dragonboating

just came home from the dragonboat race. we finished an amazing 4. place. I am now going to bed but got this before and thought I would share this with the world ...

60s brithdayparty - love you guys!!!

das wird teuer ...

Ahoo & Jan & Hamburg

a wonderful weekend full of celebrations, lots of eating, drinking, dancing, smiling. Plus an added bonus - Hamburg. Got to go back there some time!!!

lecsó

I am happy that I finally took the time to tell the world (or at least the ones who read the blog) about the art of cooking a great Hungarian dish called "lecsó". At my last visit to Budapest I managed to visit my grandma and took the opportunity to take some pictures and little movies of her cooking skills. So here we go:

We will need:

• 1-2 onions
  
• a hungarian sausage (best made with spicy ones, but you can take whatever you want)
  
• 3-4 tomatoes
  
• 3-4 paprikas (also known as capsicum but I don't care and will simply call it paprika)
  
• some paprika powder (the spice)
  
• a hungarian paste called "piros arany" - which means red gold. it is basically a salty paprika paste that can be quite spicy sometimes
  
• 2 eggs

1. we start by cutting the sausage - of course at this stage it is CRUCIAL that you try lot. I would say, as a general rule you should buy twice as much as you need. At least if you cook like I do. Also if you don't want to try yourself, just call me, I will gladly help at this stage.


2. cut the tomatoes into small pieces. also peel them if you like.


3. cut the paprika into small pieces


4. have the paprika spice ready


5. if you are very thorough - like my grandma - wash the eggs


6. and then put the egg in a cup so it can be quickly used later on


7. we are ready to start. heat the onions in a little oil until they "sweat" as they say


As this takes a while, we have time to take a picture of my grandma. We call her "Dadó" because that is what I called her when I was very young and couldn't really speak but tried anyway. Now everybody calls her like that.


8. when we are happy with the onions, we add a bit of paprika spice and the "piros arany"


9. now it's time to add the remaining sausages into the pan. This is your last chance to try them before they will be too hot to be eaten before the lecsó is finished!!!


10. when the sausages start jumping around and making that wonderful noise which makes you more hungry, it is time for the paprika to join the party. Of course we have to help the party a bit by stirring it up


11. we have to cover the pan at this stage so that the water from the paprika stays there


time for another picture of Dadó:


12. we can now add the tomatoes and stir them under the rest


13. if you didn't forget to put the lid back on, this is how it should look like after a while:


14. it's time to let it cook openly


15. mmmmmmm - looking good:


16. next the eggs join the rest to bind the sauce a little


17. ta-raa! This is how it should look like just before serving:


18. and this is how it will look like just a little later - call me if you need help to reach this stage!!!


it is best served with white bread which can be used also to "clean the pan". Of course I couldn't take any more pictures because I was busy eating and at this moment didn't really care any more ...

You can find all the pictures and videos on my flickr page

vacation

I am in Vienna and actually should already be in bed because in less than 6 hours I have to catch a bus to catch a train to ...

Aaaanyways - I took a day off on this historical day. Exactly 7 years ago, on August 15th I moved to Germany. I had a drink in the evening with my friends, went home with Claudia at around 1 in the morning, packed a couple of things and took a plane in the morning to Frankfurt. The rest is history as they say. The plan was to stay 2-3 years and then move on. The first 3 years I was working during the week and traveling to Vienna mostly on the weekends, only after we split up and I started spending more time in Frankfurt have I started liking Frankfurt and meeting people. I changed company once, changed jobs five times, am currently living in my third flat in Frankfurt (not counting the hotel I stayed the first 3 weeks of course) and using my 5. camera to take many many pictures of my life. Only recently am I beginning to get bored with the city but am still reluctant to move and start over somewhere else. Still I am slowly accepting the feeling inside me that there is some kind of a change coming. The feeling reminds me of the matrix movie when Leo asks the oracle about his decision to save trinity - really he is not looking for a decision but for the reason why he has made that particular decision. Ok, I am either overworked or high on some drug they mixed in my tomato juice on the plane - as normally I am not writing about this kind of stuff ...

The plan for tomorrow is to go to Budapest in the morning, have lunch with my grandma, who I haven't seen since February, then meet with an old friend and take the evening train to the lake to see my parents. I will either come back with them on Sunday to Vienna or stay a bit longer and come back only Tuesday. We will see. Then there is a dentist appointment on Wednesday to clean my mouth with sand and then I fly back to Frankfurt in the evening.

So what else is happening these days? Nothing much - expect the Olympics in China. The opening ceremony was fantastic; the rest is pretty boring to be honest. I used to like watching the swimming but recently it has become very boring due to the stupid speedo full body suits everybody is wearing - I mean they all look the same now. It's like throwing robots in the water and letting them swim. Plus they are breaking each and every record! It's like the swimming pool is too short and nobody is noticing or something. (I wonder how they are measuring it is really 100m? hmmm). Maybe the athletics part will be more exciting. I wonder when that is gonna start.

The other stuff is pretty boring too - the Chinese are winning everything. Only a few exciting things happened as a Chinese rower missed his race because he overslept, a Hungarian weightlifter broke his elbow while lifting - obviously - too much weight. Oh, yes. And the little girl singing at the opening ceremony wasn't really singing - her sole task was to look good as the one with the nice voice was apparently too ugly to be on TV.

However I am glad that beach volleyball became an official sport at the Olympic Games. At least this way Mr. Bush got a perfect photo opportunity - and look what happened. I mean can you imagine any other politician in the same situation? I don't think so.

it's all legal

there is a god.

ok, before I get too philosophical, a couple of really cool things just happened. They showed the new batman movie at the sneak preview and so I am very happy. Plus I went to another speed dating yesterday and had a really fun evening. Got also a couple of matches so we will see. This time there were some really young girls there so I kindof felt old, but only kindof - I mean, 22 is legal, right?

Other than this work is as usual - a lot of the same old stuff. I need to slowly do something about it.

Weekend was great - started going to fitness center again, did a bit of shopping, went to the hairdresser, spent some time on the decks of two beach clubs on top of some of the city park houses, went to Bonn for a birthday brunch, etc. all in all a great summer with friends.

Had two life-threatening experiences with the bike the week before. First I got lost in the woods around the lake in a misty weather, which was really creepy. Then my brakes broke on my way downhill while speeding like hell. I managed to get out of the woods in Walldorf in the end and managed to brake with the front wheel brake without making a triple flip with the bike.

Went to the zoo for a photography course the weekend before - it was fun but didn't learn too many new things.


Have booked a trip to Vienna for next weekend - I will also visit my grandma in Budapest and the parents at the lake. then 3 more days in Vienna - maybe a visit at the Rathausplatz or the sneak preview, it doesn't matter what, Vienna will be cool :)

Now I go to bed and dream about things to come...