I had the "pleasure" of visiting the US Embassy in Frankfurt this morning. Lucky for us it's only about 20 minutes drive when there's no traffic but since I had to be there at 7:15am, it was an unusually early up-and-out-of-the-house morning for me. As if fate would...
Will it fit in a Smart ForTwo?
Stefan has been thinking about getting a new car for commuting. You may remember that he bought a motorcycle a few years ago to cut back on parking fees and gas costs. But when you have to wear a suit everyday, it's not really practical...and the weather here in...

Wild garlic pesto
Wild garlic (Allium ursinum AKA bear’s garlic, ramsons or Bärlauch in German) is a wonderful chive cousin that we’re lucky to have growing in our courtyard and a bit in our garden too. At Mackenzie’s christening dinner, we were served a wild garlic soup that was just...
Medium-sized aquaponics how to — The grow bed
Be sure to check out the first part of this aquaponics how to in case you missed it. So you've got your tools and materials together and you're ready to start building. Here's where I'd recommend getting out the sawhorses if you have any. Working on the ground sucks....
Travel chaos in Europe
We've had a friend staying in our guest house for the past week who is currently in the process of moving to Africa. And it's not exactly a simple move either because her furniture is staying in Frankfurt in her apartment which has been sublet (which has become a...
Almost like swimming with the fishes
Our first day in Schmiedefeld, we had absolutely gorgeous weather. We really hoped the rest of our time there would be just as wonderful but it started raining on day two and we refused to just stay inside. Thanks to the loads of brochures in the table of our guest...
Forest walk — Day 1 in Schmiedefeld
I think I mentioned how incredibly gorgeous it is in this area...but you really can't grasp the natural beauty unless you see it yourself. I'm not even sure my photos did the area justice. It seemed that almost everywhere you looked, it was just so serene... and I'm...
Our new favorite family in Schmiedefeld am Rennsteig
Two weeks ago today we were woke up in our apartment in East Germany, ready to explore this unknown world. East Germany has a pretty bad reputation because a lot of places have become desolate and dilapidated in the past 10 years. We were near the Thüringer Wald...

Stop the phone harassment!
Dear Deutsche Telekom, Please stop calling our house and harassing me 3-5 times a day. I don't know what incredible new phone package you want to push us, but I am certain it cannot be THAT fantastic that you need to call over and over again for weeks on end. I...

Schweinebraten — An authentic Bavarian pork roast
Before everyone in the house caught colds, we had a visit from Steffi and Steffen — some of our friends from Bavaria. Somehow, we managed to convince Steffi (who is currently 6 months pregnant) that it would be the perfect weekend for her to make Schweinebraten for us...


