Our Little Garden

This spring we removed some of the hedges that surround our home and have turned that space into small gardens. We've been quite happy with the results thus far. We decided to plant lettuce in the hopes that may a few heads would actually grow. The attempt ended up way more successful than either Doc or I imagined and we have been enjoying home grown lettuce over the last few weeks, and are hoping our second attempt in the next few weeks will also prove successful. I have my fingers crossed that the chilis, peppers, tomatoes and berries will be as successful. Here are a few pics we took today.


Weeding ... a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon


The "main" garden


Today's, tomorrow's and the day after's salad :-)


The strawberry and raspberry plot


We'll soon get to enjoy these!

Christmas Visitor

I can't believe it is already mid-January and I haven't had a chance to post pictures from Christmas time. We were really happy to have my mom visit. She, however, had a nightmare flight to visit us (including two nights at Heathrow airport) before managing to catch a flight to Geneva followed by a three hour train ride to my place. (It was impossible to get into Zürich before Christmas Eve!) Due to the delays we managed to extend mom's flight a few days, but our oh-so-big plans didn't quite materialize as I finally caught the cold everyone around me at work had before Christmas. Still, we went to see the singing Christmas tree in Zürich, enjoyed some Glühwein and warm chestnuts, had great dinners on Christmas Eve and Christmas and visited the Christmas market in Strasbourg. Here are a few photos we took during the week.


Performers getting prepped for their performance on the singing Christmas tree


A yummy cheese fondue dinner


Mom enjoying cheese fondue


Doc lighting the tree on Christmas Eve


All decked out


Christmas Day in Zürich


Enjoying a walk in the snow on Christmas Day


Christmas dinner: fondue chinoise

Sächsilüüte

Tomorrow is Sächsilüüte, a spring festival in Zürich. The festivities began today with a children's parade in downtown.



The final float in the parade was the Böögg.



Tomorrow, following a parade of the guilds, a bonfire will be set near the lake. The Böögg will be at the top of the bonfire. The quicker the Böögg burns and his head explodes, the better the summer will be. I'll miss the festivities tomorrow since I have to go out of town for work, but hopefully I'll catch it next year.

Of course, we can count on Sprüngli to make some cool looking cakes to celebrate Sächsilüüte.



More photos of Japan are still to come ...

Thanksgiving in Zürich

I made my first Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday! We had the most of the usual trimmings with the turkey: stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and pie for dessert. I was pretty nervous about making the stuffing since Nana and mom make a very tasty one; but, thanks to their tips, my stuffing came out pretty much the same as theirs! The only problem we ran into was that our turkey took longer to cook than our recipe had indicated.

The next day we decided to start baking some Swiss Christmas cookies. We spent most of the afternoon making Brunsli and Mailänderli. I still want to try the Zimtsterne. They look quite good in the grocery store, and I really like cinnamon.

Chinese Food

Last Saturday, we decided to make wontons and shao mai (steamed dumplings with a pork mixture in the center and egg, parsley, and ham in the pockets). It took a few hours to make the dough and the fillings and then form the dumplings, but it was well worth it!


Doc cooking the wontons


Our shao mai

Food Musings

Five months ago, if you asked me what I thought about cooking, I probably would have described it as a dreaded, post-workday chore. In fact, I did very little cooking back in D.C.--even before Doc and I married. Since I moved to Switzerland, I have realized that I actually enjoy cooking and--surprise--I'm actually halfway decent at it! I've been experimenting making all sorts of foods that I wouldn't have thought of making on my own a few months ago. Some of the food is quick and easy to make, and others I never could have done when working. There just wouldn't be enough time after work to make the food and eat it before going to sleep. I think the time factor was one of the reasons I dreaded cooking so much before (and probably will again when I work full-time).

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One of the things I just can't find here is vegetable shortening, and Crisco is a critical ingredient in two of my favorite fall foods: my dad's yummy apple pie and Betty Crocker's oatmeal cookies. After some searching, I finally found a pie crust recipe that calls for just butter, flour, salt, and water. Yesterday, I had some girls from my last German class over for lunch, and I decided to try out the new apple pie crust recipe with them. It's different than what I grew up with, but quite yummy. I'll definitely make it again.


My first apple pie in Switzerland

My next goal is to find a new oatmeal cookie recipe. This may prove to be a more difficult challenge. Not only do I need a recipe without shortening, but I quite possibly will need one without brown sugar. American-style light and dark brown sugar isn't available here. I'm hoping to find molasses in a store, and then I can make my own brown sugar. So far, I haven't had any luck, but I have quite a few stores left to check.