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Saturday, September 13, 2008


germany-part 3

I thought I'd make brownies for Dave, but it meant getting a little creative. I couldn't find unsweetened baking cocoa at Edeka, but I knew that with a little finagling, I could reduce the butter and substitute for unsweetened baking chocolate. But I really had no way of knowing which--if any--of the bars of chocolate I found in the baking aisle were unsweetened. So I bought the darkest looking one ... the one with a word that looked suspiciously like "bitter." But when I walked home (through an absolute deluge ... I was grateful for the umbrella I borrowed from the Bible college) and tested the chocolate, it was simply dark chocolate, not unsweetened. So that meant fiddling with the sugar in my tried-and-true recipe. So to cover up all my substituting, I figured I'd just throw in a cheesecake topping on my brownie and swirl it all together. Here's the result.

I couldn't wait for Dave to walk home from his class. He teaches from 3:00 until 6:00, then walks the ten minutes back to our apartment, passes the building, and continues down to a crosswalk. For awhile, we just jaywalked across the road right at our building. We picked up that habit in England, where crosswalks are simply suggestions. Jaywalking seems to be a national pastime in England. But here in Siegen, jaywalking is verbotten. Plus, the students have been cautioned firmly against doing it, so we thought we'd better go along.

When 6:00 rolls around, I lean out our apartment window, look to the right, and wait.

And pretty soon, here he comes. Here he is after dutifully crossing at the crosswalk.

Coming up the steps.

The candles are lit, a playlist is going, and a big pan of cheescakey brownies are waiting.

Sometimes, 2008 fades away and it's 1985 again, and I'm back in our tiny apartment on Rucker in downtown Everett, waiting for Dave to walk home from work.

More later. We've brownies to eat.

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7 Comment:

At 9/14/2008 6:13 AM, Anonymous Anonymous had this to say ...

Shannon, your most recent blog lets us into your world so personally, we simply miss you both soo much. Couldn't Dave just skip a few in Revelation and you guys catch a flight home , say tomorrow? :) Lol, love Debbie

 
At 9/14/2008 7:41 AM, Blogger Cora had this to say ...

I agree with Debbie. I am happy for you both that you get this to have this adventure and I absolutely LOVE hearing about it, but you are missed very much :) Enjoy it and then come on home!!

 
At 9/14/2008 7:54 AM, Blogger Kim had this to say ...

Aww, you guys are so cute. How was the brownie cheesecake? Yum! :) We missed you last night.

 
At 9/14/2008 7:33 PM, Blogger kdoll aka *~Puzzle~* had this to say ...

mmm that cheesecake sounds so good...I havn't cooked or baked since I was in school because my mother does it. Now I'm getting older and I know I will have to soon but when I read about delicious foods it really makes me want to cook and bake and discover this new world.

 
At 9/14/2008 8:01 PM, Blogger Sharon Goemaere had this to say ...

Shannon!I have been away from your blog for far too long!!Europe?!WOW!What an incredible blessing for you both!Gonna go read all about your travels now...Love you~Sharon G

 
At 9/14/2008 10:30 PM, Blogger suzzanne had this to say ...

Shannon, you are just too cute. Waiting for him to come home like that, I pictured you as a teen-age girl in love. We miss you SO much. I agree with Debbie... skip a couple chapters in Revelation and come home.

BTW - do you get to make that long awaited trip to Ireland? Will Dave be able to Riverdance in the mother land?

 
At 9/15/2008 10:12 AM, Blogger Nancy had this to say ...

That was sooo sweet! I absolutely loved that apartment on Rucker! It had such a homey feel to it, but come to think of it, everywhere you have lived has that feel so it must be you and not the place! I had envisioned myself moving in with you and Dave and the sunroom in the back as my bedroom...

Glad you are having a great time and I miss you bunches.

 

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