Ole Ole Ole Ole, Thank Goodness the Euro is over! OK, even I got sucked into watching the last few games and actually will freely admit I enjoyed it. However, our beautiful city has been under siege for almost a month now and as we fought our way through the crowd yesterday trying to go for a bike ride along the lake, I could not wait until 6am this morning!
Why, you might ask would I be so very excited about 6am any morning? For starters, I am a morning kind of girl. And recently I have started to get up a little earlier than normal to make a half hearted attempt to jog (ahem, OK walk really fast) along the lake. The solitude this body of water offers me during the early hours as the new day dawns is almost a little intoxicating.
To top it off, late last night there was a torrential downpour and as I trudged through the cobblestone pathways this morning I felt so lucky to be living in this truly gorgeous city.
In the wee hours of the night, the city of Zurich has a clean up crew that literally come in directly after and event closes and they put everything back to normal before daybreak.
This morning there was a fleet (at least 15) street sweepers all lined up along the lake getting ready to cause pure havoc with rush hour traffic. Here it is more like rush hour traf....... because if you are in traffic for more than 4 minutes people think they are stuck in the worst traffic of their lives!
So a sweeping they did go, and a little later after Ron and I dropped the kids of at Spielgruppen (play group supervised by others so Mum and Dad have a sanity check up) and rambled along the lake making our way back home - we sensed that lovely clean feeling.
This is why some people like Switzerland. It is one of the reasons I love it here.
Stay tuned, it is not all a bed of roses.
Sigining off for today,
WiseMona
Monday, June 30, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Edamame
Why is it I have been living in Switzerland for almost 8 months and that is how long it has taken me to find a bag of frozen Edamame? We stopped by a New Asian Market (NAM) on Feldstrasse today as our babysitter told us it was great (and it was). We found some gorgeous iridescent pink/orange tilapia, some really plump yellow tail and a bag of edamame.
Ok, it looked like it has been in the freezer for a year and tasted ok, but nothing like the bags of edamame (Costco) we ate daily back in the US. Is it possible that the US is ahead of the health food curve. Why has this tasty treat not hit the european continent yet?
Coop City offers a little lunch box of edamame and beansprouts with a decent sesame salad dressing. I have been known to go through phases of 'can't live without it' but truthfully, it is just ok, and I miss my furry little bean snack.
On a side note, cherry pie (from cherries bought a jucker farm yesterday) tasted pretty darn good. This chef of mine can work miracles with food that has marginal flavor. What a lucky girl am I!
Signing off for today,
WiseMona
Ok, it looked like it has been in the freezer for a year and tasted ok, but nothing like the bags of edamame (Costco) we ate daily back in the US. Is it possible that the US is ahead of the health food curve. Why has this tasty treat not hit the european continent yet?
Coop City offers a little lunch box of edamame and beansprouts with a decent sesame salad dressing. I have been known to go through phases of 'can't live without it' but truthfully, it is just ok, and I miss my furry little bean snack.
On a side note, cherry pie (from cherries bought a jucker farm yesterday) tasted pretty darn good. This chef of mine can work miracles with food that has marginal flavor. What a lucky girl am I!
Signing off for today,
WiseMona
Friday, June 27, 2008
How do you feel about Swiss Food?
Hello Fellow Food Lovers,
Today we ventured out in the Zürcher Oberland. We went to a really lovely family run farm http://www.juckerfarmart.ch/ in Seegräben about 30 minutes east of Zürich city. This little gem was recommended to us by one of the expat mums at the quartier treffe in Enge. It is a 'selber pflücken' fruit farm. For those of you still brushing up on your German it is a 'pick your own' fruit farm.
It reminded us so much of Farmer Johns place http://www.branstratorfarm.com/which made me pause for a few minutes to recall the sweet sweet syrupy taste of that first strawberry of the season and of course his 'Incredible' corn.
So we went a picking. We had the choice to pick lovely plump cherries and racy red strawberries. The farm is laid out very nicely with fruit trees and the occasional trampoline for the wayward children we tote along. As we licked our fingers whilst picking the cherries I thought to myself that these shockingly ruby/black berries (grown on this amazing farm) were a tribute of what 'farm to fork' is all about.
We lazily rambled on to the strawberry patch and I daydreamed of the days when we would scramble around Farmer Johns place searching for the nicest plumpest berry, savoring each sweet moment as the berries went from lips to tummy knowing this season only lasts for a millisecond each spring.
I was jolted back to reality when my grubby little son squealed like a stuck pig from the fence surrounding 'strawberry land'. He had greedily stuck his fat little toddler hand through the fence 'reaching for gold'. After grabbing a hand full of the precious red gems and smearing most of them all over his clothes and face, he had spared one for me. I closed my eyes and tasted the perfectly ripe berry. There is only one word for it (here is Switzerland) Köstlich. (Delicious).
We picked a punnet and headed back to the barn where we had some ice cold beer, a loaf of warm crusty bread and a plate of very local 'farm' cheese and cold meat and spent a very lazy Sunday afternoon basking in the Swiss sun.
There is an ongoing 'flavour debate' we have engaged in since we landed several months ago.
Ron, being the one that holds the experienced (and expert) palate maintains the Swiss grow the best carrots he has ever tasted. The carrots have not overwhelmed me since we arrived here but of course I do trust the taste buds of Chef Wise. I popped back into the barn store and bought a small bunch of dirty freshly picked (Swiss) carrots and we did a taste test. They were petite, illuminous orange, crunchy and quite tasty. Ron is still drooling over them. So, root veggies may be getting what they need from the soil and perhaps a few more hours of sunshine would help bump the fruit to that next level of flavor nirvana that we still crave from back home.
The Swiss are known for using only the best products when it comes to cooking. It is true. Every store you go to and market you stroll through, you see locally grown or raised, bio (organic for all you foreigners), free range, grass fed - on every label!
The food here is kind of like its people, and they are perfectionists. Not an once of fat on the most carefully selected veal chop, not a blemish on the local and very seasonal fruits and veggies and everything tastes great. However, I am still more than thankful to have my own personal chef traveling by my side for all our edible adventuring. He makes the 'amazing' out of what most think is ordinary. Lucky girl, I know.
Signing off for today,
WiseMona
Today we ventured out in the Zürcher Oberland. We went to a really lovely family run farm http://www.juckerfarmart.ch/ in Seegräben about 30 minutes east of Zürich city. This little gem was recommended to us by one of the expat mums at the quartier treffe in Enge. It is a 'selber pflücken' fruit farm. For those of you still brushing up on your German it is a 'pick your own' fruit farm.
It reminded us so much of Farmer Johns place http://www.branstratorfarm.com/which made me pause for a few minutes to recall the sweet sweet syrupy taste of that first strawberry of the season and of course his 'Incredible' corn.
So we went a picking. We had the choice to pick lovely plump cherries and racy red strawberries. The farm is laid out very nicely with fruit trees and the occasional trampoline for the wayward children we tote along. As we licked our fingers whilst picking the cherries I thought to myself that these shockingly ruby/black berries (grown on this amazing farm) were a tribute of what 'farm to fork' is all about.
We lazily rambled on to the strawberry patch and I daydreamed of the days when we would scramble around Farmer Johns place searching for the nicest plumpest berry, savoring each sweet moment as the berries went from lips to tummy knowing this season only lasts for a millisecond each spring.
I was jolted back to reality when my grubby little son squealed like a stuck pig from the fence surrounding 'strawberry land'. He had greedily stuck his fat little toddler hand through the fence 'reaching for gold'. After grabbing a hand full of the precious red gems and smearing most of them all over his clothes and face, he had spared one for me. I closed my eyes and tasted the perfectly ripe berry. There is only one word for it (here is Switzerland) Köstlich. (Delicious).
We picked a punnet and headed back to the barn where we had some ice cold beer, a loaf of warm crusty bread and a plate of very local 'farm' cheese and cold meat and spent a very lazy Sunday afternoon basking in the Swiss sun.
There is an ongoing 'flavour debate' we have engaged in since we landed several months ago.
Ron, being the one that holds the experienced (and expert) palate maintains the Swiss grow the best carrots he has ever tasted. The carrots have not overwhelmed me since we arrived here but of course I do trust the taste buds of Chef Wise. I popped back into the barn store and bought a small bunch of dirty freshly picked (Swiss) carrots and we did a taste test. They were petite, illuminous orange, crunchy and quite tasty. Ron is still drooling over them. So, root veggies may be getting what they need from the soil and perhaps a few more hours of sunshine would help bump the fruit to that next level of flavor nirvana that we still crave from back home.
The Swiss are known for using only the best products when it comes to cooking. It is true. Every store you go to and market you stroll through, you see locally grown or raised, bio (organic for all you foreigners), free range, grass fed - on every label!
The food here is kind of like its people, and they are perfectionists. Not an once of fat on the most carefully selected veal chop, not a blemish on the local and very seasonal fruits and veggies and everything tastes great. However, I am still more than thankful to have my own personal chef traveling by my side for all our edible adventuring. He makes the 'amazing' out of what most think is ordinary. Lucky girl, I know.
Signing off for today,
WiseMona
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Our life so far in lovely Switzerland
Well, it has been more than six months since we packed up the kids and moved lock, stock and barel from the good 'ole USA to breathtakingly gorgeous Switzerland. I have been working since December 3rd 2007 for a very large firm (to remain nameless at this time) and will be posting a few more blogs on that subject over the next few months. The children (Rory & Jack) have settled in really well, mostly due to the fact that darling husband Ron made the sacrifice to be a stay at home Dad. So, for the last few months, I have been working long hours and seeing very little of my family. For those of you reading this that know me, you are probably shaking your head saying 'how & why' considering or former life was the complete opposite, and for those of you that just stumbled upon this blog you are probably wondering what is so different about one parent (or both) working and your kids being in daycare all day?
The adjustment for Ron & I has been OK. I cannot say either of us are happy with our current life here in Zürich, but we tolerate it. This is just the introduction to who we are, who we were before we moved to Switzerland and who we hopefully will be once we 'settle' here and eventually feel like we are 'home'.
Who are we?
Ron & Mona. Happy couple. Together for 14+ years now. Ron (US born but carries dual citizenship (Irish/US) because he married a lovely Irish girl :-)), went to Culinary Institute NYC and has had a very successful career for the lat 25 yrs as an excellent chef. His creative style and dedication to working with local farmers (even growing his own) has earned him credit and recognition throughout the US and Canada and it all paid off when we were able to open our own restaurant in 2003.
Me - the lovely Irish girl that he married, went to the US in 1994 and fell head over heels in love with him. I worked for 9 years as a wedding/event planner in conjunction with the city park system and let me tell you, it was the most amazing job a girl could ever have.
After finally deciding to tie the knot (in lovely Canadian Wine Country, 2000) we started the search for a restaurant. We both loved our jobs but knew Ron needed to do his own thing.
We also decided to think about starting a family and as we knew we had fertility challenges we naturally and quickly opted for adoption. (I say naturally because of my upbringing where my parents (both teachers) fostered many many babies over the course of my childhood and teenage years).
Ironically, Rory Belle (now aged 5 going on 15) arrived home in August 2003 only 5 weeks old and we opened Rondo's Restaurant September 30th, 2003. The nice thing was she slept in a bassinet under the bar for the first 6 months and due to her exposure to Ron's cooking, has the most amazing palate today at the age of 5. Ron did a blind cheese tasting with her recently and she could name 6 out of 7 cheeses............(I just ate them, did not care about the names).
Little Jack arrived a little more than 2 years later and that is a whole other story. (see separate blogs on the kids/adoption).
We had little chance to return to Europe during the four years operating the restaurant and having both kids, but with the encouragement of my younger brother Shane and his lovely Swiss wife Sylvia, they convinced us to visit last May 2007. That started the snowball of questions as to if and when we would finally take the plunge to move 'back' to Europe. 6 months later............our new address - Zürich city just a block from the lake.
That is the brief description of where we came from, a glimpse into who we are.
Over the next few months I will describe in careful detail more of the who, the what, the how and the what will we do next!....................of the SwissFamilyWise.
Happy Reading,
Signing off for today,
WiseMona
The adjustment for Ron & I has been OK. I cannot say either of us are happy with our current life here in Zürich, but we tolerate it. This is just the introduction to who we are, who we were before we moved to Switzerland and who we hopefully will be once we 'settle' here and eventually feel like we are 'home'.
Who are we?
Ron & Mona. Happy couple. Together for 14+ years now. Ron (US born but carries dual citizenship (Irish/US) because he married a lovely Irish girl :-)), went to Culinary Institute NYC and has had a very successful career for the lat 25 yrs as an excellent chef. His creative style and dedication to working with local farmers (even growing his own) has earned him credit and recognition throughout the US and Canada and it all paid off when we were able to open our own restaurant in 2003.
Me - the lovely Irish girl that he married, went to the US in 1994 and fell head over heels in love with him. I worked for 9 years as a wedding/event planner in conjunction with the city park system and let me tell you, it was the most amazing job a girl could ever have.
After finally deciding to tie the knot (in lovely Canadian Wine Country, 2000) we started the search for a restaurant. We both loved our jobs but knew Ron needed to do his own thing.
We also decided to think about starting a family and as we knew we had fertility challenges we naturally and quickly opted for adoption. (I say naturally because of my upbringing where my parents (both teachers) fostered many many babies over the course of my childhood and teenage years).
Ironically, Rory Belle (now aged 5 going on 15) arrived home in August 2003 only 5 weeks old and we opened Rondo's Restaurant September 30th, 2003. The nice thing was she slept in a bassinet under the bar for the first 6 months and due to her exposure to Ron's cooking, has the most amazing palate today at the age of 5. Ron did a blind cheese tasting with her recently and she could name 6 out of 7 cheeses............(I just ate them, did not care about the names).
Little Jack arrived a little more than 2 years later and that is a whole other story. (see separate blogs on the kids/adoption).
We had little chance to return to Europe during the four years operating the restaurant and having both kids, but with the encouragement of my younger brother Shane and his lovely Swiss wife Sylvia, they convinced us to visit last May 2007. That started the snowball of questions as to if and when we would finally take the plunge to move 'back' to Europe. 6 months later............our new address - Zürich city just a block from the lake.
That is the brief description of where we came from, a glimpse into who we are.
Over the next few months I will describe in careful detail more of the who, the what, the how and the what will we do next!....................of the SwissFamilyWise.
Happy Reading,
Signing off for today,
WiseMona
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