Inspired by the unexpected sun this morning, I took an impromptu walk through a neighborhood I didn’t know. Among the cozy, pre-war buildings near Nöldnerplatz in Lichtenberg, I noticed this bookstore window. It was the pleasing array of colorful mushroom and berry field guides that first caught my eye. Then I saw the two paperbacks by Alice Munro, a favorite writer of mine, and did a double take. Each had been emblazoned with a sticker reading “Nobelpreis für Literatur 2013.” Continue reading
A well-wrapped cheese is a joy to behold, I find. Proper cheese paper and perfectly tucked corners make for a satisfying object to carry home from the market. Though the typeface choice is less convincing, I do like the funny holey cheese illustrations.
Foragers agree: it’s been a standout year for mushrooms in Berlin-Brandenburg. There are more than enough to go around, so even late-rising foragers like myself can find pretty little specimens that are still young and snappy, like these Hexenpilze, dotted-stem boletes…
Looks like someone is painting their house. Someone who wants to explore all the options and maybe has trouble making decisions, but also isn’t afraid to use any visual decision-making tool at hand, no matter how obsessive, to help them make up their mind.
Blustery gray fall weather hit Berlin with a wet thud, quite punctually as soon as September started. Hot soup is now key to fueling my studio work. I’ve been meeting my friends to eat spicy Chinese noodle soups and swap recipes for our favorite hot, one-pot meals. I typed up several this week for Jane and Sylee, so I’ll be posting them here as well, over the course of soup season.
It was thanks to a chain letter — a recipe exchange chain email, to be precise — that I learned to make “Turkish Grandma Lentil Soup,” Continue reading
In emphatic Berlinerisch, visitors to the little snack bar and beer garden on the Insel der Jugend in Treptower Park are told not to even ask about fries. But there’s Flammkuchen, steak grilled to order, and other specials like homemade ravioli and cake. And cold Staropramen on tap. So no problem. You can also rent a vintage canoes or brightly-painted medal pedal boats at Kanuliebe. Not bad for a tiny island in the city.
Googly eyes make everything better. Even political posters. With elections less than six weeks away, Berlin is plastered with them. As a foreigner without the right to vote here, I am doubly annoyed by this visual pollution—usually. Even by the ones from the Pirate Party, even though they have a great name and I guess many of my pirate-loving American friends would probably love the idea of voting for pirates. This poster I saw in Friedrichshain is pretty cool though.
By the way, the name for googly eyes in German is Wackelaugen. Wackel means wiggle, jiggle, or shake. The word for Jello is Wackelpudding.
Berlin has some damn good posters hanging around sometimes. They’re not all good, mind you, but a fair handful are really worth a longer look.
Little fluted paper trays play a major role in Berlin eating. They support slices of cake in waxed paper bags being transported from bakeries to offices every day, carefully balanced on the palm of the hand, to be eaten with afternoon coffee. Deeper versions hold Currywurst and Pommes rot-weiß.
Two Pantone colors of environmentally-friendly ink, some crisp 100% recycled paper, and friendly printing staff who really know their craft…
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