In search of the perfect wedding gift.

Need something?  I guarantee you can find it at the Plainpalais market.  Vegetables, fruit, nuts, harem pants, old typewriters, statues of clowns, cowboy boots, bras (seriously... usually a bra table manned by a creepy guy), candy, candles, pictures, old pants, clocks, model sailboats, etc. 

Twice a week (Wednesday & Satruday, 9am-3pm) all sorts of "vendors" set up little tents and stands all along the outside of the park area of Plainpalais.  One side is new stuff and the other side is... crap.  Mostly.  Adam is determined to find something that he can legitimately take on Antiques Road Show.  He keeps saying he wants a cool heirloom to give our non-existent kids.  Hmmmmm....

A few times a year they also have a carnival in the middle of the diamond.  We lived here for our first week in Geneva.  Pretty lively area and lots of little shops and restaurants.  

  

Here are some shots I got last week... can you spot the creepy clown?

Ok, it's not all crap.  There are actually some amazing things... beautiful old European furniture.

Whatchu got in that coat?!

 There is also a skate park (that smells like pee) in the middle of the diamond...

Scooters... the new craze.  So dangerous!  Watch out Rob Dyrdek.

And the grand finale...

We bought this.  It's going to be a wedding present for my sister... who just got engaged!!!!  Aaaahhhhhh!  So excited!  Let the maid-of-honor shenanigans begin!  I've already found some lovely dresses I think she'd look amazing in...

Simple and elegant.  Right?

Very homely.  I also love the hat thing.

Very simple.  Lovely train.  Not too fussy.

Just in case she looses a leg.  Or wants to be carried.

She can also have a mini-me (or giant-me) cake baked to look like her... and the lovely dress.

I think she likes big dresses.  I would also look amazing in hot pink.

Congratulations you two!  We love you and are so excited!  :)  

My beautiful sister and her fiance... who is also beautiful.  

Au revoir!

Those really thin pancakes... and regular ones.

Just a little video to get this blog started...



You won't need to break our arms to get us to say "we love crepes."  I actually have the hacking French sound down too.  The topic of this post made me think of this clip.  Mostly because crepes are all over here.  And they are uhhhmazing.  Although, we have unlimited access to delicious crepes, we miss cheap pancakes.  IHOP is our favorite, but I would even settle for a dirty Waffle House meal.  I think.

       

Moving to Switzerland brings on cravings for classic American food.  For instance, I never really went to McDonald's a lot, but when we moved I wanted cheeseburgers.  All the time.  I gave in a couple times, but now I'm over it.  Other cravings include Mountain Dew (Adam), Diet Dr. Pepper, Mexican food, tortilla chips, cheddar cheese, Wendy's chili, Subway, Jimmy John's (or any 'custom' sandwich shop), Pop Tarts, frozen yogurt (constant craving I have), normal tasting salt & vinegar chips, and pancakes.  To resolve the pancake craving, I found this:

Yes.  Pancake Crepes... and Ahornsirup (Canadian maple syrup).  You can decide whether or not you're in a pancake mood or a crepe mood.   I'm so EXCITED about this find!  The pancake crepe mix tastes exactly like Bisquick.  YAY!!!!!  After this 11chf purchase (~$12, and 8 francs of it was for the syrup), I cranked out about eight mini pancakes.  Call me Mrs. Buttersworth.  

Probably the most beautiful (and edible) pancakes I've ever made.  

Backstory on my pancake experience:

The first time Adam visited my parents (about an hour and a half away from our college town) I attempted to make him pancakes the second day.  It was early on in our relationship and I wanted to prove that I could be domestic.  It would be a good idea for him to keep me around if I could cook.  I think I also threw some bacon on the stove too.  Bacon is the quickest way to a man's heart.    

Also, my dad's zipper may or may not have been down on first encounter.  I needed to make up for it.  I knew Adam was already planning on calling it quits.  Pancakes it was.  Not just any pancakes though.  The same type of pancakes my mom makes.  Ginormous ones.  Roughly the size of a hub cap or a 12" personal pan pizza.  Not kidding.  Just look at my sister and I when we were little... 

Anyway, my pancake was an epic fail.  I tried to make them just as big, but wasn't as skilled in 'flipping.'  I wound up heaping an ugly pile of pieced-together-pancake on a plate and topping it with syrup.  It was so big that the middle was still just batter.  :(  

All the pancake breakfasts I've attempted since then have also been horrible.  My ego takes over and I think I can make big ones.  I just cant.  

I think I've finally learned the secret:  keep them small.  Roughly the size of the spatula... and not a tennis racket.  This is my first pancake success and I'm pretty excited.  There will be more 'pancake crepes' in the Hughes household.    

Oh, the little things in life...

We love crepes... and pancakes. 

Au revoir!

Dear brown sugar, I knew we'd meet again.

I've been searching for brown sugar for four five months now.  Well, not an exhaustive search.  It's been more like an item on my 'mental list.'  I look for it every time I'm out... and around food.

Why?

Because I can't make anything that requires brown sugar.  Like this:

Also, we've resorted to just plain sugar on our sweet potatoes.  Ah!  The insanity.  

A friend told me she found brown sugar at Globus (a department store), which apparently has a grocery in the underground level.  I stopped by today on my way home and sure enough!  I found it!!!

 

I love the picture of the happy ladies on the front.  Definitely reassured me of my decision.  After a great success with the brown sugar, it was off to try and find chocolate chips.  Another item on my 'mental list.'  You would think that chocolate chips would be in Switzerland right?  Swiss chocolate?  Nope.  I grabbed a chocolate bar and paid 10chf for my two items.  Kinda sad.  Thought to myself "This sugar better taste like gold and these better be the best chocolate chip cookies ever!"

Came home.  Whipped out a hammer and started beating the chocolate bar.  Mercilessly.

Chocolate chips.

Mixed all of my ingredients together.   I also added oatmeal because I love chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. 

Adam and I got in a fight.  Fist fight.  He didn't want oatmeal.  I told him he could walk five miles to go get the brown sugar next time.  I'll put gummy worms in them if I want.  I would've been more willing to reason if I hadn't already put the oatmeal in.  

These are going to be so good!!!

What are you doing in there!?!!!!  NOOOOOO!!!!!

Ugliest batch of cookies ever.  I consider this a slight failure.  They are pretty good though.

Au revoir!

Also, you get some weird stuff when you search for pictures of 'brown sugar.'

Boating on Lake Geneva

This past Saturday we rented a boat. I don't know if words are necessary.  Picture blog time... 

Click to go to boat rental site.

Boat rental:  50chf for 1 hour.  Completely worth it.  It was so much fun.  :)

This shouldn't be allowed.  

Time to switch drivers.  He was a little reckless.

The UN 

We found life jackets.

Now for some ginormous Swiss houses on the lake.  A lot (just the land!) is roughly 5 million.  

Storm brewing.  We needed a bigger motor to get back quickly.

 

Perle du Lac (where we went to see Top Gun in the park)

You can actually rent a sailboat too.  Without a license (scary).  This is our next plan for when it's actually sunny and we can stay out longer.   

...or we might get this one.  It has a table and shade.  Party boat. 

Au revoir!