Norway: Oslo

Our trip to Norway was 10 days long, and we split our time between its cities, fjords, and islands as we made our way up and down this comically long, skinny country. We visited Norway's three largest cities, all of which felt tiny and adorable compared to, say, Munich (which feels tiny and adorable compared to, say, Berlin or New York). Much like Swiss cities, they were all very clean and safe, and full of friendly yet reserved folks who tended to speak English better than I did.



We flew in and out of Oslo, so it got to be our first and last impression of the country. We enjoyed walking around and getting a feel for the city, exploring the different neighborhoods and admiring the views. The highlight for me was definitely Vigeland Park, home of Olav the Babykicker and hundreds of other wacky sculptures of naked people in various combinations and poses. Although the park itself was free, it cost us a good 12 euros in public transport to get there and back. That was one of our first hints that Norway might not be quite so afjordable.*



Another fun activity involved walking around on the opera house, a delicious piece of interactive architecture located on the water. We found that almost everything in Norway is located on water of some sort. Take our first-night hotel, the MS Innvik, a boat parked in the harbor near the train station (location was key, since we had a 6:30am train to catch). Although the boat's cafe was fun (and featured the least-expensive beer we saw the whole trip), our room wasn't exactly fabulous. The teeny-tiny cabin featured bunk beds, a private bathroom with shower, and a porthole with a gorgeous view of the opera house. It was my least-favorite accommodation of the trip (despite the novelty factor), but given that my first choice for a hotel was rumored to have bedbugs, I think the MS Innvik was a good place to stay.

For most of our trip to Norway, we attempted to save money on food by picnicking or eating take-out. This strategy was in sharp contrast to our usual vacation eating, which tends to involve gorging ourselves on all the finest local cuisine available, not paying attention to the fact that we are never going to be able to retire because we are spending every penny we earn at restaurants. But that's because we usually vacation in places (Italy, Japan, New York) where the food is one of the main attractions. Not so with Norway, whose regional specialties include pickled fish, smurf candy, and various organs of game animals. Given that I'm a vegetarian, I was more than happy to skip the pricey restaurants serving these things in order to have more money left for black licorice and 10-euro beers.

On our very last evening, we decided to actually have a nice meal out for once, and splurged on dinner at the Grand Cafe (whose prices seemed entirely reasonable after a week in Norway). The atmosphere was a little hoity-toity, but the food and service were good.

For our last night, we stayed at the Bondenheim Hotel in Oslo. It was entirely respectable, in a good area with lots of stuff around. Good breakfast buffet, too (which on this particular day happen to be full of Americans wearing cowboy hats and speaking in funny accents between sips of their breakfast beers). It was a pretty good deal compared to our other accommodation in Norway. My only beef with them is that the hotel's website claims that the airport bus stops right outside the hotel, which is simply not true. It was a short, easy walk of several blocks. Liars.

I really wish we had had the chance to visit the Munch Museum in Oslo, but alas our time in the city was too short. I bet it would have been a scream.

Next up... fjords!

* Scott came up with this word during our trip, and was extremely proud of himself for it. Extremely proud.

Are tomatoes supposed to have noses?

Cute, isn't he?

Our balcony garden is still amazing and delighting us. In exchange for a little watering now and then, it continues to offer up edible delicacies. The zucchinis are still producing (though slowing down a bit as they outgrow their pots), and tomato season is in full swing. I've harvested about 50 so far, but only one has had facial features. I suppose that's a good thing?

The peas are not pleased with the heat that we've been having, but they're still producing a little bit here and there. There are about a gazillion peppers on the pepper plants, and we've had three to eat so far. The recently-planted spinach is doing nicely, although the arugula does not seem interested in producing more leaves since it was harvested the first time.

Mmmmm, city life definitely agrees with me.

As overheard at our table at an Indian restaurant

Indian-food novice who shall remain anonymous: "Now is this that non-garlic bread you ordered? Because I taste garlic."

Chocolate chips for expats

As ubiquitous as they are in the US, chocolate chips are practically unheard-of in the rest of the world's supermarkets. Sometimes the clever expat must improvise:

1. Unwrap a bunch of dark chocolate bars (extra bonus step - freeze them first)
2. put them in a ziplock bag and seal it
3. break up the chocolate in the manner of your choosing (drop the bag on the floor several times, take a wooden mallet to it, etc. etc. Be creative!)

This little tip isn't new... in fact American expats have been making their own chocolate chips using this method for decades, if not centuries. But when a fresh-off-the-boat gal from Florida asked me about chocolate chips the other day, it reminded me that not everyone knows this ancient expat secret.

Here's a little bonus tip: in place of brown sugar, use white sugar plus a tablespoon or so of molasses. Now go forth and make cookies to dazzle your host countrymen!

Bonus tip #2: don't even think of using those vanilla-flavored sugar packets sold in Germany as a substitute for vanilla extract. In my experience, real vanilla extract is one of the very few food items still worth smuggling over from the US. Unless you live in Zurich and can buy it at El Maiz, that is. If someone has a source in Munich that isn't absurdly expensive, please share!

I made these cookies for our Eurovision party tomorrow night. I can hardly wait! I think so far Azerbaijan is my favorite, but I haven't finished watching part two of the semifinals yet. How can you not love this act?

Quick, name a "short, stumpy banger loved by the Swiss"

You'll find the answer (well, one possible answer) in this article about the dire shortages faced in Switzerland in the lead-up to the Euro 2008 (soccer championships).

Article found via A Swiss Story.

In which we find a use for our balcony

My husband and I have never been plant people. Given the frequency with which we travel (and move), plants just never seemed to be worth the effort. My attempts to grow things and keep them alive have been limited to basil plants and the odd oregano. That is, until now.


A couple weekends ago we headed to the local Praktiker to pick up some pots and dirt with the intention of growing an extended herb garden. Our new apartment has a small south-facing balcony which gets too much sun for me to ever want to sit on it, so we might as well put something else out there, we reasoned. Then we came across the little seedling plants on display. Tomatoes and peppers and zucchini, oh my! And suddenly the idea of growing my own vegetables sounded like the most awesome thing ever. We bought up a bunch of plants, a few pots, and some dirt, and headed home.

A little internet research revealed how foolish and naive we had been, expecting to fit all those plants into relatively few pots. Who knew tomatoes needed so much space per plant? Not willing to give up on our foolishly-purchased little seedlings so easily, it was back to the store for more pots and dirt. Then an afternoon of planting, and voila!, we had an adorable little balcony vegetable garden underway.

The plants are all growing well, and I couldn't be prouder of them. See that zucchini plant flowering? I did that! And what's this, some teeny tiny strawberries? That was me! OMG, is that the start of a green pepper? Growing? On my balcony? This is the coolest feeling ever. Life, I am a giver of life!

The thing is, now I'm kind of getting addicted. I need more. I came across a big display of seeds in the grocery store yesterday, and I started salivating as I gleefully picked out packets that could be planted in May. Arugula, radishes, carrots, peas, lettuce... I can grow these, too? It was all I could do to keep from jumping up and down and clapping in the store.

So today it was back to the home store for more pots. And a spade and a watering can. Oh yeah, we're getting hard-core now. The cash going into this new little passion is starting to add up, too. But the way I figure it, zucchini flowers sell for up to a euro apiece at the farmers' market; so if our three plants each produce, say, 70 flowers each, we'll have easily made our money back. And we'll be eating a whole lot of stuffed zucchini flowers this summer. Yum.

Italy trip highlights: Eating Tuscany

After Rome, we rented a car and headed north to Niki de Saint Phalle's Tarot Garden (a definite highlight) and then continued on to Tuscany. While I'd been to Siena and Florence before, this was actually my first time out into the small hill towns of Tuscany. Now that I've had a taste, I can't wait to go back.

We spent our days exploring a series of little Tuscan hill towns, each more adorable than the last. And naturally, we ate very, very well. The regional specialties of note included pici, a thick home-made spaghetti-like pasta, and local pecorino, a cheese made from sheep's milk which seemed to be absolutely everywhere we looked (including at breakfast). It is milder than pecorino romano, and is sometimes enhanced with truffle or other flavors. I think every single thing I ate in Tuscany was delicious. The restaurant highlights:



Borgobuio (Montepulciano) - the google-translatored English menu outside had us in stitches, but since it came on a good recommendation, we decided to go inside anyway. Borgobuio's decor is fabulously over-the-top, as is its owner Pier, who provided the dinner-time entertainment. He spent time with each and every table, chatting, joking, boasting about his food and lamenting the lack of guests. I was called on from across the room to help interpret for a couple from California who spoke no Italian. Pier has every right to be proud of his food, which was just fabulous. I forgot to take notes this evening, but I remember starting with a scrumptious chick pea and broccoli appetizer and then some sort of pici. And a side of baked radicchio, I think it was. All scrumptious.

Trattoria Diva e Maceo (Montepulciano) - highlights included the tortellone con fonduta di pecorino e pepe (melted pecorino and pepper) and the pici with porcini mushrooms. Even the side dish of beet greens was delicious!

La Porta (Montecchiello) - small, cute locale serving heavenly food. Friendly staff. Polenta with melted pecorino and mushrooms, sformato di zucca (kind of like a souffle with squash and cheese), canellini al fiasco (beans with olive oil). Sooooo good.



Antica Osteria da Divo (Siena) - this place was our second choice for dinner in Siena, but unfortunately our first choice was closed for a private party that evening. Osteria da Divo was an interesting little place. Very elegant, inside a very old, grotto-like room. The food was the high-concept small-portion (a little pricey) type. It was slightly disappointing, but only because other restaurants had set the bar so high.

Man, I'm hungry.

Italy trip highlights: Eating Rome

We had no specific goals for our 1.5 days in Rome, except to eat well and relax. My last several trips to Rome were on business, so it was nice to reestablish this city as a place of leisure. There wasn't any advanced planning involved beyond the hotel. It was nice. Especially the food.

All three restaurants we ate at this time came via an old copy of Fodor's Italy. I'm usually not one to rely exclusively on guidebooks, but Fodor's did us quite well on this particular trip.

Ditirambo - near Campo dei Fiori, we were a little skeptical of this cavernous locale when we arrived to find the only other patrons were a large group of old German men. Skepticism soon gave way to marvel; my appetizer of burratina (a soft cheese sort of like mozzarella) millefoglie with sundried tomato pesto was insanely amazing. I will remember that dish for a long, long time.

Arancia Blu - the first thing that struck me was the gorgeous, cozy interior; the second was the elaborate vegetarian menu. From our experience, the tasting menu is the way to go. So many delicious flavors. It was a bit of a hike from Termini, but the neighborhood was quite vibrant with nightlife.

Margutta Vegetariano - Italian vegetarian restaurants two nights in a row! Could life get any better? Margutta seemed to be having some service problems the evening we were there, given that we overheard complaints from the tables on either side of us. Although a couple of our (many) courses took a little too long to arrive, we otherwise found the meal itself to be fabulous. Each dish on the extensive tasting menus we ordered was delicate, artful, and yummy. The chic modern decor was also quite impressive. But what I really want to know is, who spends so much time and effort on a restaurant's food and presentation, but then can't be bothered to put a seat on the freakin' toilet? Seriously, people. Despite the menacing unseated peeing arrangements and slightly slow service, our overall experience at Margutta was quite stellar.

In contrast to the guidebook-recommended restaurants, the gelato we ate was chosen purely based on my gelatodar (like gaydar, but for gelato), a skill I have honed through much practice, and which almost never fails. Subtle cues such as the colors, the signage, and the number of locals in line are all part of my elaborate system for sussing out the best gelato around.

Gelateria San Crispino - if a gelateria is so cocky as to not even pile its gelato up for display, there's a good chance that the flavor speaks for itself. The shiny covered containers at Gelateria San Crispino drew us in, and the exotic flavors got us pushing to the front of the line. Flavors like honey whisky, ginger cinnamon, and pear sorbet. Mmmmm.

Fior di Luna - here I went for my old standby gelato order: chocolate and pistachio. Pistachio is a very hit-or-miss flavor. Done well, it's heavenly; done poorly, it's not even worth my time. This is why gelatodar is so important. Fior di Luna passed the pistachio test.

name unknown - on the Isola Tiberia in the middle of the Tiber river, this gelateria looked unassuming, but offered up a solid version of my all-time favorite flavor: dark chocolate chili. Mmmm again.


Did we do anything in Rome besides eat? Yes, a little. Mostly we wandered around, soaking up the atmosphere. The Pantheon was a treat as always. And given that La Dolce Vita is one of my all-time favorite movies, a swing by the (insanely tourist-overrun) Trevi Fountain was practically predestined. We considered going into St. Peter's, but given the long line we opted for people-watching in the piazza instead (easy to do when you've been inside multiple times before). I love vacations with no obligations!

Italy trip highlights: First impressions

I better get blogging about the details of our Italy trip before I start to forget them...



Let me preface this post by saying that I know Italy well. I've spent approximately two and a half years in the country. Since moving away in 2005, I've gone back many times. But still, my perspective is ever-changing. My brain constantly compares places to each other, and the reference point keeps shifting as I move about. Things that used to be normal parts of life now strike me as odd. Take my first impressions from this most recent trip...

We flew into Rome. The airport was run-down, hot, and dirty, and it took what felt like an eternity to get our luggage. It seemed like we had arrived in a 3rd-world country. Well, 2nd world, at least. The impression did not improve as we made our way through dirty corridors with broken glass where advertisements would normally be, nor when we arrived at the airport's train station and found an abandoned, graffiti-covered old train parked on one of the two functioning tracks. Having a few minutes to kill before a real train showed up, we wandered into the bar for a coffee.

The second the dark, thick espresso touched my lips, all was forgiven. So what if Swiss airports are modern and spotless? Who cares how efficient the Munich S-Bahns are? When has any other country produced anything so delicious in the history of the world? My mood was suddenly elated, and my mouth watered as I anticipated all the other flavors to come on this trip...

Dear restaurateurs of Munich,

Please stop using Flash on your websites. It's a pain in the ass. I come to your site to check out your menu and find out where you're located, not to watch a multimedia presentation extravaganza that bogs down my computer. And if it takes me more than one click to get to your address, you're doing something very, very wrong.

Otherwise, keep up the good work. I'm especially impressed by the number of vegetarian offerings you have that involve actual vegetables, rather than just potatoes and cheese.

Love,

Jul

(photo: super yummy vegetarian sushi at Prinz Myshkin, which is one of my favorite restaurants ever despite their website)

In which I achieve Bavarian culinary genius with the aid of my freezer

Before we even moved here I had noticed the vast superiority of Bavarian cheesy pretzels to their Swiss counterparts. But never did I dream that a yet more delicious version of cheesy pretzels existed.

Let me back up a bit and tell you about our freezer situation. Unlike in the US, freezers do not seem to be considered an essential kitchen feature in much of Europe. In Zurich, our freezer was about the size of a shoe box, and could hold a couple ice cube trays and about one package of frozen food. The entire refrigerator was smaller than what you would find in a typical college dorm room in the US.

Here in Munich, the refrigerator that came with the apartment didn't have a freezer at all. Obviously this wouldn't do at all, as ice is a staple of my diet. So we bought a freezer. It's still small compared to what you would find in an American home, but it's freakin' huge compared to what we had in Switzerland. So to celebrate its arrival, I went for a long stroll through the freezer aisle at the grocery store, marveling at all the exciting stuff that was now available to me. Frozen berries, frozen veggies... what's this? Frozen pretzel dough? Into to the cart!

OK, now cheesy pretzels from the bakery are one thing, but cheesy pretzels fresh out of my own oven, with melting cheese oozing all over the place, are a little slice of heaven.

Munich: random thoughts for the day #3

• German raclette cheese is not the same as Swiss raclette cheese. The German version is much, much stinkier.

• We did a quick-and-dirty blind taste test of 3 locally-available Weissbiers the other day (why only 3? Because that's how many Weissbier glasses we have at home. Yes, we need more): both Paulaner and Franziskaner were deemed to be highly drinkable, while Erdinger disappointed. But I still love our Erdinger soccer ball glass.

• Interesting article about how the Holocaust is being taught in German schools these days: No Laughs, No Thrills, and Vilians All Too Real.

• I know it's from a McDonald's commercial, but I can't help but love the word Schmektakel.

Munich: random thoughts for the day #2

• Who the hell convinced the Germans that orange cheese-like-food in a spray can is an essential part of the American diet? This stuff makes an appearance in every single "American Foods" section of every single grocery store in all of Germany. This is not a new thing, either - I remember seeing spray cheese at the KaDeWe in Berlin way back in the 90s, when their American food section consisted of little more than that, marshmallow fluff, Dr. Pepper, and DM10 jars of salsa. What do you think it would take to get the international food stockers to forgo the cheese in favor of some real American essentials, like vanilla extract and peanut butter cups?

• I'd just like to mention how cool it is to live in a neighborhood (and city, for that matter) which has more than two grocery store chains (I'm looking at you, Zurich). Oh, the choices!

• The Germans just won't quit until beer really is good for you. I like that.

• All I can say is kudos, CNN, for breaking the latest Britney Spears news even before MTV did (um, not that I've been sitting around watching Date My Mom all afternoon or anything like that...). That's some quality international reporting right there.

• This beautiful building? Oh, that's just our neighborhood swimming pool.

Bozeman, Montana: me likey

Still in Montana, having a fabulous time. We spent a day in Bozeman, which I found to be an absolutely charming little town. Not to outdo the NYT guy, but we covered quite a lot of ground during our short visit:

• Lunch at Pickle Barrel, a famous Montana chain of sandwich shops. I kind of liked the lack of options offered - only one kind of bread, no design-your-own million options, just "do you want everything on that or not?" My cheese and veggie sandwich was delightful.
  
  
• Wandering Main Street, browsing some stores and art galleries, and admiring the octopus-like Christmas decorations. While tempted by the delightful assortment of guns and hunting supplies on offer, we managed to resist making any purchases.
  
  
• Coffee at The Leaf and Bean. Comfy little espresso bar with an extensive tea selection, fresh juices, and cute gifts.
  
  
• The Museum of the Rockies, a short, snowy car ride from Main Street. Dinosaurs, bats, Native Americans, and Ansel Adams photographs. Lots of fun.
  
  
• Drinks at Montana Ale Works, a great bar, restaurant, and pool hall on Main Street. Loved the extensive beer menu. And since it was happy hour, pints of yummy local ales were $2.50. Which is about, what, a euro these days?
  
  
• Dinner and more drinks at Plonk. My friend Peter (who lives in Bozeman) described this place as the hippest spot in Montana, and I believe he could be right. My fresh basil ginger martini-like thing (I forget the name of the drink) was awesome. The food was fabulous, too.
  

Definitive proof of Bavaria's culinary dominance over Zurich

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... the cheesy pretzel.

First, Zurich's version:

A dry, almost stale pretzel which has been sliced opened, buttered, and filled with a couple of cold slices of cheese (which, as you'll notice, are nowhere near pretzel-shaped, leaving one with many bites that include only cheese or buttered cheese).

And now the Bavarian version:

A giant, fresh pretzel with... you'll never believe this was possible... cheese MELTED ON TOP OF IT! All I can say is yum yum yum yum yum yum yum. I know what I'll be living off of for the next year.

You might also notice that this Bavarian giant cheesy pretzel costs less than the regular-sized Swiss cheesy pretzel, proving that this amazing technology isn't even cost-prohibitive. I'm considering offering a scholarship to some Swiss bakers to come up here and study the top-secret cheesy pretzel methods of the Bavarians. Any takers?

Posted from Munich.

Mmmm.... winter

When we weren't pulling our hair out trying to plan travel this weekend, we were off enjoying some lovely winter-like activities. Zurich is a fabulous place to be in the winter, assuming you like, um, winter. I am sorry we will be leaving before the real winter starts, but at least we are getting a little tease now.

Fondue season was declared officially open on Saturday. I think raclette season is right around the corner. Sure we'll be bringing our fondue pot and raclette grill with us to our next home, but what if these treats don't taste as good when you're not physically located in Switzerland? Best to eat as much melted cheese as physically possible while we're still in the country, just to be safe.

On Sunday morning we woke up early and went ice skating at Dolder. Environmentalists are unhappy with the fact that Zurich's outdoor rinks have opened despite unseasonably warm weather, since it's awfully inefficient to make all that ice. But if Al Gore can travel by private jet, I certainly get to take a little spin around the ice every once in a while. It was glorious. The rink was pretty deserted for a weekend, with the exception of some intense curling (matches? games?) going on in a roped-off section of ice. Given that it was before noon, we resisted the Gluehwein on offer in the snack bar, but it was tempting...

The wintery weekend was topped off with some roasted chestnuts. Now I'm just crossing my fingers that Coop will start selling Zimtsterne before we move away. Sometimes it doesn't take very much at all to make me happy.

Score one for butter awareness

They spread it on sandwiches by the gallon. They slather it on pretzels by the kilo. But apparently, the Swiss are just not consuming enough butter.

Their butter levels have become so dangerously low, in fact, that the Swiss Butter Council* has decided to intervene. To increase local butter awareness, the SBC has implemented an aggressive ad campaign to let the public know about how very natural eating copious amounts of butter really is.**

Thanks to TQE's recent buttery post for reminding me to bring this important subject to my readers' attention. Now go spread butter on something and eat it. Or your skin will turn unnaturally brown. Or something.


* OK, so I made this part up. There is no such thing as the Swiss Butter Council, at least as far as I know. The people behind the campaign are the mysterious butter.ch folk. Be sure to stop by their site and play the buttermeter game. Increase your butter levels today!
** At the very least, it's more natural than wearing metallic bikini underwear.

Fondling food in the darkness

Last night we crossed another item off the things-we-should-do-in-Switzerland-but-haven't-gotten-around-to-yet list: dining in the dark. Apparently dark restaurants are becoming quite trendy these days, but Zurich's Blinde Kuh (German for 'Blind Cow') was the very first of them.

I found myself giddily excited while anticipating the evening, something which almost never happens to me. We arrived at the church-like restaurant and placed our bags, umbrellas, and cell phones (anything with a light is banned) into lockers in the entry way. In the (well-lit) foyer, we were told to choose our food from a menu projected onto the wall. We were also told our server's name (Elisabeth), and instructed to call out for her if we ever needed anything once inside. We then lined up conga-style to be led into the darkness.

We were led through one set of heavy curtains to a slightly darkened area, where our waitress and guide paused to let us adjust a bit and talk to us (she started in Swiss German but was happy to switch to High German or English for us). She reiterated that we should call her name and wait for an answer if we needed anything, and to let her know immediately if we didn't feel well, and she could lead us out. The suggestion that I might be going into a situation that would cause me to feel unwell set my brain into a little panic - why wouldn't we feel well? Do lots of people not feel well inside? What's not to feel well about? Do I feel well now?

And then we went onwards, through a couple more sets of heavy curtains, into the dark. We could hear the noises of people eating and chatting away all around us as Elisabeth led us to our table and then one by one to our chairs. We giggled nervously and got a feel for where each of our dining companions were sitting based on the locations of their voices. We felt the table in front of us to discover silverware and napkins (which we all tucked into our shirt fronts to avoid losing - since no one could see how silly we looked, anyway). I kept expecting my eyes to adjust, but of course they never did. The darkness was so all-encompassing that it made me feel claustrophobic, like I was trapped under a heavy blanket that I couldn't escape from. But just for a second or two. After that it was fun. And dark.

We ordered into the darkness and waited for our food to, well, appear. I could smell the wine as it was put down in front of us. Plates came next, with a few words of description from Elisabeth, but it was awfully daunting to actually start eating. Some people gave up on their forks right away, and just used their hands. I managed reasonably well with my fork, although every once in a while I'd get a little freaked out by the mystery food it delivered to my mouth. I was halfway through my dish of mushroom ravioli before I realized that there was also steamed broccoli and roasted tomatoes on the plate. Surprise!

Once we were ready to go, we had to call out for the waitress several times before she appeared to lead us out. While waiting for her, we came up with various theories as to why she wasn't responding... was she collapsed in a corner somewhere, but nobody could see her? Had we inadvertently offended her, and as payback she was going to leave us there all night? We decided we wouldn't start panicking and trying to crawl our way out until we stopped hearing the voices of the other guests around us.

I found myself grateful that we were at this particular style of dark restaurant, where the wait staff is actually blind (and not wearing night-vision goggles so they can watch your feeble attempts to get your food into your mouth) and the room is actually dark (had we just been blindfolded, the temptation to peek at the food or the room would have been irresistible).

The experience didn't come cheap - our bill came out to around CHF 70 per person for two courses, wine, and water. The food was reasonably tasty - nothing fabulous, but certainly edible. I'd definitely recommend trying it once. Go with people whom you don't mind touching. Or whom you're looking for an excuse to touch.

Despite rumors about months-long waits, we were able to get dinner reservations at Blinde Kuh just a week in advance (perhaps because it's vacation season?). The website also says that lunch reservations are easy to get on the fly, and there's even a Blinde Kuh bar for those interested in the dark thing, but not ready to commit to a whole meal. There's a second restaurant in Basel, too.

Crazy farmers market fun in Switzerland

I don't want to alarm anyone, but there seems to be a trend towards non-traditional vegetable afoot around Zurich's farmers' markets. Purple asparagus, yellow zucchini, purple green beans (which I guess would just be called purple beans?)... these Swiss farmers are out of control.

I love going to the farmers markets in Zurich and finding crazy new things. I usually go to the ones at Oerlikon (Wednesday mornings) and Helvetiaplatz (Tuesday and Friday mornings). In addition to seeing how many wacky new vegetables I can find, I'm also busy filling up on zucchini flowers and peas, two of my garden favorites which never seem to make their way to the grocery stores. Plus the cherries and berries and in all their glory at this time of year.

The fruit and vegetables at the markets in Zurich are noticeably fresher and more flavorful than their grocery-store counterparts, and aren't always more expensive (the market at Bürkliplatz supposedly has the highest prices). And even if they are, the quality and flavor more than justifies the price (listen to me, I'm starting to sound Swiss). Just stay away from the heirloom tomatoes...

You CAN have fabulous Mexican food in Switzerland!

You just have to make it yourself.

I went to El Maiz (a Mexican shop in Zurich) and stocked up on some basic Mexican ingredients: black beans, corn tortillas, jalapeños, queso blanco, and red and green salsa.

Last night I made spinach and mushroom enchiladas, black bean salsa, and fresh guacamole. Scott whipped up some margaritas, Ali brought some fancy chips and salsa from Globus, and we had quite the feast. There were even fresh-picked cherries for dessert. Mmmmmmm.

El Maiz (Josefstrasse 23, closed Mondays) is a wonderful option for when you get tired of the same four Mexican items sold at Coop or Migros. They even sell that most elusive of baking supplies, Pure Vanilla Extract. Things at El Maiz are not cheap, but then again nothing in Zurich is. And I'd rather spend money on good ingredients to make something delicious myself than spend it on crappy food in one of Zurich's many 'Mexican' restaurants.