I’m so sick of this weather! I’ve had it – Gosh, it’s been raining for ages! I don’t even rush out anymore to grab lunch at the coffee shop just around the corner without being fully equipped – well, an oversized umbrella that is. Undoubtedly, a clear indication of too much rain – the south of Bavaria and parts of Austria are already having troubles with flood water. Hey, it’s enough! Take this miserable weather, add a rather stressful day at work and a pinch of annoying customers – happiness here we come. To top it off, my iPod ran out of power during my tram-ride home. Just great. Listening to the people around me, I realized I was sitting next to an American family. The parents probably in their 50s, the three daughters somewhere late teens, early twenties I’d guess. Despite the ugly weather and rain, they really enjoyed the tram ride, wowing at almost each and every building we came by. My mood improved with every “Oh look at that!“, they were so charming. As the tram got more and more empty, they started changing seats every 30 seconds or so, to get the best view on the German Museum on the right, the “Müllersches Volksbad” on the left and the “Gasteig” back on the right… “Wow“… “Gorgeous“… “Wow“. My hidden smile grew bigger and bigger, I almost started giggling, their happy-go-lucky enthusiasm was highly contagious!
Entering our apartment house, I first ran into R., who lives in the apartment to our right, having a little chat about us taking care of their plants while they’re away on vacation. Gossiping about a new restaurant on our block, happy neighbor C. from upstairs joins us. The subject quickly changes to the (soon to take place) annual “house (food) festivity” – and there joins neighbor M. By now we’re four people in the hallway chatting away – we could nearly start a party – and I haven’t even reached our apartment yet. That’s what I really like about this house, in fact it’s the main reason that keeps us from looking for a bigger apartment – everyone here is so open and enjoyable.
Then M. finally makes my day: She returns the empty marmalade glass of the homemade marmelade I brought them last week. Ok, not a big deal, but it is the gesture & thought that counts. Most times, these glasses never find their way back home. What do they do with them, make their own marmalade or just toss them? My gut feel tells me, it is more the latter… Anyway, back to M. She asked me, if I was curious to meet a rather rare and unknown herb. What a question! Of course :) What she brought to light and introduced me to was a huge plant of pineapple sage. She told me to rub the leaves between my fingers and smell them. Hey, this is amazing! Virtual pineapples traveling incognito as herbs! Before I can say anything, she cuts down some branches and hands them to me. Next thing I remember is myself being sucked into cyberspace and googling away for more information on pineapple sage. How could I have missed out on such a flavorful herb?
Some tidbits of info I found included..: Pinapple sage is to be found especially in Mexico and Guatemala, their leaves are pineapple-scented and therefore especially used in various sweet food combinations, like e.g. yoghurt, fruit salads or cold drinks. Even their red flowers (late summer till autumn) are edible. And I accidentally discovered further interesting herbs I have never heard before, like banana mint or peach sage… I never knew! My only problem right now: What to do with this wonderfully scented herb!?
Jul 13th,
2005
Are these special jars, or regular 50 ¢ mason jars?
To be honest, I've never even heard of anyone returning jars from homemade jam, though I admit it isn't really a common enough gift to have its own rules of etiquette.
Generally, the rule I've always observed is to return pans and platters if they cost more than a few dollars, unless it was made clear that it was part of the gift.
Glad OvenWare? Trash.
Jam Jar? Trash.
Brownie pan? Return to owner.