11% Off Sale!

I'm offering 11% OFF everything with the coupon code WRLDCUP during the Women's World Cup (from June 30th until July 10th 2011)! Get it while it's hot.

New Items for Sale - Cell Phone Charms

Yesterday, I added some new items to my Etsy store--cell phone charms! They're cute and fruity and ready for your cell phone...or zipper, or wherever else you want to hang them. I cut them out, paint them, shrink the plastic, and cover them with a durable lacquer by hand. No mass-produced charms here. These are all citrus fruits, but I plan on making other kinds of charms soon.

Buy me!

Chocolate Field Trip - Fassbender & Rausch

Last week, I went to Fassbender & Rausch for no better reason than, well, chocolate. Does there need to be a better reason? Could there be a better reason?

So because it's apparently not enough to just eat the chocolate--and let me tell you, they have a restaurant that serves chocolate in every dish, even the entree, so they have that part covered--F & R have some kind of devious plan to build (dare I say it?) a world of chocolate. Chocolate buildings, chocolate mountains, chocolate globe. A chocolate doppelganger of the Earth with which to replace the real one--just like in that weak Hitchhiker's Guide film from a few years back--and no one would be the wiser.

Evidence of Fassbender and Rausch's plan for world domination.

And to prove my point, they have models everywhere in their chocolate showroom, just like Carmen Sandiego leaving you clues as to where they're going with this plan.

Where in the world has this chocolate castle been all my life?

Because it's not enough to concoct a plan to take over the world--after all, who hasn't? No, they have to show off their lofty vision so they can gloat about it when they finally accomplish their goal.

One of my favorite models was a largish chocolate volcano, seen below in animated glory. If only they had a little chocolate Pompeii below it, with little chocolate people buried in chocolate. That would have been an unexpected touch. Or even a chocolate Han Solo frozen in a block of chocolate carbonite. Then it would have been a perfect day. But who would want a perfect day? Then there's no room for improvement.

Oooo...percolation.

Super Shopping in Berlin

There are some things about food shopping in Berlin that make it different than shopping in the USA. And I don't mean things like the way you have to pack your own bags (which you brought yourself), or using a token to rent a shopping cart. I mean the stores themselves, and, more specifically, the products they carry.
Where else can you find a whole freezer case full of chicken livers, should you need them (and who doesn't)?

More chicken livers than I have ever seen together in one place.

Or say you want to eat some fish, but you don't have to time to mix it with anything. Don't worry, the Germans, like the boy scouts, are prepared. Try some herring Mexico style. Which, I'm guessing, must be very spicy. Too bad that the Vikings didn't discover Mexico. Were they missing out. Or try it with Pirate Sauce. What, you don't know what Pirate Sauce is? Just ask a pirate. I'm sure he'd be happy to show you.

Proof that pirates and vikings met in Mexico.

But creamed sauces, thankfully, are not limited to fish. There are shelves upon shelves dedicated to meat salads. Creamy, ready-to-eat, meat salads. Now these, I have to admit, are good. Very good. Once I got over being weirded out by the fact that the cream and the meat were packaged up together.

Oh delicious meat salads. Where have you been all my life?

If you shop for food in Berlin, be ready for the fact that any supermarket of any appreciable size has a section--completely inappropriately named the "Wurst" section, as I find this the BEST section--that looks like an enormous delicatessen uprooted itself and, via wormhole, implanted itself into the supermarket where you are now shopping.

The delicatessen at the end of the universe.

 If you love salami, you will not be disappointed. Every kind of salami ever made, or ever dreamt of being made can be found at your nearest supermarket in Berlin. And in Berlin, there are thousands. You read right. Thousands. Hooray!

My favorite though has to be Mr. Clean. Here, he's Meister Proper, but "proper" doesn't have anything to do with cleaning or being polite or anything like that. "Proper"--according to my German husband--means fat, like a thick, big, fat guy. So, basically, he's Master Fat.

He hides it well.

Welcome to Am Kirschwald

Little cherries for summer fun.

Summer hasn't quite started yet here in Berlin. It's warm, but cold rain has been putting a damper on real summer fun, like swimming in Wannsee, or picnicking. So, I thought cherries might be a good omen for the summer (hopefully) to come. These little guys come free with each of my handbags for a limited time as a "thank you". They're a bit like the split cherry logo for am Kirschwald. You can attach them to a cell phone, or a zipper, or find a new way to wear them. I hope you enjoy them.