Under-age drinking and other fun things

Mom, I finally planted my herbs on Sunday!

Parsley, Rosemary, Oregano, Basil, Mint

I've been watering them every day, and they're actually still alive. We've been enjoying fresh herbs with most of the dishes that I've made in the past few days. (For those who haven't been here yet, the photo was taken out in the wintergarden, which is a "room" of sorts just off the kitchen. It's separated by big glass doors and windows from the kitchen, and the roof is sliced off, so that when you're in there, you're actually outside. Sort of like a porch, but not.)

Anyway, I'm terribly proud of myself.

At Ramstine the other day, I saw this next to the yogurt.
Yes, it's refrigerated Belgian Chocolates. There were about 10 truffles in there, individually wrapped. I've become terribly picky about chocolate, and am not easily impressed. This looked like a total gimmik, but it piqued my interest, so I sprung for it. Oh my gosh. I wish that I could send each of you, my readers, a can of this. Or 10. It's so good. Unfortunately, it has to stay chilled...

On Saturday, we went to this food tasting at a local gourmet food botique. Here is what we came home with:
From left: Saffron, French Sea Salt (harvested from the surface of the ocean, supposed to be the purest form possible. Not to be cooked with, but instead sprinkled over a finished dish. Very good!), Waldmeister liquer (literally translated, "Master of the forest", but is actually what we call "Sweet Woodruff" in the US), Quitten Liquer (quince), Olive/sun-dried tomato tapenade, sweet German musterd.

When we got home, all of the boys took shots of the Waldmeister.
The Germans are crazy about this flavor. They drink the liquer straight, throw a shot of it into a pint of beer, every Eis shop makes this flavor of ice cream, they also make a flavored syrup that can be served over ice cream, stirred into drinks. The children's playground has a Waldmeister slushy. It is seriously everywhere. The flavor is reminiscent of vanilla, almonds, amaretto, marzipan, freshly mown hay. I've heard that people even use the fresh herb on poultry.

Two days ago I wanted to bake beer bread, so the boys and I went out in search of a bottle.

The lady at the store also encouraged me to buy this "cola + beer". I tried it when I got home, and thought it was quite bad. Andrew, on the other hand, thought differently.
He was only allowed to drink a few sips, but he loved every one of them

This is a video that I took of Lavella yesterday:



You might have to hit play a few times -- it was acting strangely for me, although Aunt Terry tested it and said it was fine for her.

Speaking of Aunt Terry, we just got a huge box in the mail from her yesterday. I've got some cute pictures, which I'll put in the next post.