Sunday, March 21, 2010

Bus Manners




I love riding the bus, in general. I especially like it here in Berlin because often you get these beautiful double-decker buses. I always try to get the first seats up top, as they provides the best view, but it's not always so easy because they seem to be the seats where everyone rush to first. Anyhow, I've noticed that no one says thank you to the bus driver when they get off. Weird for me, because I find in Montreal it is a common thing to hear a string of "Merci's" at the bus stop. I've decided that next time I ride the bus here, and get off up front, I will say thank you - even if no one else does.

Friday, March 5, 2010

My Favourite Dinner


I don't know if it's the Italian influence here ... for our family, the perfect snack consisted of bread, cheese (preferably Parmesan), dried sausage and some wine. Mmmmmm.... So, probably inspired by that comes my perfect dinner, which I enjoyed this evening:

- Salad (mainly cucumbers, tomatoes and onions with a bit of Romain lettuce) dressed with olive oil, balsamic and red wine vinegar, salt and pepper.
- Bread, fresh and whole wheat.
- cheese, here we have some Parmesan, some English cheddar (not as good as Canadian cheddar, but you gotta deal...) and a Freach soft white cheese rolled in cranberries! Yum! I just discovered the last one this week and I'm loving it. Also last week I discovered another French cheese to fall in love with called Vacheron. But it's a seasonal cheese, only available in Winter months until March or so...
- Hungarian salami - ya, ya, I know, Hungarian!? But it's just that I find the fat content in Italian salami is not well distributed. You get these big chunks of fat you become really aware of as you chew. Not my bag.
- Fruit, in this case really succulent pears, but it could be grapes or really firm juicy apples...or dried figs.

I like these kind of snack meals. Maybe it's because I'm a lazy chef =) And of course Montignac wouldn't approve but ... well ... you know.

What's your favourite dinner?

Bon Appetit

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Inspired by... Cardboard Furniture!






Yes, that's right. Those pieces are made of real cardboard and nothing else. Not only do they look cool, they are functional, they work! You can actually use them. You can sit on them, put things on them... Today I am totally inspired by this idea of making furniture out of cardboard. Check these out:









I mean, as long as the cardboard being used is actually used and being recycled, then I'm totally into this. I want one of these things! You?