On the way back from England, I found myself with rather a lot of time on my hands at Newcastle airport, so I went and checked out the shops. I may have gone a little overboard purchasing ALL the crisps (well, all the interestingly shaped ones anyway!)
I also had a packet of Quavers, but my self control isn’t that great… I ate those on the plane 😉 Sadly, neither Boots nor WH Smith at the airport had either Squares or Discos, or I can assure you I would have purchased some of those as well…
My trip home may not have been for the best of reasons, but at least now I can fulfil my cravings for English junk food!
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been letting the fact that I could eat normally again go to my head. Pizza, chips, jaffa cakes, chocolate Digestives and Walkers crisps have all disappeared down my throat like it was the last time I was ever going to be fed. The result? I’ve now put back on half of the weight I had lost thanks to my wisdom tooth operation. Ooops! It’s time for this to stop, and healthy eating to recommence. That’s not to say I won’t be eating any junk food. After all, I do have a sweetie hamper that it would be a shame to let go to waste! And they say a little of what you fancy does you good. But muffins and pizza in the same day? Half a packet of Rolos followed by a bag of crisps and a handful of Liqurice Allsorts? Slightly excessive, don’t you think? It’s got to stop! So, from today, I shall be cooking nice healthy meals again. And no snacking in between! That’s the plan anyway. We’ll see how well I stick to it…
And obviously Irish pub days don’t count… I need my fix of chips with salt and vinegar at least once a month!
I have been exhausted all week. Exhausted I’m telling you! And I have no idea why. I’ve actually managed to get to bed at a reasonable-ish time every night this week (before 11 anyway). This never happens and is the reason I’m pretty much always tired. And now, the one week that I actually manage to get some sleep (mainly because I didn’t have the energy to do anything other than go to bed!) I’m even more tired than usual. What’s that all about?! Meh. Anyway… letters time.
Photo credit: Toronto Rob
Dear weekend. Welcome back It seems like forever since I last saw you!
Dear little brother. Happy Birthday for Sunday. Seven years old already… unbelievable.
Dear Bierbörse (annual beer festival thing). I may be exhausted, but I’m still coming to visit you tonight.
It’s a good job these aren’t permanently available in Germany… (Photo credit: leff)
Dear Karstadt. Loving your British Isles week! (And thank you K for telling me about it). I came in intending to only buy one or two little things, but that went right out the window when I discovered the Walkers crisps. Chicken flavour? Worcester Sauce flavour? Prawn Cocktail flavour? Get in my belly!!! (I *may* also have purchased Digestive Biscuits and Liquorice Allsorts… and be considering going back tomorrow for Cadburys chocolate and some tins of Spaghetti Loops…)
Dear coffee machine. Suddenly, I’m extremely glad I used some of my Bahn Bonus points to get you. Caffeine will definitely be needed before I go out!
Dear work. You keep switching between ridiculously quiet – to the point where I struggle to find anything to do – and stupidly busy… as in loads of overtime busy. Could you maybe find a happy medium?
That’s all from me. I actually need to do some work now 😉 Have a wonderful weekend everybody!
… or what happens when you allow me to shop at Tescos.
This is just a small stash, because there wasn’t much room and we will be in England at the end of July anyway.
Here’s what you’re seeing in the photo above:
Bisto gravy granules
Galaxy Minstrels
Baxter’s soup (so I wouldn’t have to go shopping for something for lunch on Monday)
Brown sauce
Ginger Nuts
Vice Versas (OMG, they’ve started making those again?! Must buy!!)
BBQ Beef Hula Hoops
Strepsils
Lemsip Cold & Flu powder
Baking powder that actually works!!
Ready-made poppadoms
Flamin’ Hot Monster Munch
Chocolate Limes
Dark chocolate Hob Nobs
A three pack of Galaxy Ripples
A Cadbury’s Wispa
8 Irish Potato Farls
OK, when everything’s listed like that it does sound like quite a lot, but trust me, I showed great self-restraint here. I could very easily have added to the pile…
…so I think tea shall have to be a whole packet of (rather expensive) mature cheddar flavoured crisps and a couple of half melted mini Galaxys. Sounds like a plan, no?
Also, they are selling parasols in a shop in town and I desperately want one. But when I went in today I couldn’t find any. I really need to get over that fear of asking German shop assistants for the things I want (that dress in my size… the other show… parasols…)
Please excuse the crapness of this post. Not only is it too hot to cook… it’s too hot to think as well. If the temperature ever gets below 30 degrees again I’ll try to write something more interesting. Right now though I’m going for a shower. A cold shower!
I’m sitting here eating a packet of peanut M&Ms. I bet at least one person is now thinking “so what? I do that all the time”. Ah, but the thing is I do not do that all the time. You see, the boyfriend is allergic to peanuts. Not severely allergic, as in open a packet of peanuts while he is in the room and he will stop breathing, but allergic enough that he may well stop breathing if he accidently went and ate something from the packet. So I tend not to knowingly buy anything with peanuts in. (He’s fine with “may contain traces…” it’s just actual peanuts that are a problem). But I am alone this week, so when I spotted the yellow packet of M&Ms on the supermarket shelf I thought ‘why not’? And so I am now eating peanut M&Ms. By the way, in case anyone was wondering, Jan has been sent to LA by his work – some computer software in a hospital that needs to be looked at. According to him the problems they’re having are probably their own fault but he has to go and sort it out anyway. *sigh* Take my advice – don’t fall in love with a computer scientist!
Anyway…. back to the point.
Have you ever noticed how whenever you really, really want a certain thing it’s something you can’t have? Even if you’ve been shopping that day the thing you find yourself craving at midnight is guaranteed to be something you didn’t buy. Or maybe that’s just me? Either way, right now I have my packet of yummy peanut M&Ms but what I really want to be eating is poppadoms. I don’t even know why. Poppadoms just popped into my head at work this afternoon and now I desperately want to eat them. Unfortunately that’s easier said than done in Germany. Oh, you can get them, but only if you’re willing to pay over 3 euros for them. And the only ones they have here are the type that you have to cook yourself. By cook I mean place in extremely hot oil for a few seconds, causing your entire kitchen to become filled with smoke. Not a good idea if your little cooking space is miles away from any windows. What I want are those ready-to-eat Sharwoods poppadoms that are available in every single supermarket in England. But I cannot have them, which only makes me want them more.
It’s the same with most of the things I miss from home. When I’m in England I don’t feel the need to eat a packet of crisps every day, but in Germany, faced with the choice of paprika flavour or paprika flavour (although I have to admit they’re getting better) I find myself longing for some Flaming Hot Monster Munch. Or Skips. Or Quavers. Or some Worcester Sauce flavoured Walkers. Occasionally I will find myself in the corner of Karstadt staring longingly at the Kettle Chips. If I’m having a really bad day I might even buy a packet. (That doesn’t happen very often though. Not at the insane price of 3 euros. For a packet of crisps!). And then there’s crumpets. And pasties. And pies. In fact, anything savoury that can be packed in pastry (Hails made me feel very jealous yesterday talking about the sausage rolls she’s been eating). And don’t even get me started on Chicken Soup and Bird’s Eye Potato Waffles! Funny how I barely even noticed these things when I could have them every day.
Confuzzledom 