Some Updates on My Life as Une Jeune Fille Au Pair

It's hard to believe that I've been back for almost a month already.  To be honest, most of the time it feels like I never left.  And I don't consider that a bad thing, either.  I don't want my time here to end.  If I'm ever having an off day, I can always count on my host family to bring me out of my slump.  In all honesty, they make it pretty hard to be in a slump in the first place.

First I'd like to wish a (belated) birthday to N, my host mum.  She unfortunately wasn't home with us since she's in Davos for the week, yet that didn't stop us from celebrating.  I baked her a birthday cake for everyone but her to eat.  Then we gave her a call on Skype to sing her happy birthday, blow out her candles and eat the cake in front of her.  Aren't we kind?

Now a side note on the cake.  Since P (host father) can't eat gluten, I figured the cake we all ate in front of N had to be gluten free.  Baking without gluten isn't always the easiest thing to do.  Luckily enough, I found a recipe for an easy flour-free chocolate cake!  I was a bit disappointed there was no picture on the recipe page, but I figured I'd take a picture of my finished product and post it.  Then I realized why there was no picture.  The cake doesn't exactly look very...edible...straight out of the oven.  The "crust" turned out rock hard and looked like it has been shaken with earthquakes from the cake falling so much.  Oh, that's why gluten is so important...


In the end, all I needed was some Pillsbury icing (yes, gluten free!) to cover up the mess, and everyone was happy.  E even requested I make it again.  But not before asking if I screwed it up (he knows about my past baking experiences).  I of course answered, yes, I screwed it up.  He then said, "Ok, just make sure you screw it up again."  Gosh, I love that kid.

E has accomplished quite a lot this past week.  He won a tongue twister challenge at school, competed in a ping pong tournament with his best friend (and wasn't too bummed out when they didn't qualify), and has gone on a run every day (ya, a 9 year old that goes running.  You'd think I'd be inspired...).  To think that he's only 9, is so talented and smart, yet so polite and genuine, restores my faith in the future generation.  Maybe we won't all turn out to be useless couch potatoes.

Now as my week comes to an end, I'm very excited to pack my bags, and a borrowed set of skis, because I am off to Chamonix for the weekend to ski with three of my best friends!  We're loading up the "Soccer Mom Van" and heading out Friday night.  And luckily Groupon had a deal on ski passes, so along with our cheap hostel, it looks like it will be a fairly inexpensive weekend.

I'll be sure to fill you all in on Monday with pictures and stories while I'm lying covered in heat packs and complaining about how sore I am.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Let's Make a List

It’s officially been a week since I stepped on Swiss soil, so I felt it was appropriate for me to re-cap everything I have learned since I arrived.  Some are just cultural differences, the rest are just general observations of Switzerland:

1. As lesson I learned last night: there are mosquitos in Switzerland.  Despite what I had heard before leaving, they do exist.  There aren’t nearly as many as there are in Canada, but just like at home, they always seem to find me.  
2. Cold beverages (other than beer) are very rare.  You have the option of room temperature tap water or room temperature carbonated water.  I quickly learned that carbonated water tastes colder (how weird that sounds) than tap water, so that tends to be my go-to after spending time outside.
3. Switzerland is hot.  I thankfully came prepared for hot weather, but I didn’t expect a week of 30°c or hotter.  It’s been amazing, don’t get me wrong, just surprising.
4. People here can drive really well.  I think everyone should learn how to drive in Europe.  I’ve never seen so many people be able to juggle steering, shifting, smoking, and talking on their cell phone all at the same so well.  And don’t even get me started on their parking.  Blows.  My.  Mind.
5. Despite ripping up their streetcar system 50 years ago, then re-integrating it more recently, Geneva still has a far better transit system than Toronto.  Maybe T-dot should follow suit?

I’ll continue to add to this list as time goes on.  I’m sure more things will pop-up and catch me by surprise.

And as for the jell-o dessert on Thursday, everyone seemed to enjoy it (well except for E - he detests oranges, so I don’t blame him).  It went a little too fast to take a picture, but I’ve gotten permission to post the recipe.  I made mine with orange jell-o and mandarin orange pieces, but my favourite is still a pink jell-o dessert (using raspberry jell-o and applesauce).  If you end up making it, let me know what you mix.  I’m always looking for new flavour combinations.

Pink Jell-O Dessert 

2 boxes of Red Jell-O  (or other colour Jell-O)

2 Cups Boiling Water

14 oz (~2 Cups) Apple Sauce  (or other fruit to go with colour of Jell-O)

1 package Dream Whip

Add boiling water to Jell-O powder.  Stir very, very well.

Put in Freezer or Fridge until Jell-O starts to gel*.

Meanwhile, make up Dream Whip per package directions – no vanilla required.

Once Jell-O has slightly gelled*, add fruit & blend.

Add Dream Whip & blend (if applesauce, otherwise add Dream Whip BEFORE fruit & stir in fruit).

Put in a pretty serving bowl (or not) and refrigerate until set.

*if Jell-O gels too much, run bowl in warm water for a few seconds – not too long!

Enjoy!!!

Checking In...

I just have to say, I love my job!

I know I've only technically been on the job for 3 days, but they've been great days.  The boy I'm watching, E, is the most mature, intelligent, and friendly 9 year old boy I have ever met.  He's very inquisitive; always ready with a question or observation.   He's become very interested in microchips at the moment, so we've been scouring the house for old electronic games (like ones that come in Happy Meals) for him to open up and remove the chip.  He hasn't yet decided what he'll do with the pile of microchips that has accumulated, but I'm sure he'll have a solution tomorrow.

I honestly need to start carrying my camera everywhere I go.  E and I went on a bike ride today to the soccer field he used to play at (he's made the top team, so he now plays at a different field, much farther away), and just simply gawked the entire bike ride.  I don't think I've ever been to a more picturesque place in my life.  Next week, E is in a camp all week, so I'll take out my good camera and get some shots to try to capture the gawk-worthy scenery.

As part of my job, I have to make lunch for (almost) the entire family, depending on who is home each day.  For those in Switzerland, and most other parts of Europe, you already know that lunch is the biggest meal of the day.  Breakfast is still the most important, but lunch definitely takes the cake for size. This means this poor family has left their life (yes, life) in my hands.  Luckily, I've been practicing (see here, here, here, and here) and I don't think the food's been too bad.  So far, I've made a Mango Chicken (borrowed from a friend, KN - THANKS!) and a vegetable spaghetti.  Tomorrow, along with lunch, I'll be making a Jello dessert for the family.  For those that don't know me, and my family, well, you probably might not be familiar with this REALLY HARD recipe to make.  It has a total of...are you ready for it?...three ingredients (four if you count water), and takes forever to make (less than an hour).  Wanna try it?  Check back tomorrow after I've made it, and if you've been really good, I'll post the recipe (although I might get scolded by my mother for that).

And surprisingly, I still haven't felt homesick.  Yes, I miss everyone, too much to even say, but I don't have any interest in getting a plane and heading home.  It just makes me want to get on a plane and go see more of Europe.  Speaking of which, I have made some travel plans with my friend KW who is studying in Berlin.  In two weeks she'll be in Geneva, so we get to hang out.  Then we plan on going to Interlaken for the weekend (aka the most beautiful place on Earth - I promise to take too many pictures).  Then at the end of September, we plan on meeting in Munich for Oktoberfest.  If you've happened to check out my bucket list, you'll know this is something I really want to do.  Thankfully, so did KW, so I won't have to go solo.

I can't believe my first week is already half over.  Time is just flying by!  Excited to Skype with some of my friends back home and my parents on the weekend.  Miss you all, and chat with you soon!

Until tomorrow, thanks for checking in and have a great day/night!

PS: In amazing news, learned that there's a Bibliobus (Library on wheels) that drives right through the village.  I am obviously more than excited.

Food Fridays - Gluttony Edition

This past Wednesday was one of my staff's birthday.  Last year, I had set the standard for staff birthdays.  Another staff member had a birthday on the day I was working (unbeknownst to me until I arrived at work), so I ran out (on a break!) to Dairy Queen to get one of their delicious cakes.

This year, I had to one-up myself.

At the beginning of the summer, I made sure I was aware of when everyone's birthday was.  Then, when I found out there was a birthday that I would be present for, I made sure to casually introduce the subject of favourite desserts (specifically cakes) to the conversation weeks ahead of time.  Lo and behold, I discovered that O's favourite cake was a plain cheesecake with strawberries.  (I must say I was quite happy this was her favourite, since I LOVE cheesecake).

So on Wednesday, once all the staff had arrived, we did a little surprise for O and enjoyed some cake for lunch.

I love birthdays.

For the recipe, check out Cooking with Philly.  The recipe is very easy, but I found the centre took quite a long time to bake (far longer than the recipe).  It may just be the oven, though...

After 40 minutes in the oven

Added a layer of sour cream with sugar and vanilla

Sliced strawberries for my topping

Fresh out of the oven.  Browned on the sides since it needed to be in the oven for so long.

Finished!  I'm not patient enough to do a nice design on the top.  Sorry O.

My mum commented that this looks like a small party pizza...with candles.

Anyone have any cheesecake or other kind of cake recipe they'd be willing to share?  I'm also always looking for gluten free options.  This cake was almost gluten free.  If I substituted the graham crumbs in the crust for almond flour it would have been.