Der Hodge-Podge (=Der Mischmasch)

I don't always "hodge-podge" each week - especially since this blog is more devoted to my more German side ... HOWEVER, I read question #1 on this week's HP & knew immediately that I must participate!  So, without further ado, join me, our hostess Joyce, and many more "friends" for Wednesday Hodgepodge.  (If you blog, join us - just c&p the weekly questions, answer them on your blog, and then link up.)

1. Growing up, were you close to your grandparents? Tell us one or two specific things you remember about them.

My mom's parents were my Oma and Opa.  After leaving Germany with my mom when I was almost 4 years old, as she married an American soldier, I got to come back to Germany EVERY SUMMER of my childhood to spend a few months with my Oma and Opa and other German relatives.  Without realizing it, I was retaining my German language skills, traveling all over Germany and Europe to places some people only dream about, and making fabulous memories that I now hold so dear (which inspired this blog!).  My very favorite day of every year growing up wasn't necessarily Christmas, it was the day I flew to Germany, knowing my grandparents would be waiting to pick me up at the Frankfurt airport "on the other side".

I could tell you 100,000 things about my grandparents, but since the HP is limited to two, I will narrow down my thoughts:

1.  My Opa was THE BEST story teller and book reader.  Many nights before bed or while we were wandering through a forest on a long hike, he would read or tell me a story - some made up and some from favorite books and fairy tales that we loved.  He also loved to tell jokes and anecdotes; his crystal blue eyes would sparkle as he laughed.  

2.  My Oma was a WONDERFUL cook.  She learned to cook pre-World-War-II so that she could help feed large East Prussian farm families in the area where she was from before she married and had to flee from the Russian army to Frankfurt in West Germany.  She made so many things from scratch, and I'd trade those meals for anything out of a box or mix or freezer in a heartbeat!!  

(My dad's parents lived on a farm in East Tennessee, near the KY/VA border ... they were sweet people too - and that grandma was a good country cook.  I loved them too, just didn't spend as much time with them as I did my German grandparents).  

2. What's an item you were attached to as a child? What happened to it?

I did (and still do) have a while, fuzzy blanket, twin-bed size, that was mine all through childhood.  It is still in my linen closet today.  While I didn't necessarily carry that blanket around, Linus-style, I did have it folded at the foot of my bed all through my childhood.

3. When you look out your window, do you see the forest or the trees (literally and figuratively)? Explain.

I see the trees ... I am a detail-oriented person; conversely, I don't always see the "big picture" (the forest) because I get caught up worrying about little things.  Thankfully, my husband is exactly the opposite of me.  Literally, I still just see a few trees when I look out my window since we live in the city and only have a 1/2 acre fenced-in lot.

4. Do you like sour candies? Which of the 'sour' foods listed below would you say is your favorite?

grapefruit, Greek yogurt, tart cherries, lemons, limes, sauerkraut, buttermilk, or kumquats 

Have you ever eaten a kumquat? What's your favorite dish containing one of the sour foods on the list?

I have never eaten a kumquat ... in fact, I don't think I've ever really seen one.  

From the list above, I think my favorite would be sauerkraut.  I shared a yummy, easy recipe for a crock-pot, feed-a-crowd sauerkraut recipe on my blog recently:

Old World Dinner

5. July 1st marked the mid point of 2017. In fifteen words or less, tell us how it's going so far.

Well, after 5 pretty painful, lean, hard-lesson-learning, financial-ruining, job-changing, new-state-living years, 2017 was going to be OUR YEAR!  And overall, it has been far more encouraging than discouraging:  a new vehicle, a new job for me, and a few other break-throughs after many a hard knock.
OOPS ... that was FAR MORE than 15 words.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Last week I got to spend an entire week with my family in lovely mid-Southern-ly Texas.  It was hot, hot, hot ... but the place where we stayed out in self-proclaimed Cowboy Country had an amazing pool and often we had it to ourselves.  We got to eat Tex-Mex and German food & take a lot of naps (me).