Weiberfastnacht (Fat Thursday) 2014

IC is a cute Indian

Weiberfastnacht (Fat Thursday) is Christian tradition that marks the last Thursday before Lent and is associated with the celebration of Carnival. People would be having a big feast in full costume. And since it is a Ladies Night, the men who wanted to join the parties should show up as women, too!

The usual highlight of the party would be the men's ballet, which would really be a delicuous comic relief, aside from being well-presented! Another funny custom, which is generally practiced in Cologne would be men's ties being cut off my the women, they would be rewarded by a kiss though.

IC's class celebrated the day with a buffet breakfast and they wore their favorite costumes, too. MC doesn't seem to be too keen on dressing up anymore though.

Anyway, IC requested a special Weiberfastnacht last night, I told her she asked too late but we would celebrate tomorrow. I told my husband to buy Berliner (a German doughnut without a hole) and some Quarkbällchen (doughnut balls) for our special costume party. I can't wait!

A Black Forest (Schwarzwald) Sunday

My husband finally received a Tom Tom, a Dutch GPS system. He has been giving us hints last year that maybe, a GPS in our car would make our life easier.

Naturally, he's been eager to test if this navigation system really works! I suggested driving to a certain place where we have never been this Sunday to test his Tom Tom.

I wanted to go along the border between Germany and France, but after learning that we needed extra shots of our dog, Rikki, we decided to stay within Germany.

My husband found a nice place in Schwarzwald with a great restaurant called Rote Lache, so off we go after breakfast.

This area is located in Black Forest, near Baden-Baden, a famous spa and cultural area.
What about those witch brooms? 

It means they are celebrating Fasching (Carnival), a pre-Lenten festivity. 

The streets have been decorated with witch brooms and colorful bunting.

And then we  were driving up the mountain, the Black Forest. 

Ferrero Deutschland's Pencil Box

They did send a letter promising to send the pencil box soon.

Well, Ferrero Deutschland made IC very happy a week after receiving their letter.

Because IC got her very own red pencil box!

IC's red pencil box

Simple Taco Salad

Simple taco salad

My family loves Mexican-style food and this taco salad has become a family favorite ever since being introduced to us by a fellow mommy blogger a few years ago. 

Ingredients for Taco Salad:

Valentine's Day 2014

Yey, another day filled with hearts!

How do I know Valentine's Day is approaching? Because I am not allowed to go inside the girls' bedrooms, especially when they are both busy doing something (you know, like a surprise).

First, our doggie Valentine

Oh well, I have to create surprises of my own, too. But first, we all had to agree that the main Valentine celebration would be during lunch time.

I would have loved to go out for dinner but celebrating heart' day at home has become a tradition, as well as creating those Valentine surprises. What do we have for Valentine's Day this year?

Are We Read to Own a Caravan?

We are active campers. We have been pitching our tents since the girls were toddlers.

Now, I would love to be pampered in hotel with their all-inclusive-offers but I admit, I have also fallen in love with roughing it. And last year, during our camping trips, we enjoyed checking out those caravans that were on sale. That could have ticked our 'dream' of owning our very own caravan.

A few weeks ago, we spent a Sunday cruising around town checking out the available caravans, used and brand new. We enjoyed going up and down the different motor homes, opening cupboards and bathroom doors, testing the beds, and measuring the dining areas.

A caravan with double bed and oven

Danke Ferrero Deutschland

I think it was late summer last year that the girls discovered the Ferrero Stifte-Box-Sammelaktion (Pencil Box Collection Campaign).

It could be just an excuse to enjoy more of their favorite Milch-Schnitte, but since it was also an excuse for me to enjoy my favorite Kinder Maxi-King; I encouraged them to start collecting. After all, once you collect enough stickers, you get a cool box of pencil from Faber-Castell for free! Good enough for my two artists.

I remember, too, that most of the stickers were collected during our 10-day camping trip along the Baltic Sea.

Back to the Ferrero campaign... as soon as we collected enough stickers for both girls; we immediately sent them to the designated address. We had hoped to collect another set of stickers for another box-filled pencils but as the girls pointed out, it was my fault, I forgot to buy their Milch-Schnitte. You see, I was really looking for Kinder Maxi-King :-)

Anyway, MC received her Faber-Castell pencil box in blue last December.

Tuna Macaroni Salad

Tuna Macaroni Salad with Fruits and German Farm Bread

There are a lot of Tuna Macaroni Salad recipes in the internet but I skipped most of them because of the Italian salad dressing listed on the ingredient. 

I am not familiar with Italian salad dressing since I don’t buy packaged salad dressings and our usual salad dressing mostly involves vinaigrette with touches of herbs and spices from our garden.

Therefore, I decided to re-create the Tuna andApple Sandwich recipe and add a little twist (leaving the apple behind though it ended up as a side dish). 

Here’s the very easy Tuna Macaroni Salad