Three Things I've Learned These Past Two Months and What You Should Do About It

Cheese is more than Kraft. I remember hearing somebody talk about "brie" in some movie or something. Some fancy rich person trying to show off about their knowledge of French cheese or something. Wealthy people have fancy cheese with fancy wine. But I always thought, "what's the big deal?" All you really need are the four basic cheese groups: Kraft Singles (Cheddar or American, your pick), Mexican 4-Cheese Blend, Mozzerella (for pizza, of course), and Cheesecake. But NO - I was wrong. It wasn't until I moved to Europe that I discovered "The World of Cheese." And my favorite? Brie. Ever heard of it? It's French. Get over your dislike of the French and go buy some Brie today. It will change your life. Eat it with fresh baked bread, sausage (chorizo is the best), and green olives. Or with fresh baked bread and raspberry (or any kind of berry) marmalade. Simply. Amazing.


Peppermint is more important than you think. This little candy may not seem all that important, but when all of a sudden Christmas is upon you and Starbucks isn't selling the Peppermint Mocha™ and there are no candy canes for your tree and you can't make peppermint bark while drinking apple cider suddenly the world seems to have turned dark and Santa Claus doesn't exist and if Santa doesn't exist then that means the Easter Bunny doesn't exist and if the Easter Bunny doesn't exist then who is going to give you Cadbury Creme Eggs this year and do they even have Cadbury Creme Eggs in Europe??? So go to Starbucks - drink a peppermint mocha - and think of me. Take a picture and send it to me. I'll appreciate it.


Green olives are actually pretty good. I've never really been a big fan of green olives. They were just too sour for me. Occasionally I could appreciate them on a pizza or maybe mixed in some pasta, but in general I just avoided them. And then I came here. The olives are fresher, not soaked in vinegar or whatever that juicy stuff is, and they're just SOO good. I like to eat them with cheese (see first paragraph), chorizo, bread, pasta, pizza, solo...it doesn't matter. But I like them. So what can you do about it? Go to the grocery store and try to find some fresh-ish olives. Perhaps HEB or a Whole Foods or something like that. If you can't find any, then eat the normal kind but try to imagine them not so sour. Or come visit me and eat them here. They're good. =)