Regarding volleyball, we have sustained a couple losses since my last post. To two higher level teams but nevertheless it sucked because I hate losing. We are still in position to be in the top 4 of our league which guarantees playoff status and if we win out the remainder of our matches we have a good shot at the championship. But it has been ingrained in me from Jim to not think that far ahead and focus on the present. Sometimes that is difficult when the team culture here is to talk about those things freely but to each their own. Hardy has been fortunate enough to be able and play with the local men's team here so we are in our typical routine of immense free time followed by practice three days a week and one match each weekend. Today is a particularly rainy one so we are not out exploring.
With my little motivation to do anything before Hardy's arrival I have not done much other than sit at home and wallow about how I have nothing to do. Loneliness is not a good look for me. I have however eaten some really good food and tried more traditional swiss dishes that were really good. After much hype, I finally tried raclette and to my surprise I rather enjoyed it. Basically you heat cheese till it has melted and mix it with potatoes, assorted pickled foods and spices of your choosing.
I think we used gruyere cheese which is very popular here. Kind of like how Americans feel about cheddar or mozerella.
The cheese is then placed on little skillets that are placed in a sort of electric heater like this. I have seen in pictures you can places meats and such on top to cook and eat with the cheese but we stuck with the basics. After your cheese has melted sufficiently, you scrape it on to your plate and mix it with whatever you like. We had pickled garlic, mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, and baby corn to choose from as well as some spices. Any number of years ago I would have said hell no to this sort of dish due to my distaste for the texture of melted cheese by itself. For awhile I completely avoided mozerella sticks and plain cheese pizza because too much melted cheese was no Bueno for me. Also the idea of anything other than pickles would make me run away but overall I really enjoyed the experience. Of course with every meal we had beaucoup wine and that is always something I can jump on board with.
Similar to fondue, this is a fun meal to enjoy with a group and have nice little social gatherings well into the night as we did. The more traditional version to eat raclette is to melt the cheese while it is a whole block of it still then sheared off and mixed accordingly. Not only is my boyfriend a great cook, many of my teammates have cooked for me and the results have been delicious. My domestic skills are quite inferior but I am improving. Anywho, Fabi my cute little blonde Swiss German made for me a dish typical in that region called rôsti. Now I had something like this but really just the potato part (similar to hash browns). What she made pretty much blew that out of the water as she added sausage, a sort of onion sauce and boiled apples. It is very common in Swiss German cuisine to mix sweet and savory dishes or so I've been told. Like with hot cheese, sausage has never been a favorite food of my childhood but for some reason now it tastes soooooooo good. Kind of one of those meals where even though you are full you want to keep eating just because it's so yummy. Unfortunately I cannot find the picture I took but it didn't do it justice anyway. My Italian teammate Arriane made her famous carbonara and that is another dish I would eat myself to death with. Not Swiss but it is worth mentioning because dear god it was good.
Even though my own cooking skills lack practice I decided to tackle something I thought I would never do...Thanksgiving. Growing up I always envisioned myself going to someone else's home for this American tradition because there was no way in hell I would put myself through that sort of stress. With the holidays looming I decided I wanted to try and hope for the best because Thanksgiving is just one of those holidays I cannot go without. With much deliberation I settled on some classic recipes (thank you Pinterest) and invited anyone who wanted to join. Instead of turkey we ate chicken thighs and there were none of my aunt Kim's famous chocolate peanut butter balls but I managed. Cooking for other people is one of the things that makes my heart rate go up but I really put myself out there organizing this entire shindig. With some help from the ladies who attended. I'm happy to report it was a success! Of course as I always critique myself, my potatoes were too runny and the chicken didn't have the texture I wanted but the reviews from my guests were all smiles and requests for recipes. I'm excited for future holidays because now I have an added spark of confidence to try again next year.
Another fun night I had was going to watch the Neuchâtel LNA team play against a team from Zurich with a couple players many volleyball fans might recognize. USC's Natalie Hagglund and the legend herself Courtney Thompson!! I felt so young again watching her play because the last time I saw her in competition in person was 2005 when they beat the ducks in 5 at Mac court. I was 13 at the time and just beginning to decide I wanted to play D1 volleyball. Happy to say at the time I was cheering for the right team because I always rooted for anyone who played against the Ducks. Who would've known a few years later I would be playing on that court for the first and last time before the monster of a Matt Night center was built. Even weirder to think that was now almost 10 years ago. Holy crap.
This past weekend, Magali was kind enough to drive Hardy and I to Strasbourg, France to see the famous Christmas market. All I can say is mother dearest, you would have died and gone to heaven. And you would have needed an extra suitcase to take home all your new decorations. The drive from Neuchâtel was about 3.5 hours but no traffic so we made good time and had the whole afternoon to explore. Upon arrival we quickly found our way to a map that showed us the whole of the festivities and set off. The market reminded me a lot of Oktoberfest. Little tents/shops set up wall to wall filled with knick knacks, food, drink and anything Christmas you could think of. Currently I have no pictures due to a slight mishap in getting my pictures from the camera we used to my gallery but hopefully you can check those out on Facebook soon. We first were able to buy a cup of hot apple juice which then turned to hot white wine and then finished off with hot red wine. For most of the day I was able to resist buying trinkets here and there save a few postcards and a cute little "family portrait" thing I could not go home without.
Smotes.com is their website and I think this is a great Christmas present for a family who likes cute doodads such as this. Customized people, names and design...my kind of decoration. I also tried foie gras which on paper sounds kind of gross but is very rich in taste and a little cruel in practice to the ducks involved. It was just like home as we saw protesters wearing duck masks and showing pictures how they treat the animals who go into making this delicacy. I did not see it deter many people but a noble cause still. With many sweets tasted, croissants devoured (though not at all to Hardy's high standard of deliciousness), and a type of french quesadilla for the road we marched back to the car after a day well spent near the French-German border.
This weekend, my aunt noodle is coming to visit with cousin Isaiah to watch my match and the following Tuesday we are off to Paris! I am so unbelievably excited because not only has Paris been my dream since I can remember, but we get to spend Christmas Eve and day in the "city of lights". Soon there will be too many pictures to comprehend after I get back. I plan to have many adventures and stories to recall after the trip so maybe my next post won't take so long. Miss you all back home so much. Happy holidays and lots of love from Switzerland!
Sincerely,
A very happy American
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