Things I Love This Week

Some weeks are easier than others. This was not one of those. Fortunately there are still little things that bring moments of pure joy. Thus I can say, I love this week too. 

• Making mini chocolate cupcakes with coconut cream cheese frosting
• Belle and Sebastian's latest album, Write About Love - like you stepped into the sounds of a Wes Anderson film. 
• Meatballs from Ikea
• Walking to the farm, buying fresh eggs, and then promptly eating them all for lunch. Nothing like toast and fried eggs in the middle of the day.
• Feeding leaves to the goats next door. I crack up every time. Those crazy goats will eat anything.
• The sights along my walk: wildflowers, cows with clanking bells lazily chewing cud, the horses that always stop what they're doing, ensemble, to watch me run by. I like to think it's my excellent form, but it's probably because I always wave and shout "BONJOUR, LES CHEVAUX!" (Translation: HEY HORSES!) as I pass.
• Getting new piano music in the mail
• After a shower, drying my hair in the sun
• My new navy v-neck sweater from H&M. Less about the sweater and more about only paying 14 CHF for it.  I feel like I cheat the Swiss economy every time I buy something on the cheap.
• Being happy purely because something good happened to another person
• This article in the New Yorker on social activism and social media. Summary: tweeting about the need for clean water in 3rd world countries is not as effective as going to Kenya and digging a well.

Keeping it short because I have other posts up my sleeve. Sorry for the lack of pictures. Haven't taken any new ones in the last week.

Smile like you mean it.

Recipe: Pumpkin and Bacon Quiche

Quiche à la courge et aux lardons
(Thanks Audrey for the translation!)

Quiche with pumpkin and bacon

26 oz (750 grams) of pumpkin puree
9 oz (250 grams) of diced bacon
4 eggs
3/4 cup (150 ml) milk
7 tblspoons (100 grams) of melted butter

• Boil or steam the pumpkin, drain and mash. 
• Mix melted butter with the eggs until well mixed. 
• Stir in pumpkin puree and milk.
• Lightly fry the bacon, dice, and add to pumpkin mix. 
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Spread over uncooked pie crust and bake about 45 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius (~392 degrees Fahrenheit)

Type of pumpkin to use: butternut, potimarron, buttercup, Sweet Mama

Feel free to use a premade pie crust or the recipe below:

Basic Pie Crust:

7 tblspoons (100 g) unsalted butter

200 gr flour

2 eggs 

1 pinch of salt 

A bit of water

• Pour flour and salt on the table and make a well in the center
• Cut the butter into pieces. Add to flour and mix well.
• Break eggs in the middle of the dough and mix until soft. Add a bit of flour or water if needed.
• Break the dough with your hands and knead until it does not stick to your fingers.
• Let rest for 2 hours before using. Can be stored in the fridge or freezer for later use.

This is light and delicious and perfect for any meal. Enjoy!

How Gruyere Cheese is Made

Ok so I am a huge nerd (this is not news) and I am really interested in how things are made. This goes for pretty much everything. With the exception of hot dogs and other meat products. No thanks, I've read The Jungle, I think I've got the gist of the beef industry.

In fact when I used to babysit back in the States, one of the families I worked for had a billion TV channels and late at night I'd watch...the Science channel. Purely to watch episodes of "How It's Made". Not joking. Ask me how down comforters and golf balls are made.

So last weekend my host family took me and my first ever visitor (!!) to the village of Gruyere to see how they make the world-famous cheese. And since clearly you all would also want to know how it's made, I'm going to share it with you. With pictures.

Here's the heart of the factory. The big copper vats are for stirring and heating the milk. They only use milk from Swiss cows and they heat and stir for hours and hours, adding in a curdling agent.

After the curdling process, they take out the curds and press them in the round metal containers, to separate out the whey (a by-product) and create the big wheels.

When the pressurizing is finished, they remove the wheels to a salt bath where they soak for 24 hours to absorb a large portion of the salt and take on a lot of their flavor. Here is the salt room.

This is when it officially becomes cheese. Then the wheels are removed to a storage cellar where they sit and age. Every day for the first 90 days, a little robotic machine removes each wheel, coats it in brine, flips it over and puts it back. 

 

The cheese is ready to be eaten after 3 months but can be allowed to age up to 9 or 10 months for a stronger flavor. They sell the cheese in all ages.  Personally I like it mild.  Although this type of cheese is made all over the world, only cheese from this factory is allowed to be actually called Gruyere. So unless you see "Made in Switzerland", the cheese you're buying is not technically Gruyere.

The final step is to take pictures in the face cut-outs in front of the factory. Obviously.

So there you are. It's a good cheese for melting (particularly fondue) and also good for grating and serving over other things. The Swiss eat a LOT of it. I'm more of a soft cheese person myself but it's a good hard cheese. 

Ok class, wake up now, that's the end of the lecture. So what'd you think?

Things I Love This Week

Happy Saturday!

Letters and Packages - for real this time. In a week I received them from three different people! I guess my online pleas worked. Thanks to Mom, Ariana, and Danielle!

Travel Plans - Taking a mini vacation to the UK at the beginning of November. I'm excited for this for a few reasons. I will be
a) visiting family
b) there for Guy Fawkes night
b) celebrating Thanksgiving with a few other American/Canadian ex-pats
c) visiting a primarily English speaking country

Grooveshark - three cheers for the only ad-free music streaming service that works in Switzerland! Both Pandora and Blip.fm fail in this.

This. Nothing like ridiculous internet humor to lift me out of a blue mood. Thanks for sharing Jillian!


Also this. A spoof on the Old Spice "Real Man" ad. Watch here first if you haven't seen it.

I heart Sesame Street.

Little Bits

• Taking pictures in a real photo booth in a train station
• Waking up to find video messages in my inbox.
• Seeing/learning how Gruyere cheese and Cailler chocolate are made
• Eating a traditional Swiss meal - raclette!
• Sleeping in
• Driving through the vineyards by the lake when all the leaves are just starting to turn
• How my full name sounds when spoken in a French accent - so cool
• A really excellent recipe for pumpkin quiche - if you like pumpkin and quiche, then you'll love this!
• Apple season

Hey, SMILE. You're alive and it's the weekend! 

Day 32 - My Favorite Dinosaur

Source

Have a fantastic Friday!