Archive for category This-is-Switzerland (TIS)

French foibles: Creme fraiche

Posted by Amanda in French, This-is-Switzerland (TIS) on February 2, 2010

Homemade Creme Fraiche

Creme fraiche from flit (http://www.flickr.com/photos/flit/)

For some reason, I assumed that “creme fraiche” was just a fresher, French-er way of saying “sour cream.” Nope. Apparently, it’s akin to “heart attack upon delivery.”

I used it to finish up a yum vegetable and tofu dish last night only to discover this health advisory this a.m.

creme

And I’m no longer feeling *quite* so smug about my healthy cooking.

Next, I’m going to learn that “lardon” doesn’t mean “healthy ham pieces.”

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Losing perspective

Posted by Amanda in Geneva, This-is-Switzerland (TIS) on November 3, 2009

Source: http://flickr.com/exlibris

Source: http://flickr.com/exlibris

I realize over-priced-ness appears to be a common theme in Geneva. And it is.

Some days, I really have to remind myself of reality.

Today, I was obscenely excited about my uber-cheap lunch for 15 CHF: pumpkin soup and grapefruit juice. Oh dear: not cheap, not frugal, not practical.

Geneva is sometimes so far from real life.

* Learning French lessons to be continued – I promise!

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A marmot and a chamoix were walking down the trail…

Posted by Amanda in This-is-Switzerland (TIS), Travels on September 25, 2009

We *just* were in Zermatt for the weekend, hiking and, not too shockingly, taking pictures (i.e. Tony took thousands of pictures while I hopped up and down impatiently).

The oddest moment of the trip happened when I saw a man up ahead, leading two mules and carrying something around his neck. As he came closer, it was clearly a dead animal — namely a chamoix (small goat-type creature).

IMG_0607

About 10 minutes later, we saw a younger 20-something carrying a dead animal in a plastic bag. It was his son and he was carrying a marmot. Of course.

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How to spend $100 at a farmer’s market

Posted by Amanda in Geneva, This-is-Switzerland (TIS) on September 13, 2009

We really like this little farmer’s market in Thoiry, France. It’s just across the border and loaded with fresh fruits and veggies. But, while there is a bus that goes there, it’s easiest to drive. And we only have a rental car about once every few months.

So we make do with our local farmer’s market at Plainpalais, which is about two minutes outside our front door.

This morning, we stocked up on fruits, veggies, some sausage, a fresh roasted chicken and some crepes.

Feeling fairly proud of ourselves, we walked home, adding up our totals as we lugged the bags.

Umm, we spent $100.

Oops.

Apparently, the watermelon, strawberries and avocados add up pretty quick.

We miss you, Thoiry.

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This is Switzerland

Posted by Amanda in This-is-Switzerland (TIS) on August 11, 2009

DISCLAIMER: Switzerland is a great place to live. On the scale of difficult places to adjust to, Geneva ranks maybe a 0.5 on the Richter scale of difficulty.

However, there are little quirks that itch at the soul; twitches that cannot be ignored 24/7.

For those zany Swiss things, we present: TIS (This is Switzerland). We’ll save all those tidbits there.

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The ridiculous and redunculous

Posted by Amanda in Geneva, This-is-Switzerland (TIS) on July 20, 2009

I’ve become accustomed to most things in this quirky city of Geneva, but some things still irk me.

  1. Laundry. Don’t even think about washing clothes on Saturdays or Sundays. And you have to return the laundry room key by 5 p.m. when the apartment office closes, which is cool because I always envisioned A) using vacation days to wash my clothes or B) hand-washing all clothes in my tub.
  2. Hours. Thursday nights have turned into this odd shopping frenzy as it’s the only night where stores are open past 7 p.m. The rest of the week? I’m normally weeding through the cupboards and pondering dinners of rice and dried fruits.
  3. Dehydrate me. Restaurants are not big on giving you water. They will sell you sparkling water, but you have to finangle a bit for the free carafe d’eau.

Ok, the crabbiness as left the room, so I’ll leave you with three things that work pretty darn well.

  1. Gummy candy centers in every corner store
  2. Free eau potable (drinkable water) fountains in most neighborhoods
  3. Plainpalais flea market where you can get a roasted chicken, cheapo English-language books and a stolen bike or two. OH and doll heads, but they were sold by the box, not individually so I passed.

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