lenina’s Scottish Ancestry

Image via Wikipedia

I found out the other day that my wee nephew’s birthday was this Sunday passed (25th January) which is the same as Burns’ birthday (the Scottish National Poet). The funny thing is that my nephew is also a redhead – this gene ‘jumped’ a generation (my dad is a ginger or ‘strawberry blonde’).

My BF told me that ginger hair was an indication of potential Scottish ancestry which I quickly googled today. While it’s true that world-wide the greatest percentage of redheads lives in Scotland (13% of all the population), the ‘ginger gene’ is generally considered to be Celtic, not Scottish. And even the Celts didn’t come out of nowhere – some say it originally came from the Scandinavian Hugh hair.

Either way, my dad’s dad is from Prussia (Preussen), which to me is far more  historically interesting. Even my surname is much more common in the East. Plenty of people carrying my surname apparently live in Berlin. If the ‘ginger gene’ did come from my granddad, it may have been through some Scandinavian connection (Scandinavians immigrating to Prussia hundreds of years ago).

So I don’t think I have anything Scottish in my genes – more likely a tiny amount of Viking ancestry, which would make more sense (even my body shape and height etc. is quite Nordic).

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Deep-fried Mars Bar vs. Pasta with Pesto

Image via Wikipedia

This week-end, I tried deep-fried Mars bar for the first time. For the uninitiated: it’s a Scottish ‘delicacy’ (and not as old as I thought it was!):

The dish originated at selected chip shops in Scotland as a novelty item, but was never a mainstream item. Since various mass media have reported on the practice since the mid 1990s, in part as an ironic commentary on urban Scotland’s notoriously unhealthy diet,[2] the popularity of the dish has spread.

My BF, on the other hand, for the first time tried pasta with pesto (and parmesan cheese). For some reason he’d never had pesto before, and he was sceptical about parmesan cheese. But he loved it – I used red pesto, not the green one, to break him in gently.

I’ll continue to try various Scottish dishes and delicacies, while he’ll continue to expand his ‘food horizon’ – he’s particularly keen on trying various German sausages when we go over in May ;P

Holiday Plans 2009

Image by Junnn via Flickr

January is the time for holiday planning apparently. I’m planning to go across to Germany in the car (haven’t been there in a few years) and on the way stop over in Amsterdam (1 night) and Cologne (1 night). Amsterdam just because it  makes sense (the ferry goes from Newcastle to there, and it’s a pretty city 😉 ), and in Cologne I’ll be meeting up with a few friends hopefully while staying overnight at one of my oldest mates.

I’ll also be taking B. with me, so he’s going to ‘meet the parents’ for the first time. He’s never been to Germany either, so it’s going to be an interesting one for him. I’m quite looking forward to it. I don’t even mind the driving. With the ferry etc. involved it’s going to be a wee adventure 🙂

Once the Italy house has been sold (this year hopefully), I’m also aiming to visit Vienna and Berlin for a holiday, as well as, New Zealand (where B. has a really good friend, and where an ex BF of mine is doing a PhD). Also maybe Budapest/Hungary, as that’s where my very good friend A. is from.

lenina on German TV

Yours truly, lenina crowne, will be interviewed for German TV (second main channel). I’ll need to put the word out to friends and family back in Germany as it will be great to have my mug on there, being broadcast to 3 million people (apparently that’s the number of people who watch the programme I’m being interviewed for).

A couple of points I need to clarify though:

• Shall I give them my title (i.e. Dr.)? Because obviously there will be text overlayed whenever they first show my  mug
• Who (in Germany) will watch and record it straight to harddrive, cut out the lenina bit, and send it to me as a quicktime file? As I have planned to upload it to youtube (lol) if it’s good enough

Suggestions on the first point (use Dr. title or not) welcome. I think I do want to use it. It’s a one-off opportunity and I want any people who randomly spot me on the telly to see what I’ve got up to in the last 10 years or so ;P

Tesco now Sells Peanut Puffs

My friend S. told us the other day (on NYE in fact) that apparently, Tesco are now selling a version of Peanut Puffs here in the UK. I’ve never understood how Peanut Puffs are NOT sold over here! They are delicious and I’m sure would go down really well. After all, Brits do like their peanuts in all variations, Nobby’s Nuts (my BF likes those), peanut butter, etc.

All they have in terms of puffs is Cheesy Puffs, which is wrong.

Incidentally, I just tried finding the peanut puff product on the Tesco online grocery website, but you have to sign up in order to see the products 😐

I then tried googling them and found an online store in the US that sells them – Germandeli.com. We DO need something like that over here 😀

edit: apparently the below is the product that’s now on Tesco shelves – so that’s what I’ve got to look out for: