Set Fire to the Old Self

“You don’t know anyone at the party, so you don’t want to go. You don’t like cottage cheese, so you haven’t eaten it in years. This is your choice, of course, but don’t kid yourself, it‘s also THE FLINCH.

Surprise Easter Cake Eggs

Easter is a wonderful time to get creative. I love to make Suprise Cake Eggs, which are so easily done, and everybody loves them. All it takes is two or three dozen fresh eggs and your favorite cake or brownie mix. Right out of the box -not too time-consuming but fun to make. Of course, you can make your own cake batter if you prefer.

Payday

The second most important paycheck in my life was the one my husband brought home two weeks after we had moved to Memphis. Seven and a half months after we had lost our home and almost everything in it, we looked at the check and acted like children.

Caviar and Champagne or Onion with Vodka?

I visited Russia twice. The first time when it was still the USSR and ten years later, after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union. From an early age on I had decided I would not like Russia or the Russian people. I didn’t need the COLD WAR or politics to tell me what to feel and what to believe. I had heard enough stories from German, Italian and Austrian soldiers when I grew up. So many had been prisoners of war in Russia during WWII, including my own father. The fact that all of them made a difference between Russia as a country, the Russian people, and their government was ignored by me on purpose. Isn’t it all the same?

COVID took February away!

February came and went, and I didn’t do much. Quietly, I gave myself permission to be useless. COVID the II. came- lingered and knocked me out for four weeks.

Excuse Me, Can I take this?

We spend the biggest part of Sunday in the car, driving through the neighborhood. We had noticed people were pulling out the trashcans for Monday already. Like most people, we had picked up things on the street before, but we never intentionally went out to go garbage shopping. We were hoping to find a dining chair, or maybe we would get really lucky and someone would throw an old table away.

Leave the Lamb Alone

I wanted to surprise my husband with a special dinner and when I searched for the recipe I had in mind, I thought about all the cooking blogs I follow. Sure enough, I would find what I was looking for.

Austrian Mustard Eggs -Cooking on a Budget

To this day on of my favorite dishes. My grandma in Austria cooked it often and while it’s considered to be ‘only a poor-people-dish it is loved by many in Europe. A nice way to serve a meal when you are on a tight budget or you want to have a meatless day. Kids love it, adults call it comfort food.

Cheap but Not Easy

The first night in our new home was special in so many ways. How did it feel to close and lock the door behind us after so many months of not knowing in what state or what city we would end up, always wondering if -and when- we would have a place to call home again? Feeling unsettled for so long, always worrying if we could keep our dogs and if we could stay together. Being at home again, felt like nothing I had experienced before. When you regain something that was lost and could have been lost for a very long time, it’s a feeling of humbled victory.

January! First Months of Change and Purpose?

January, the first month of the year is already gone, and it was an eventful one. Have I accomplished anything on my list of 12 Months of Change and Purpose? Yes, I have, not always by choice, but by luck.