Zibele-Märit

My girlfriends, Darcy and Shannon, came for a 10 day visit from the US. We packed a lot of sightseeing and activities into those 10 days! One of the first stops we made was to the Swiss capital of Bern for the annual Zibele-Märit, which is the German name for ‘onion market.’ It’s a one day festival that takes place on the fourth Monday of November each year. The festival dates back to the 1500s. 

The city was packed with people. Confetti battles (throwing confetti at people passing by) proved to be a popular activity with the crowd. The streets had about an inch of confetti covering them. We were also covered in it by the time we left. I’m still finding the darn stuff in my house! A favorite activity for kids seemed to be bonking unsuspecting people on the head with plastic toy hammers. Of the three of us, I got thunked on the head the most (5 times).

Seven hundred vendors filled the streets of Bern selling plaited strings of onions, onion sculptures, crafts, food and drinks. We enjoyed knoblibrot (garlic bread), french onion soup, onion cheese and onion quiches. The beverages were good, too – gluwein (spiced wine served hot), apple cider and hot shots (a shot of coffee mixed with some kind of liquor). I went to bed that night with heartburn. I wonder why….

Thanksgiving Supplies

My friend, Jen, and I made a special trip to the American Store in Nyon last Friday. The town of Nyon is about 20 minutes away by train. The purpose of our trip was for Thanksgiving supplies that cannot be found in the typical Swiss grocery store. Here’s what I bought:

Pumpkin pie filling (29 oz can): 5.45 CHF (Swiss Franc)
Evaporated milk (3-5 fl oz cans at 1.90 each): 5.70 CHF
Stuffing (2 boxes at 3.90 each): 7.80 CHF – The Stove Top brand was double this price
Chicken gravy mix (I know I should make my own, but I’m lazy): 1.95 CHF
A&W root beer (1 can): 2.50 CHF – Not part of Thanksgiving dinner, just a craving I had

That’s a grand total of 23.40 CHF, which is about the same amount in US dollars. Jen saw a 10 lb turkey at the grocery store – they only had the one. It was 50 CHF. Fifty dollars for a 10 lb turkey! That’s insane! We’ll be having chicken for our dinner. I hope it all turns out. I can’t afford to keep making trips to the American Store at these prices.

Cooking Success

I had a success in the kitchen this week. My wild rice soup turned out perfect! It was the right color, the correct consistency and it tasted good. This is a huge improvement from last time when it turned out as a purple glop of a mess (See picture below). Purple because I had to use du riz noir (black rice). I searched high and low for wild rice in the grocery stores in Switzerland but had no luck. I brought back wild rice from the US and it did the trick this time around.

Last year I had a difficult time figuring out what they use here for cornstarch. I was unable to find it in the stores, so I made my own with milk and flour. I guess I didn’t do it quite right as the soup turned into a blob that was too thick to stir. I have since then figured out that ‘maizena’ is the Swiss version of cornstarch. It makes cooking a little easier knowing this. My soup last year went right into the garbage. Bon appétit this time around!

Too Much Reading?

I showed Matt the list of books I’ve read since moving to Switzerland. I keep track of them on Goodreads.com. He thinks I might have too much time on my hands as I’ve read 41 books in a little over a year. He did the math, and that’s about one book every nine days! I can’t help it. I love to read and I have the time and there are so many good books out there.

October

Where did the month of October go?! I’ve had a busy month with trips to Scotland and the US, so I’m behind on my blogging.