sweet republic's toffee banofi, which will be featured as one of alton brown's "best thing i ever ate" on the food network.  my opinion?  it was pretty freakin' delicious...nom nom indeed.

made nikujaga with this recipe from my cousin: http://katnsatoshiinjapan.blogspot.com/2007/04/nikujaga.html

turned out pretty good...the wife liked it so that can't be a bad thing...

worked on a number of projects this past week...finally finished two amps that i had started a couple years ago but just needed some loose ends tidied up.  the millet hybrid amps are pretty easy to build, relatively inexpensive, and sound terrific.  i had to get holes drilled for the case in the maxed version (the silver one above), which my friends ryan and trent helped with...a few mods here and there and i finally completed it...the minimax (black case) had some fit issues with the wiring and re-soldering kinda sucks.  but, it works, sounds great, and i'm happy with it. 

i also built a mini-mini cable using some neutrik connectors and canare star quad cable, which i have a bunch of...it's pretty.

my imac's camera hadn't been working for over a year since i last got it serviced...last time i installed a new hard drive in it i saw that some wires had detached from the camera's circuit board.  so i decided to try and fix it...and it works!  the wires are tiny and it was hard to not create bridges between the solder connections, but i guess i did a good job b/c the camera now works.  video ichat/facetime anyone?

projects also include some cooking ones...decided to make some cinnamon rolls, which turned out okay.  but i have a better sense of what to do next time.  i baked it a bit too long for one thing.  but i also need to let it rise a little longer so the dough gets more airy and chewy.  good experience...not hard at all...though it takes time b/c of all the waiting.

up ahead: re-tiling part of the shower in the master bath...installing the fireplace mantle i built...and we'll see how adventurous i am.

Making tiramisu using my mom's hand mixer, which she says was a
wedding gift. They've been married 53 years! Sure don't make some
appliances like they used to!

The guava chiffon pancakes at cinnamon's in Kailua. So delish...

so my last few meals here have been hit and miss...a BIG miss was this japanese restaurant in Kreuzberg called sumo. it was awful.  the pic's not that great, but i ordered the shrimp tempura bento, which came with over-cooked shrimp, iceberg lettuce in a cloyingly sweet teriyaki sauce, and the worst part - long grain dry rice.  if there was one thing that could have saved this meal, it was the rice.  japanese rice is short grain and sticky.  this was the opposite of japanese rice.  reviews were fairly good online...but i give this a big NO!

my other ventures were much better.  first, let me make a comment about the coffee i've had.  you know i love coffee...roast my own beans, press my own espresso, etc. while i like drinking espressos when i'm sitting down to read a book and relax, i like american-style coffee, which of course they call americanos here (and most places around the world).  it's basically espresso with hot water.  i've LOVED the americanos i've ordered here.  the best part of it is that they serve it with a little cup of steamed milk.  isn't that cool? not cold cream or half and half...but steamed milk.  i drink my coffee black, but this is still cool.  couple of good places i've visited are coffee cult and espresso lounge.  my only issue is that neither place has free wifi (or wifi at all)...

i had this skillet salmon dish the other day at rubens coffee lounge.  it was very well prepared. i'm not a huge salmon fan (can think of a couple dozen fish i'd choose over salmon) but it's ubiquitous and usually the only fish dish. i've been very pleasantly surprised by how good the food is here...

and today i had some pizza at pizza a pezzi that was fantastic. the crust was thin, crusty, and chewy...with huge pieces of anchovies, arugula...so delicious.  the eggplant one was so-so, however...but two big slices and a drink for 5 euros.  not bad...

tomorrow, i look for another sunday brunch buffet...stay tuned.

i passed this kebab stand yesterday...it's right outside the south exit on the U7 Mehringdamm stop.  the line was even longer yesterday, so i took a pass...but today, i decided to stop by.  i had what they listed as a gemüse kebab, but it was really a döner, which is like a stuffed vegetable sandwich.  the bread is toasted, but so nice and tasty, and only one side is open, so it's kind of like a pita sandwich, but with much better bread.

there were grilled veggies (lots of grilled potatoes), lettuce, tomato, cucumber, a couple of different sauces, onions, and feta cheese.  it was so delicious.  and only 2.50 euros, which is a little more than $3.  definitely stopping here again as it's on my way back home from the institute.  i can get off the subway, pick up a kebab, then get back on if i need to...