Being one-quarter Silesian that I am, I am completely infatuated with Mohnkuchen, one of my absolute favorite desserts. Actually, anything filled with mohn, or poppyseed filling, is a must-eat-right-now for me — this includes Austrian Germknoedl, Jewish Hamentaschen, etc. It must be something in my blood…or maybe not, because I do inadvertently convert people who try it.
On my last trip to Berlin, I ate so much Mohnkuchen that if I had been tested for drugs, they would have institutionalized me on the spot. (you do know, poppy seeds are from the opium plant…) With no way to actually bring some home (you know, U.S. Customs), I decided to, at the very least, bring back a pack of Mohn-Fuelle (or poppy seed mix).
This meant, of course, that I’d have to find a decent recipe to put the poppy seed filling into. I found this and this online, which, along with this handy-dandy converter, allowed me to create the following recipe:

1 stick butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
dash vanilla
dash lemon extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
dash salt
3 tbs milk
poppy seed mix

For those of you lucky enough to get your hands on ready-to-bake poppy seed mix (they do sell an overly sweet version in the states in cans in the baking section), there is no need for a poppy seed mix recipe. Once I got a mohn-fuelle that needed only milk added — it was a 250g package, and I had to add 75g (or 5 tbs) milk to mix. If you want to work completely from scratch, say, from ground poppy seeds, then you will need to add some sugar and vanilla or lemon, as well as milk. One of the links above had more of that info, but in German. If you need a translation, let me know.

Beat the butter and sugar together till a bit fluffy, then add in the egg. Beat more, then splash in some vanilla and lemon extract for flavor. Pour in the flour, baking powder, and salt, and mix. It will be dry, so you will then need to add the 3 tbs of milk until the dough holds together.
Take any shape pan, medium sized (I used a 9″ diameter circle), and press half the dough down. Make sure the edges turn up a bit, to hold in the poppy seed mix. Pour in the poppy mix, then cover the top with strips of dough. Bake at 350 degrees til done.
Note:
On some ovens, the top will brown too quick while the bottom stays uncooked underneath the poppy mix. In this case, cover the top with aluminum and bake longer. Or, pre-bake the bottom layer (without poppy mix), so that it gets at least half-done beforehand. Be careful, though, because overbaking will make the cake part of the Mohnkuchen a bit dry.

It’s been quite a while since my last post about the best free voip setup. A lot has changed. Small startup companies that I dismissed earlier now offer pretty amazing services, and other more established ones have continued to grow. Look at Skype, for instance. Although they are the most closed and proprietary of the entire group, their range, breadth, and ease of services, along with their huge (and growing) customer base, has clearly kept them on top. If my friends and family are on Skype, by default, I have to be too, even if I am “pro-SIP.”
Basically, I have Skype but only actually run it when I need to. I had been waiting for a way to call Skype users through a regular phone, and I’ve finally found one! Check out Mobivox. This is a spanking new service which allows you to call your Skype contacts through any phone. I tried it out the day it became available. I had problems connecting, but I emailed customer service, and it was working within hours. I used it, and even though still in beta, the service was very good! All I had to do was call an access number and tell the voice-activated robot which Skype contact I wanted to call. So easy it’s cheesy.

Now what do you do when the person you would like to call does NOT have a computer nor internet service? You set up yourself and that person (make an account for them) on Jajah. This is what I did to call my grandmother in Europe. We both were talking on our regular phones, but were connected through VOIP by Jajah. Amazing, and the quality is great! My grandmother couldn’t believe that such a clear long-distance call was free. You do, however, need to beware all the limitations that keep your account ‘active’. Calls are only free when you call an ‘active’ user. Gizmo is touting a similar ‘All Calls Free‘ plan, but I their limitations seemed way too stifling.

Another mover-upper is Gtalk-to-Voip. I had visited their site months ago, and saw nothing spectacular. Now I go there, and it’s like “WOW!” They have truly integrated different VOIP services (even on different protocols!) over the internet for open and free internet calling. It looks like all the major players (except Skype, of course) are included, such as GoogleTalk, Gizmo, Yahoo, SIP providers, etc. I’m very excited to explore this service further.(..thanks Yannick!)

My original favorite, Ekiga, has been making moves lately as well. With a new version out, a Windows version, and some new features, oldie-but-goodie Ekiga is still up in the running. I particularly like their new “presence” feature - you can add a button anywhere online to show your status and allow people to call you with just one click.

Recently I took advantage of HSBC’s Direct Online Savings for a temporary 6% APY interest rate(reverts to 5.05% beginning May). This is a simple savings account that comes with an ATM card to be used at any of their branches for deposits and withdrawals.
Currently I have my checking account with Chase. But now that Chase wants to charge me $10 for dipping below my minimum on my Better Banking account, I’m looking for something new. Particularly, I’m searching for a bank that will give me real interest on my checking account (why not?), no minimums, free checks & checking, easy deposits/withdrawals, no outrageous fees, etc.
I considered Washington Mutual’s new 5% APY savings account that is automatically linked to their free checking account. It sounds great for somebody who needs a traditional checking account with actual checks, but the checking account itself accrues no interest, and so to optimize your interest rate, you’d have to constantly be moving money back and forth from the savings account.
Since I already have a savings account (HSBC), I thought I’d find something else. I want high interest directly in my checking account. I found a couple interesting options:

• ING Direct’s Electric Orange - completely electronic checking account which would give me 4% APY (in my money bracket, goes up to 5.3%). Go online to write checks - if it must be paper, they can send it to whomever. Use card to withdraw money free from Allpoint ATM’s, or just get extra cash back on purchases. Deposits work with direct deposit, transfers from other accounts, or mailing it in. Check out their FAQ for more info.
• Everbank’s FreeNet Checking - interest rates up to 6.01%!!! (my bracket is only 3.40% though). This one is a little easier to deposit money since they have made some affiliations with other banks to allow deposits from their ATM’s. Check their online ATM locator for exact locations.
• BankRate’s Online Comparison Chart - great to see every option possible.

I ended up choosing ING’s Electric Orange and am in the process of transferring completely out of Chase. I think I can handle going paperless, and will make it work. Although I’ve always stuck to manually mailing in stamped bills in the past, I think that I’m ready to make the switch, and so is technology. Everbank’s offer sounds promising, especially for those with bigger accounts, but the lower rates in my bracket as well as ING’s no-extra-fee policy tipped me over in ING Direct’s direction. I’m looking forward to my 4% APY!

For those who are still shopping for a high-rate interest saving account, I did find some more options that sounded very appealing. (besides HSBC’s Internet Banking, and Wamu’s new 5% online savings account). Check out IGoBanking. They offer 5.30% APY without fees or minimums! (actually I checked and the minimum is $500. That’s not “no” minimum, but it is close…) Also there’s the traditional ING Direct’s Savings account, Emigrant Direct, etc. Check out BankRate’s Money Market & Saving’s account comparison chart for even more options…