Trends are there to be obeyed and so we finally cut back on carbs after dark... but there are the occasional daylight meals.
So later today we are invited to a birthday tea. Since we have never been to such an event we have no clue what is being served, we thought stocking up on carbs for lunch might not be the worst of ideas...
Penne with broccoli topped with cherry tomatoes slow fried in sage and butter from milk of Piedmontese cattle.
Eiertütsch is a good old Swiss Easter tradition. A kind of an affair of honour. It's about breaking each other's eggs. The challenged can choose the type of weapon - that is, if he prefers to go for little egg's endian versus little egg's endian of big versus big. The loser usually has the right to regain his honour by asking for a return match with the other endians. We are very passionate about this. Well as passionate as Swiss can get.
I haven't bored you with a recipe in a while, so I do it again. This time it's for chestnut stuffed paupiettes with mashed pumpkin and potatoes on the side.
I asked my butcher to cut me some thin slices of beef and Toño brought me some roasted chestnuts he got from a street vendor. The slices of beef we smeared with mustard, added a slice of ham, thinly sliced leek and onions, topped it with rough crumbs of chestnut, and seasoned with salt and pepper. Seas Everything was rolled to nice paupiettes.
The paupiettes were briefly fried and then removed, the remains in the pan were used to make the sauce with flour, white wine, beef stock, thyme and rosemary. When the sauce was boiling, the paupiettes and the remaining stuffing was added again and braised for 50 minutes.
For the mashed potatoes, we replaced a third of the mass by pumpkins, which we processed together with the potatoes.
The last about four weeks have been a complete disaster. It was far too cold and far too wet. But finally for Pentecost, the weather changed its mind and gave sun a chance.
We used this opportunity to complete the plant scheme for this summer. Only the chilli plants are missing. They will follow next week. Then we are ready.
I finally made it back from India on Friday. Lufthansa's booking system was a tiny bit overstretched with the situation and indicated my booking often as cancelled (though not always), however, everything went just fine.
Thus I could enjoy an almost summer like weekend, however, our balcony was far from ready for summer.
I like to store certain things on the balcony of our residence. We haven't got a cubby, so there is no alternative place for gardening tools, bike maintenance tools and garbage to for recycling.
The problem is, that there are hardly any durable outdoor storage furniture available. As a (too long term) intermediate solution I once bought these really cheap plastic chest of drawers, which really have fallen into ruin.
After a long quest and over-stretching Toño's patience, I finally came across Container DS, which were designed by Kuno Nüssli for MAGAZIN®.
This sideboard system is inspired by oversea freight containers and thus is made of durable metal. It is not an outdoor furniture but it should be fit for the task.
We spent all Saturday cleaning the balcony, getting rid of waste, re-potting plants and potting new herbs. Now summer may come :)
Tonight, a tweet harmless tweet by Borstal Boy sent me heavily down memory lane.
It took not long that I came to The The's Love Is Stronger Than Death which is such a wonderful song for being in love in spring time :)
Lovelovelove Lovelovelove
Me & my friend were walking In the cold light of mourning. Tears may blind the eyes but the soul is not deceived In this world even winter aint what it seems.
Here come the blue skies here comes springtime. When the rivers run high & the tears run dry. When everything that dies. Shall rise.
Lovelovelove is stronger than death. Lovelovelove is stronger than death.
In our lives we hunger for those we cannot touch. All the thoughts unuttered & all the feelings unexpressed Play upon our hearts like the mist upon our breath. But, awoken by grief, our spirits speak How could you believe that the life within the seed That grew arms that reached And a heart that beat. And lips that smiled And eyes that cried. Could ever die?
Here come the blue skies here comes springtime. When the rivers run high & the tears run dry. When everything that dies. Shall rise.
Lovelovelove is stronger than death. Lovelovelove is stronger than death.
I'm quite a snob when it comes to ingredients. Freshness rules. There is an almost complete ban on cans in our kitchen. However there is an exception that proves the rule: peeled tomatoes.
In Switzerland it is impossible to get full flavoured tomatoes between September and July. Luckily, some producers harvest these kind of tomatoes in places that are blessed with more sun, monder them and put them with all the flavour into cans. I'm so grateful they do this. How would we get through September to July without them?
Sometimes changes are a bit too steep. Only last Friday, I was wading through snow in North Jutland, and today we already enjoyed our first balcony lunch of the year in short sleeves and shorts (6.3°C/43.3°F, blaring sunshine).
And yes, we have already some disagreement on this year's planting scheme, although there are still 3 months to go until the Icy Saints, which usually mark planting season.
And yes, there is also a bit sorrow, when I think of all the books I'd planned to read during the long and cold winter nights. But I should not count the chickens before they are hatched. Snow might come back any time.
What would Christmas be without Christmas films on TV. My all time favourite in that category is the Czech-German fairy-tale film Tři oříšky pro Popelku (Three Nuts for Cinderella).
I've just reseached the screening hours and channels for the rest of this week:
Today, the fabulous Pet Shop Boys released their Christmas EP. Of course I rushed to my on-line CD store of trust to order it immediately after Jon tweeted it, only to learn that the delivery time is 2 weeks. Yes, this is like after Christmas. What is the _______ point of this?
I actually might have to get it from the iTunes store :/
Today, we can celibate St Nicholas (Nicholas of Myra, Patron Saint of children). St Nicholas is popularly called Samichlaus in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. He appears not on Christmas Eve or Day, but on December 6. Samichlaus is accompanied by a character called Schmutzli on his visits to children.
On his visits, Samichlaus reviews the children's behaviour since his last visit. Dressed in red, he reads their good and bad deeds out of a big book. Schmutzli is dressed in black and his job is to be Samichlaus' executioner. Schmutzli carries both a cane and a big sack filled with mandarins, nuts and chocolate.
If the children behaved well, they are given some goodies out of sack, however, if not, their butt might get to know the cane or if they were really bad, Schmutzli might even put them into sack and take them back to the dark forest. To prevent this fate, the children try to pacify Samichlaus at the beginning of the visit by reciting chumming verses.
I don't expect Toño to have ordered Samichlaus for later today to review my last year's behaviour. Nevertheless, he got us a Grittibänz each.
I have no idea why, but this kind of man shaped bread is also eaten on this day. If you follow the etymological roots of the name Grittibänz, it translates to old man with spread legs. Whatever, they are really scrumptious.
For readers from the U.S. of A. this might be a humble reference to Christmas. For our culture (which even bans minarets) it's way over the top. Inside the bakery, it's even worse (I did not dare to take pictures there).
Our baker has a passion for American style decoration and American style cars, but unfortunately not for bread. Which is really a pity, since I so like good bread. So I have to walk to further afar and less illuminated places to get my fix.
It is nasty when the days get shorter, the temperature drops* and the fog is all you see of the world. But there are things I always look forward to in November, like cutting the first pear bread.
We waited a long time but now summer seams finally to have arrived with sudatory heat during the day and the occasional cooling thunderstorm towards the evening. We had no choice but to adapt our diet to the new conditions. Here are three summer dishes and a desert we enjoyed this weekend. All take no time to make so there remains sufficient time to enjoy the summer.
Refreshing Pasta
Make the best penne you can get (made solely of durum wheat semolina and water!). Finely chop a glove of garlic, fry it in a bit of olive oil. Add sliced cherry tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Fry for a few minutes and add chopped basil leafs. Mix everything to the penne and let it rest for a few minutes. Wine: Castello San Sano, Chianti Classico, 2005
Rags Soup
The red and white radish and the cucumber are marinated in a vinaigrette. This makes them a bit floppy, and thus this salad is probably called Rags Soup. Add sufficiently aged Tilsiter cheese and serve it with boiled potatoes and you can't fail. Apparently this is a dish from the area where I grew up, but I don't think my mother ever made it. I like it anyway. Wine: Raventós i Blanc, L'hereu riserva brut, 2006, Cava
Татьяна's mother sent us some cans of sprat from Udmurtia in Russia (they were bought not caught in Udmurtia, since it's landlocked). We served them on Russian style cut bread, smetana, gherkins, cucumbers and tomatoes. Wine: Kyperounda, Petritis, 2008.
Strawberries
Don't forget, strawberry season will soon be over. I like then freshly cut with some raspberry & strawberry ice cream by Mövenpick and a dash of port wine.
