Resolutions month one - checking in

The problem with February is all our excitement is coming at the end of the month, which is why I've been neglecting the blogging. My parents are here for a visit now and we're having all kinds of adventures, however I'm going to save those stories for another post and spend this one checking in on how I'm doing on the resolution front.

One goal was to read at least one new book per month - that one's been no problem. I read The Year of the Flood in January as my brand new book. I enjoyed it but not nearly as much as Oryx and Crake, its companion book. I thought The Year of the Flood started off much slower and, though I know the sing-songy poem-hymns are supposed to be pretty integral to the story, I found them distracting. Once the new characters in the story introduced began to intermingle with the more familiar characters from Oryx and Crake, I thought the book picked up and got more interesting. Of the two, I think Oryx and Crake is the more re-readable.

In addition to my new book, I also reread Lord of the Flies and Brave New World as I haven't looked at either book in easily sixteen years and was interested to see how well, for me, they've stood up. I remembered large sections of both but was surprised to realize I had completely forgotten both endings - I remembered a ton of detail and names but somehow my brain lost the ends. For February, I've started reading Jim Crace's The Pesthouse but am really finding the writing style to be an obstacle to getting into the story itself. I keep picking up old favorites from my shelf rather than The Pesthouse - I have to really make myself keep going with it.

Enough about books. I still haven't roasted a chicken.

As for my making something weekly, I've done tolerably well. I sent off a little watercolor painting for some friends to hang in their nursery for their soon-to-arrive bebe and I knitted hats for both my parents. I've done some sketching for a project I'm doing with a friend. I have done absolutely no writing at all. I have been practicing my banjo, though. CLAW ham-mer CLAW ham-mer CLAW ham-mer.

Haven't attempted a dessert but that may change soon since my mom brought me a big new cookbook that's really got my brain going, my hands itching, and my tummy growling.

I haven't yet tried to break the walking record but I've been at the gym a ton in preparation... okay, maybe not a ton, but three times a week easily.

As the the three new countries? Knocking two of those out in March - we're heading to Munich in a couple weeks and then I'm off to Milan for an overnight while I happily help Miz Asharah lug her dance-goodies to a workshop.

This one time, I totally spoke some French. Fer real.

And have I learned any German yet? As Mr K would say, in his best "Old Swiss Guy" impression...

NAY NAY NAAAAAAAAY.

What about you? How are your resolutions holding up?

Sledding

Waffle-opolis!

This past weekend we took advantage of both an Easyjet sale and my in-laws' hospitality and hopped a plane to (less-than) sunny Brussels for some frites, waffles, touristing, beer and family togetherness.

We arrived a couple hours later than we had planned thanks to flight delays but all of our travel-stress vanished as we were greeted with a Southwestern-inspired meatloaf and cheesy-chili-rice - mmmm!

The next day we all slept in a bit late. Once everyone was awake and dressed and fed, we ran some errands and did some shopping. We ended up at a huge culinary store that sold pretty much every food-related item available in the history of all things nom-worthy. Behind the butcher counter, a hoof beckoned from the Spanish ham it was still attached to. The muddled scents of the cheese counter almost knocked me blissfully out. Rumor has it the chocolate aisle glows with an inner light and someone mentioned hearing harps while passing through... but I couldn't make it past the cheese and chips and crackers. Among other things, I found red onion chutney kettle chips that were luscious as well as bacon-cream-stuffed crackers that we actually forgot to eat!!!

On Saturday we awoke in a more timely manner as we had "things to do" and "places to see." We figured out the bus and the subway and headed to the downtown area. We checked out the Grand Place before heading to the Musical Instrument Museum, which was really well done. Upon arrival, you're given a pair of headphones. As you walk from exhibit to exhibit, the headphones play bits of music related to the display you're looking at. In an effort to stall on our return to the cold just a bit longer, we had lunch at the museum's restaurant, where Mr K learned that "filet americain" is Belgian-French for "steak tartare" which is Switzerland-French for "MEGA raw cow - moo moo." Mega-tasty raw cow, that is...

After lunch, the parents headed back home to care for the doggies while Mr K and I went off in search of a brewery my touristy book mentioned was worth touring. We only had a vague idea of where to find it, so we did some wandering through some of the more colorful parts of the city before finding it. The first thing that hit me was the smell - like plants and rain and peppery mold, but in a pleasant, nose-tingling way. The tour was self-guided and finished with a taste of two of their beers. I'm not a beer drinker, so Mr K won out on this one as I took a sip of my two beers, made the requisite "yucko" face and passed them to him. We got a tee shirt and a pack of beer to take back and share with the parents and made our way home for dinner - mmmmm veggie soup!

On Sunday, we headed back out in search of the Comic Strip Museum. It was fascinating to see so many original pages by so many different artists - the shrunk-down printed page does not even begin to do justice to the colors and lines and details in these originals. Comics (generally of the non-super-hero variety) seem to be much more popular here. The book shop in our mall has a whole hallway of the large-sized hardback format that is the most popular here. Sadly, they are expensive - usually 15-20 dollars/francs per book - a far cry from the 2.50-4$ soft copies in the US. Despite the price, I'm tempted to pick up a few for the French practice. After the museum, we met a friend who showed off the Mannekin Pis before taking us to a pub, where Mr K tried a variety of beers while I sipped a couple of the fruitier variety. I was interested to find that each beer comes in its very own distinct glass, no two beers alike. Our favorite was the Kwak glass. After a couple hours of sipping and catching up, we went for a short, waffle-punctuated walk before heading home for some hot chili and a rousing loss-er-game of Trivial Pursuit, Ancient Edition. I forgot how much fun that game is, even when you have no idea what the answers are!

The next day we headed back to Switzerland, stopping first at possibly the greatest art supply store I have ever seen in my life. We left with only four new pens, thanks to our already-stuffed backpacks. (Oh yeah - I forgot to mention we took only backpacks this trip - I felt so Euro-backpackerly!) At the airport we took advantage of Switzerland's not being part of the EU to hit duty-free for some chocolates. Back home, we cuddled the cats and collapsed to dream of frites.

And waffles.

Swiss Cookbook "Vegetable Soup"

One of the treats Christmas brought me this year was the fabulous Betty Bossi Swiss Cookbook - in English, even! Betty Bossi, it was explained to me, is sort of like the Swiss equivalent of Betty Crocker - think home-cooked meals that are hard to mess up. The recipes in the book are divided by region and ranked by flags - three flags is what your Swiss grandma might make while one flag is a more modern take on traditional ingredients. Two flags is somewhere between those two. The first thing I did was flip to our region, where this vegetable soup recipe, a three flag, immediately caught me eye. As far as I can tell, this is basically Soupe de Chalet, which we absolutely love. Pasta, cheese, cream, spinach - what's not to love?

Vegetable Soup
Prep time - 40 minutes or so

1 TBSP butter
1 leek, white and light green thinly sliced
1 onion, finely chopped
1 kohlrabi, diced (I substituted a waxy potato, diced small)
1 carrot, diced
2 cups vegetable stock
2 ounces dried macaroni (about a quarter cup, uncooked) [I used whole wheat - it was tasty]
2 tablespoons milk
1 can of white beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup cream
3 1/2 ounces of baby spinach
2 ounces grated Gruyere (It's all about the cheese, so definitely spring for the Gruyere... though, honestly, cheddar would probably be nice, too - just not American Swiss cheese)

Melt butter. Cook leek and onion over medium-low until softened. Add kohlrabi (or potato) and carrots. Add stock and turn up heat. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about ten minutes. Add pasta and milk and bring back to a boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer for another ten minutes. Uncover and add beans, cream, spinach, cheese and warm through over low heat.

Season with pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.

PS I changed the measurements to a more US-friendly version... if you want the original grams and mls, let me know!

Resolutions are so boring...

... nonetheless, all two people who read this blog are about to be subjected to mine. Honestly, I've never been much for resolutionifying and this is probably the first time I've taken the trouble to write any down in years. The main reason I'm writing them here is to remind myself - feel free to send reminders of your own if (when) you catch me slacking off.

I want to read a new book every month - fiction or non-fiction, but I'm not talking grocery-store-best-sellers. I'll try to remember to tell you what I've picked and, afterwards, if it's any good.

I am going to roast a chicken - it's silly that I've never tried, but it's true! Feel free to send any tips and recipes if you have them.

I'm going to find something to blog about at least twice a month. I'll try to make it interesting.

I'm going to create something every week - be it a doodle, painting, crafted project or piece of writing. When my whatever doesn't turn out perfectly, I'm not going to worry about it.

I am going to hunt down and perfect "my" from-scratch go-to dessert. Then I'm going to make it all the time. Again, suggestions welcome.

I'm going to break my long-walk record of 12 miles in one go... 18 would be nice.

I'm going to visit three countries I haven't been to yet. (Already have two planned, so maybe this one is too easy?)

I AM GOING TO START SPEAKING SOME FRENCH ALREADY. Enough stalling. Maintenant!

I'm going to try to learn a little German while I'm at it because I should. Genau.

I'm sure I'll think of some more - and you?

Edit#1:

I'm going to make a skirt - and actually wear it.

Just a taste - or several

Back in Switzerland and behind on my blogging - as usual. We've recently returned from two weeks in the US, most of which we spent showing Dani and Steph as much of the "real" America as we could without either scarring them for life or convincing them to move... We did, saw, ate, and bought so much that, honestly, I'm just not sure where to start.

Which means - food. When all else fails, we start with food.

I'm just going to run through this in list format and will be back later to expand on the more memorable meals and activities - think of it as a "to-do-been-done" list. Or ignore this post and come back later for the meatier versions.

• Thursday Mr K and I arrive. Pick up rental car. Hit Chipotle. After Chipotle, Mr K goes back to hotel to pass out. I head to Falls Church to meet up with the amazing Asharah and see Amanda Palmer in concert. Go to bed at 2 AM after having been awake 30+ hours.
  

• Friday Dani and Steph arrive at Dulles from New Orleans. We pick them up, get them checked in and head to Uncle Julio's Rio Grande Cafe for margaritas and actual fajitas so they understand why we found the ones here so funny.

• Saturday we all head to the Mall to see some museums and monuments. We watched Dinosaurs 3-D IMAX. That night, we went to Texas de Brazil for a really spectacular dinner.

• Sunday Dani tries to recover from the spectacular meal. Steph helps. Mr K and I head to IHOP to brunch with our old gaming buddies. Dinnertime comes and Dani is still recovering. Steph joins us and some other friends for yummy dinner at an Irish Pub. Everyone else goes back to hotel while I head to IHOP for the second time that day to catch a late night (11-1 AM) dinner with my old boss.

• Monday everyone is recovered and it's time for some shopping - Leesburg Outlets. Pre-shopping sustenance provided by Panera Bread. Post-shopping recovery dinner care of Red Robin.

• Tuesday Dani and Steph sleep in while Mr K and I meet up with his coworkers for lunch. After lunch we return for Dani and Steph and head to air and space museum (Dulles version). Dinner Tuesday night is at a Japanese hibachi restaurant. Dani scores a 66% at aerial-shrimp-catching.

• Wednesday we breakfast at hotel and pile into the car to drive to York. Our luggage and the four of us just barely fit in our rented SUV. We arrive to hot pepperoni pizza, which we promptly destroy. We rest a short while and then pile back into cars to head to Reading for more fajitas and the Brian Setzer Holiday Extravaganza of Festive Ear Destruction (hee hee) courtesy of my dad - thanks dad! Great show but way louder than I expected. A holly jolly time was had by all.

• Thursday we woke up and skipped breakfast in preparation for the approaching Turduckengeddon. If you haven't tried one, do so - greatest turkey ever!

• Friday is spent in recovery. Leftovers for lunch and soup and salad for dinner.

• Saturday we polish off last of leftovers. dad shows us his fire trucks and ambulances (yay Super Truck!) Dani drives the Mustang and Steph drives the lawn tractor. Saturday night = Medieval Times - the most fun activity ever in the history of jousting-related mealtimes.

• Sunday Mr K and I head back to VA. We meet up with friends for "New Food Sunday" and I eat a tasty but complex sandwich involving a corn hoagie roll, smoked pork, lime crema, roasted peppers, jalapenos and cheese.

• Monday Dani and Steph head to New York. Mr K and I head to the dentist. Mr K retires to a bar for a short Happy Hour while I meet a friend for a super tasty Italian dinner. After dinner, I meet up with Mr K, who is continuing the short Happy Hour... for a couple more hours.

• Tuesday Mr K consumes some Gatorade, some Tylenol and a cheeseburger and is pronounced fit for duty, so we go shopping some more. We eat kebab at the Mall and we love it. Tuesday night we and another friend meet up with Papa C at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. we all wish Mama C could have been along. I eat a tasty pasta dish involving breaded chicken, pesto cream, prosciutto, and lemon-dressed arugula.

• Wednesday we wake up and pack, while continuing to eat my pasta dish from the night before. We pick up last minute items, mail packages, head to airport. Return rental car, check in, go through security. Drink. Buffalo chicken salad. Flight. Bulkhead seats - the galley light is bright.

• Thursday we land in Zurich. Eat Egg McMuffins. Grab groceries, catch train. Come home, snuggle cats, eat lunch. I pass out while Mr K unpacks.

Give or take a few more days for recovery and here we are!

That turned out much longer than I planned - I have a feeling there is much more writing to be done! What am I missing?

Swix-Mex

I haven't had much blog-worthy going on recently but that all changed last Friday, oh yes.

Last Friday we were invited to go for dinner at a new Tex-Mex restaurant in town. You might remember our last foray into Swissified Mexican food. Well, just over two years later, we were ready to try again and we were not let down.

The restaurant is located a short walk from our apartment and the first thing I noticed when we walked in was that it smelled wonderful. The next thing I noticed was that there were only four other people in the place despite it being eight on a Friday night. We went to our table and settled in. I got the giggles right away - on the table was a flyer advertising their Friday happy hour, which features "New York Hot Dogs" all-you-can-eat! The walls were painted a warm orange and decorated with "Californie," "Nouvelle Mexique," "Texas", "Kansas," and "Missouri" in beautiful olive-green painted text.

The real fun started with our drink order. Mr K and I introduced Steph to frozen margaritas when we kidnapped her from work a few weeks ago for a random happy hour. The waiter approached and asked what we would like for boissons. Before he even finished the question, Steph cries out "Margarita! Margarita!" The waiter furrowed his handsome brow in a look of confusion - a look we would be seeing much of that evening.

"No margaritas. Mojito? Caipirinha?" The waiter offered. That's right - the Tex-Mex place chose a Cuban cocktail and a Brazilian cocktail as their signature drinks...

We ladies opted for the mojitos while the boys drank bieres. Well, we tried to - a moment later we were informed there were no more mojitos...

While we looked over the menu, the waiter brought us two tiny plates holding 8-10 chips each and about a tablespoon of salsa. The most eye-catching items on the menu were the beef and pineapple fajitas (which I totally ordered) and the chicken fajitas with coconut and banana (which I totally considered). I was also particularly intrigued by the offering of chicken wings in the "Sandwichs" section. We tried to order the crazy chicken fajitas only to be told there was no chicken - and yet Steph's chicken chimichanga and Mr K's chicken burrito were available. Quelle cauchemar!

Overall, the food was pretty good in an entirely non-Tex-Mex way. A couple ingredients made me smile, including the use of yogurt sauce rather than sour cream. The fajitas were served with yogurt sauce, bitter greens, salsa and Parmesan cheese as well as both flour and corn tortillas.

Despite the oddity of the food, we all cleaned our plates. After dinner we went to the McDo for some sweets as the restaurant's dessert offerings weren't too enticing. While Steph and I enjoyed the Marron (chestnut) and Crumble Sundae (seriously swoon-worthy) Mr K and Dani opted for McFlurries, which Dani complimented with a cheeseburger.

With most meals, it's the company that makes it a memorable experience... this time it was the pineapple in the fajitas. Aiiee!

P.S. The company, of course, completely rocked as well.