Silver jewellery from Europe

I never liked gold. I don't know why, but I wouldn't even buy a bag or a jacket that has a golden zip, buttons etc. Until recently...

As I was really looking hard for some nice and quality silver jewellery for a reasonable price here, and couldn't find anything that looks more sophisticated than the silver for kids, I decided to visit Pandora jewellery.

-PANDORA designs, manufactures and markets hand-finished and modern jewelry, and has the headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark.-

I knew Pandora before mainly for their charm bracelets, and was resistant to them as I normally like something more original, you see the bracelets everywhere.

So, when I visited my local Pandora store the first time I was nicely surprised, as they were also offering a different silver collection at that time. I was lucky to receive a couple of pieces of that particular one as my birthday present from my husband.
At the same time I had a look at the charms closely, and fell in love with them. So, now I am also a 'Pandora charm collector' :-) You can generally get the charms in silver, gold, glass, wood etc. but also, as I discovered,  in a silver-gold combination. That is when I realized that this Two-Tone style is my favourite . I am still a silver lover, but I opened up to just a bit of gold. I love it!

my recent addition - Love Struck charm - from my husband :-)

NAF NAF

I mentioned it  before, I am not a -fast food- person, but when I need to eat on the go or just eat out I love to go to NAF NAF GRILL.

 

 

This place actually started in Naperville, where I lived before, when it opened the first building on Ogden Avenue.
Today there are other locations, but I usually go to the  Fox Valley.

4430 Fox Valley Center Dr., Suite 101
Aurora, IL 60504
Phone: 630-499-1700

I love the fact that everything is chopped, fired, roasted, blended and baked FRESH throughout the day!
It is a middle eastern restaurant, so if  Shawarma, Falafel, Baba Ghanoush, Tabule, Kabab, Hummus, Tahini, Pita... speaks to you, it is a place to visit.

My favourite is a Pita filled with chicken breast kabab, a spread of hummus, Israeli salad, and topped with tahini sauce. It tastes so good!! When I am really hungry I also add their to die for homemade fries which come in sliced version. Believe me this food is tasty.

Dual & multiple nationality

Earlier this year I heard that there could be some possible changes regarding the nationality legislation of the Czech Republic and it is now confirmed.

It will definitely make my life abroad much easier!

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"Starting from 1 January 2014 Czech nationals will be permitted to have dual and multiple nationality. In line with the trend prevailing in the EU, the Czech Republic will no longer insist on single nationality. ...Czech nationals will no longer automatically lose their Czech nationality upon obtaining foreign nationality." - mzv.cz -
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Here you can learn more about new Czech nationality legislation

Teeccino

I was out of Pero, so I was going to get some the other day..... I guess I should explain what is Pero. It is a name of the product under which is my favourite Caro imported to the US.

So, what is Caro? If you live in Germany, I am quite sure you know it. It was introduced in Germany in 1954 and is manufactured by Nestlé. It is a brand of caffeine free roasted grain beverage, basically a coffee substitute made of roasted barley, malted barley, chicory, and rye.
I am not really trying to avoid coffee as I am not one of the heavy coffee drinkers at all. I simply like the taste of it, especially with a little bit of milk.

So, I am in a store looking for my Pero and it is nowhere to be found. I was really angry because I traveled to that particular store to get that one item, and they just dare not to have it. Unfortunately you can't find it here in the US in almost every store like in Europe. Well, I was determined to get some barley, chicory, rye.....anything really but coffee beverage, and.... Bingo! Here it is - a full shelf of Teeccino, a new product.

I got Vanilla Nut flavour described as Creamy vanilla accented by golden roasted almonds, slightly sweet from dates & figs....doesn't that sound wonderful? Not only that, it tastes great and comes with many health benefits.

 

 

 

 

There are other flavours and you can purchase a 8 Flavours Sampler as I have just discovered.
I am going to try some of them for sure.

• Hazelnut
• Almond Amaretto
• French Roast
• Java
• Original
• Mocha
• Chocolate
• Vanilla Nut

 

...of Czech origin

There are many foreign words that we use in the Czech language...from English, French etc., but did you know that there are some words you use that actually come from the Czech language?
Here are two examples:

1. ROBOT

This word comes from the Czech word robota which means labour/drudgery/work and was first used by Karel Čapek in his science fiction play R.U.R - Rossumovi univerzální roboti (Rossum's Universal Robots) in 1920.
The play became famous (by 1923 had been translated into thirty languages), and the word 'robot' was introduced to the English language.





2. DOLLAR

Dollar comes from the Czech word Tolar, the Czech name for the silver coin mined in today's Bohemia * - silver mine in Jáchymov first minted coins in 1519.

* Until 1918, the town (named JOACHIMSTHAL before 1898) was part of the Austrian monarchy (Austria side after the compromise of 1867), head of the district with the same name, one of the 94 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in Bohemia - Wikipedia

 

 



Jáchymov thaler -souvenir

Later the name was used for similar coins minted in central Europe, Spanish peso and the Portuguese eight-real piece. An old slang term for the 25-cent coin is a piece of eight. The coin is still almost always called a quarter in everyday speech. The first US dollar was minted in 1794/75 and is known as flowing hair dollar from the image of a man with long flowing hair featured on the coin.

Flowing Hair Dollar

New "American" Microwave

We bought a new microwave (an over-the-range one with built-in extractor hood) together with other kitchen appliances 3 months ago, but it was installed only this week. My husband was doing it himself and when he started, he realized it would be a difficult project. We wanted it venting out and as soon as he cut out a piece of drywall, there it was - a pipe and electric cables in it and a stud right in the way where the vent was supposed to go.

So we left it for a couple of weeks and focused on other projects, but at the same time were thinking what would be the best solution to this problem. We knew how to deal with the stud, but now also electricity!!! We decided to close the drywall and use the kitchen cabinet above, where was more space, to direct the piping outside there.

Finally, the microwave is working, so I started experimenting with its features. I decided for this GE Profile microwave because it is matching my GE Profile stove/ range. (WOW label)

One of the button says FAMILY SNACKS, so I pressed it and here it comes, these are my options:

1 - BURRITO
2 - CHICKEN NUGGETS
3 - OATMEAL
4 - INSTANT MAC AND CHEESE
5 - CANNED PASTA
6 - HOT DOGS
7 - FROZEN MICROWAVE PIZZA
8 - HOT CHOCOLATE

 

Well done GE! There should be a sticker on this product - "for Americans only". Definitely NOT my type of snacks. I can use only one option - OATMEAL. Even hot chocolate that I make is from fresh cocoa powder, but maybe I can trick the machine and use this option as well.

 

Well, the rest of the features are great, so let's just forget about this one :-)

 



Quercetin

This year, for some reason, I had some sort of hay fever, which I normally never have and it was bothering me for a couple of weeks. I wasn't able to do much as my symptoms were really bad.

I don't like to take drugs, so after about a week I decided to research what can I do about it and came across an article that was suggesting to take Quercetin, aside from other natural remedies. It really helped, so if I ever suffer from allergies in the future, I will use this product again.

 

 

 

Quercetin is a naturally occurring bioflavonoid that supports healthy histamine levels, thereby helping to sustain a balanced immune response. Bromelain, an enzyme derived from pineapple stems, also supports healthy immune system function. The combination of Quercetin and Bromelain therefore provides powerful immunomodulating benefits important for the management of occasional seasonal discomfort.*

 

TEA FOR TWO

I have recently purchased this beautiful tea set. I love the design and the idea that it is stackable. That way it makes the picture complete.
I am using it a lot, the size is great for green tea or oolong tea.
I discovered this delicious Oolong tea by The Republic of Tea. It is described as tea with "milky" taste and silky texture with the fragrance of sweet cream and pineapple. It tastes exactly like that and I absolutely love it. I have tried different kinds of oolong tea, but this one is definitely the winner!

 

Zojirushi - Rice and more rice to come.

My husband and I love sushi. Apart from that also Chinese and Indian food where rice is used often. As we have moved a lot and changed our kitchen numerous times we discovered that it is getting more and more difficult to make our rice just right. We either couldn’t find the same brand anymore because of a different location or had to cook once on gas, other times on electrical stoves and because of these changes, we basically didn’t know how would our rice turn out. Until the other day, when we discovered a rice maker, thanks to our Japanese friends. What a discovery! We absolutely love the machine. It is a Japanese brand called Zojirushi. (I believe it means elephant. There is a logo of an elephant on the machine, so I guess it is true)

Our sushi rice turned out great the first time. I also made wild rice and it was perfect. I even cooked in it a mix called Garden Harvest Pilaf which I purchased in Costco and was really successful. You can also use it for porridge, but I haven’t tried this option yet. What I am planning to do is to put Quinoa in it and wait and see what it will come up withJ It would be great if it works as well. Will report on that later. This machine is such a time saver too. You can also use a timer and have your rice ready at your desired time. I would recommend this appliance to anyone who is annoyed with making rice in boiling water and wants to save time!