muffins might be a decidedly American thing). They graciously said they would love to have some and suggested I bring them to their place and join them for breakfast. Oooh. A real German breakfast! I am totally in....

So we had breakfast out on their balcony, which is about 25 feet from my own balcony. While breakfasts may vary by family, theirs consisted primarily of fresh baked rolls from the corner bakery (not to be confused with Corner Bakery). You slice the roll in half (which can be difficult when they are so fresh they are still warm -- yum!!!), and slather it in 100% butter. You then top it with a slice of good cheese (it's like good aged cheese but cut in large slices that you folder over to fit on the bread). Like a double fat sandwich. Mmmm..... Another alternative is to put preserves (true preserves, not some of the products that pass for jam in the US) on top of the butter layer, yielding a double carb sandwich. Delightful. And they seemed to genuinely like the muffins (as opposed to the Girl Scout Dos-e-do cookies for which they couldn't eat a single small cooking, practically spitting it out and saying, "Oh, Americans!" -- I tried not to be horrified by the waste of a Dos-e-do, which I consider a classic American delicacy and which had been carefully smuggled in by Dena along with the animals).

Speaking of which, as we were scarfing these down on their balcony, I heard a horrible sound. Turning, I traced its source. My own balcony. It was a beautiful spring morning so I had left the doors open to the balcony so the cats could hang out there. While the wind was blowing the wrong direction, they had apparently figured out that I was on the neighbors balcony and they were just howling. I'm not sure whether they were more upset that I was stepping out on them or that I was having food and they didn't have a chance to beg for some. So I went back to my apartment, served them some moist food on the balcony, and everyone was happy and full. Animals....

We finished breakfast on my balcony with some coffee from my cool coffee machine. The neighbors appear to be even more fascinated with the machine than I am (which leads me to believe I overspent on the machine relative to what is considered necessary for in-home consumption, but...). We have several other such coffee clatches on my balcony, so I have had to invest in coffee service pieces. The mugs that I brought from home do not even fit under the machine and each serving from the machine provides about 2/5 of such a mug. So I got some cool coffee and espresso cups and matching saucers (which saucers are rounded triangles!) because one wouldn't dream of serving coffee without the saucer. A sugar bowl (forget about Splenda over here) and cream pitcher in contrasting colors were also added (taking up precious space in my limited cupboards, I might add).

When I served the neighbors coffee the first time, I set out a small 3" vase in which I keep wooden coffee stirrers. "What, did you steal these from Starbucks?" No!!! Apparently it is not common to have those at home here. So I purchased a set of espresso spoons that seem even smaller than spoons for infants. (I feel compelled to share that I purchased a set of six such spoons, but the package contained seven. Bonus! But clearly they must not have been produced in Germany where such an oversight and lack of precision would not have been allowed.) So the next time the neighbors were over for coffee, I was prepared. Until they laughed at the spoons. Apparently they were overkill and it was fine to just use regular spoons. How was I supposed to know?! Somehow I have moved from American mugs to Euro coffee service snob. Who knew?

So I am getting used to the breakfasts here. When I have time, I still like to make some eggs (which are sold in 10s, not in dozens, incidentally) and otherwise have some yogurt (can't find cottage cheese here). But I have now started enjoying fresh rolls with fat and additional carbs, particularly on weekends when I have time to sit on my balcony and just enjoy the experience (see photo above, in which you can see that scene, include the balcony of the neighbors that is much more properly decorated). This also generally follows a run or other sort of exercise so I can justify this new habit.

One of the interesting things here, too, is that even though pretty much everything is closed on Sundays and holidays, the bakery is open at least half a day. Cuz you have to have fresh bread, right? The bakery also has coffee. Which is served with stir sticks, not espresso spoons....