Croûte au fromage at the Creux du Van

A while ago I was asking around for some good restaurants in our local vicinity. Someone suggested that we go to the Creux du Van and eat at one of the local farms. I spent a few days looking at the different farms and that is when I noticed that one of them had a specialty of "Croûte au fromage." This is basically bread soaked in wine, then topped with cheese and broiled. I was sold! I had to try it. We visited the Cruex du Van right after Lily was born, but the farms were all closed for the winter. So we tried it again this past weekend and it was a success!

We chose the Ferme Robert for our lunch

The Ferme Robert sits right at the bottom of the Creux du Van. It is the perfect starting place for several amazing hikes in the area. From here you can even hike all the way to the top of the Creux du Van.

The Creux du Van in the background

We were able to meet up with some friends at the farm and enjoy lunch together

Luke having an aperitif with our friends

The Croûte au fromage. It was so unbelievably tasty that I made myself eat the whole thing...even though I was full halfway into it. (I ordered the Croûte Royal, which it the same as the Croûte au Fromage but topped with a fried egg).

 The area around here is just gorgeous. Makes for some great pictures!

Favorite Things: Le quatre heure

At 4:00pm in Switzerland every child is sitting down eating their snack. It is referred to as the "quatre heure" aka "the 4:00. When we first moved here I was always unprepared for this afternoon snack and Jack usually ended up eating the food all the other moms had brought for their children. But finally after 2 years, I have caught on to the quatre heure and you can bet that at 4:00 Jack is having a snack of some type of fruit (usually apples or pears with cinnamon) and then that is usually followed by bread and chocolate. It really is a great idea to have a set snack time. This cuts out all other snacking during the day as Jack knows he will have his snack (like all other children) at 4:00. 

Favorite Things: Chocolate

It's no secret that Switzerland loves chocolate. In fact, I think the average Swiss person eats over 20 pounds of chocolate a year (double the American average). The love for chocolate is started at a very early age. They have chocolate flavored formula drinks for babies as well as chocolate teething biscuits.

Baby chocolate drink

Baby chocolate cookies

In Jack's preschool class it is typical for them to give him a piece of chocolate after he eats his fruit. And for the adults, there is no short supply of chocolate. At the grocery store there is a whole isle dedicated to chocolate. Every type imaginable.

Only a small portion of the chocolate isle. I could only get
about 1/4 of the chocolates to fit on my phone camera

 My favorite is the dark chocolate with cream center and Luke likes the dark chocolate with chili. Funny thing is that we never liked dark chocolate until we moved here. I know that we have both become chocolate snobs, and Swiss chocolates will always hold a special place in our thighs... I mean hearts ;-)

Luke's favorite chocolate

My favorite chocolate

Favorite Things: Manor

There is a Manor shopping center right next door to Luke's work. I absolutely love this place! They have the best grocery shopping and best restaurant in all of Switzerland. 

Manor centre in Marin

The grocery store is amazing and has the best bread we have found here

They also have a very delectable selection of mini desserts that they call "petit fours"

I forgot to get a picture of these tasty desserts, so this is one
I found on the web....but you get the idea

My favorite thing about the Manor is their restaurant "Manora" They have a lunch buffet which puts all other buffets to shame. Everything is so fresh. Our favorite is to order the sandwich "du jour" which is an assortment of fresh veggies (selection changes daily), some sort of meat (also changes daily) with some curry or mayo sauce. Everything is put between two pieces of pita bread, then topped with cheese and baked. It is one of my favorite meal here.

If we don't have time to eat at the restaurant, the Manor has a sandwich bar where you can order pizzas, sandwiches and quiches "pour emporter" (to go). At only 7 chf each, they are the most delicious and cheapest lunch you will find in Switzerland (even cheaper than McDonalds).

Our choice for lunch that day was the 'tradition poulet' and 'levain mozzerella.'

Even Lily couldn't resist the deliciousness!

 And I can't forget to take a picture of Jack with his tasty 'tranche de pizza'

 Great food, great weather and great company! Couldn't think of a better way to spend my afternoon.

Favorite Things: Bread

Switzerland has the worlds best bread! I'm not even kidding. We've tried baguettes and croissants from France and they are nothing in comparison to the Swiss ones. 

Jack is a croissant connoisseur. Over the last two years I'm sure he has eaten hundreds of these tasty treats. His favorite are the "pain au chocolat" 

One of Jack's very first 'pain au chocolat'

I prefer the Cailler croissants which are filled with Cailler (aka Nestle) chocolate

Luke's favorite bread is called "tresse." It's very soft and light and is usually eaten Sunday mornings with butter, fresh jam and nutella

Some of our other favorites include "couronne" or ring bread

And pretzel bread

The big grocery stores make their bread right on the spot so it is fresh. Here is the area where the make the bread at our local grocery store:

 And the wonderful, fresh bread I have to choose from:

Zurich Zoo

To celebrate May Day, we drove up to Zurich Zoo. Here are a few pictures from our trip:

Our little monkey

Always love watching the monkeys jumping
around with little babies on their chest.

 The highlight of the trip for Jack was this huge slide.

 The kids were flying down this thing and it was hilarious to watch their faces.

They love their daddy

We hit some road construction on the way home and I thought I'd show the world how stupid Switzerland is when it comes to road construction. They have decided that it would be a good idea to leave the old white lines and paint new orange lines for construction areas. The first time I encountered this I nearly had a heart attack trying to figure out which lines to follow.

 So if you ever come to Switzerland and hit an area under construction, follow the orange lines!

Favorite Things Countdown: Rest Stops

In honor of our last month here in Switzerland I thought I'd post every day about some of my favorite things here.

FAVORITE THING: REST STOPS
Rest stops in Switzerland are the best! They are right next to the freeway so you don't even have to exit.

Sign for a rest stop

At the rest stops you can get gas, information and food. Most have mini grocery stores where you can stock up with picnic food. The best part is that you drive in and drive back out, no need to exit the freeway to search for food or gas.

Exit off the freeway leads right in (and out) to the rest stop

Thanks Switzerland! These rest stops are very convenient and efficient ;-)