the christmas that was.. almost was anyway...

So it was all sunny sunshine this morning.. nice weather...
and we didn't have any feast after the friday one with the inlaws cos we were so stuffed we felt a bit sick the next day... M claimed it to be something wrong with the food... me i have no idea.... but well...at least we have a very good reason to eat nothing much but chocolates and little of anything else... i did cook Kimchi soup for us... so we did have something proper... and it was made of homemade kimchi btw.. in case u think i am a very horrible hausfrau... housewife in german...

we are gonna finish the 3rd batch of kimchi i made in winter but then again since we going to Msia in jan it really doesn't matter and i don't see any chinese cabbage in the market and unwilling to use any other ingredients to substitute... so anyway back to the topic of feasting... M's parents did brought with them a nice chunk of smoked salmon... i think its the belly part cos otherwise i dunno where else in the fish u find nice fat... we had the with warm toast, slathered with butter, then salmon slices, onions, capers, rosa pepper, meerreettich (i'd call it european's answer to wasabi) and some pepper... each of us had half a dozen of those lovely toasts and i find myself really too full :p

i wish i wasn't so full cos we still have some Eiercognac (egg-cream-cognac mixture), gift from a friend... it smells nice n alcoholic... i really can't drink much again cos still breastfeeding wth... so M would get the better of it... tsk tsk... must wait for next year... well... i can still have my share of the marzipan chocolate we still have..


now now.. for dinner i'm just gonna be lazy with a pair of sausage, salad and that leftover panna cotta from friday... and maybe some poached pears or watever home canned items in the fridge... Christmas doesn't have to mean a lot of work... its the day u make time for loved ones... and not forget a small gift for appreciation wth haha.. . speaking of which... our theme for this year is pajama... ya.. we even have a theme so that we don't have to scratch our heads till hair start falling to figure out what to buy for each other... its not fair cos M obviously have a much better chance of buying me something prettier... this i realise as i scout around the men's dept of globus... tsk ts... so failed... men pajamas are boring....


while women have silky ones, lacy ones, transparent, semitransparent and wth else... men only have comfy ones really... i'll think of a better theme next year... will will will....

The countdown ends today... my Adventskalender

more baked goods

Flammkuchen - crisp pizza but with creme fraiche insteada of cheese

Krautstiel wähe - Swiss chard wähe

its reall fun and easy making items such as these for lunch really really....

for flammkuchen teig, simply knead together 200gm flour, 100ml water, 1tbsp oil and some salt. Rest a bit and roll it out thin. Poke holes with fork. Spread the creme fraiche, top with onions, bacon and etc and pop into oven at highest temp 200-230C for bout 20 min

Schnee

From our window

Sunday morning

Sis once asked: Does it snow in Zürich?

Today, yes.

As i took a video of the snow, i saw a woman from across the balcony doing the same haha..

Christmas here reminds me of CNY - cookies of which they call Guetzli.. mandarins, oranges...

MIL makes the best Guetzli really... they look even better than those in the popular Betty Bossi cookbook seriously... gonna hve to go watch her do them next year cos i've been too occupied with baby to even remember... sigh sigh...

 

: zimt sterne (cinamon stars), mäilanderli (crispy butter cookies, harder too due to low butter to flour ratio), thn there r those with sandalwood, the white ones have anis seeds in em, basler leckerli, brunsli (choc, spices, almond).. n few more.. 

basically most of em r spiced, sugar BUT low in fat (butter)... leaning heavily to nuts instead for fat... some don't even have yolks but only egg whites... 

d oranges r sour haha... but at least all r from an organic bio source so  i'm looking forward o drying the mandarin peels n making candied  orange peels for future use ;) 

made Duck breast with orange sauce yesterday... we liked the sauce..started with redwine vinegar n caramelizing some sugar in it, thn added some orange n lemon juice n finishing off with Madeira..cos no orange liquor on hand. blek. Now contemplating how to deal with that piece of leg of a castrated rooster for dinner... its big n fatty...just wat M likes n love to bits....

Rouladen Cake

 

this pic was taken from the old camera, thus explaining its strange appearance.. would love to make another cos it was soo good but... the berrie season was long over :( gotta wait tillnext year then sigh... 

recipe from betty bossi  

really finding it tough to bake anything right now due to orsons teething period... he feels better anywy with mama out and about instead of giving her attention on a cake or watsoever since babies don't eat sweets..

Basler Mehlsuppe

Beef stock + Roasted flour (on pan) + Cheese

Ochsenschwanz and Kartoffelstock

Älplermaccaroni

 

A simple pasta dish popular in some mountain parts of swiss. Basically its too simple to not make when u are feeling lazy ;p  Elbow pasta topped with crispy fried onions and served with apple sauce. Apple sauce is whats called Apfelmus here...  its amazingly simple and good ;p

M made this :D

Rindsbraten - RoastBeef with herbs n garlic stuffed in.

 

Orson aside... yaya, I was happily using him to model the crochet piece which is suppose to be used round the neck but it was just to cute to not play with ::p 

Quitten Gelee (quince jelly)

These gorgeous jars of Confiture are a labour of love, seriously.

First u scrub off the furry on its skin. Then cut the hard fruit into wedges and boil it for an hour or so with water.
Strain and squeeze in a muslin cloth. Leave overnight. Add  sugar. Cook it till u achieve the right color and consistency.


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