The Muffinman is free!

Dumpster Divers of all nations, rejoice! The famous Belgian Muffinman has been acquitted of stealing 2 bags of perished muffinds. For those who are not familiar with the concept of dumpster diving, skipping, tatting, bin-diving, D-mart or "recycling" food: this is "the practice of sifting through commercial or residential trash to find items that have been discarded by their owners but might be useful to the dumpster diver" (Wikipedia definition). But who is the Muffinman, you might ask? Well, Steven De Geynst is a dumpster diver who received a 6-month sentence for "stealing" 2 bags of perished muffins from a GB supermarket. He appealed and was acquitted. He has been a strong voice in the battle against food waste and the way supermarkets deal with goods that are still perfectly alright.

Building a snowman, flake by flake

Last year Caitlin built her first snowman with her grandfather in Germany. This time I helped her build one here in Belgium. The German one was more beautiful, but I'm sure the quality of the snow played some part in that. In Germany they use the roll-the-snow-till-it-becomes-a-ball, and repeat that three times with balls of smaller sizes. Here in Belgium the snow just doesn't stick, so we use the fill-the-bucket-and-then-push-the-snow-tight. It works like a charm :)