(Vegan) Chocolatey Strawberry Tart: erdbeer pfluecken in Urdorf

It’s the first sunny weekend in a while and I am dying to go do outdoorsy stuff. I have a slightly embarrassing confession. Instead of opting for erm… more respectable/strenuous Swiss activities along the lines of hiking and biking, I decided to have a ‘domesticated Saturday morning’ and (very nicely) dragged Mark to this strawberry farm in Urdorf, just 20 minutes outside of Zurich.

(Vegan) banana and speculoos muffin: un weekend en Belgique

Road tripping in Belgium: Brugge (left), way-too-picturesque countryside (top right), hanging out by the beach in Knock - Belgium's take on Cannes (bottom right)

I've come to the conclusion that Belgium is probably the most underrated travel destination in Western Europe. Before our little visit to Belgium, I have always associated Belgium (yes I just assumed the entire country), with Canberra - a sleepy capital country town with government officials in suits everywhere, talking politics and spy-stuff like in Bourne Identity. I know that's pretty weird.

So I was pleasantly surprised to see a very different place than I expected: high end designer stores doting the streets of Antwerp, trendy-but-non-pretentious restaurants, fresh + cheap seafood, good wines and of course the standard European cobbled-stoned Old Town thing.

Hot Cross Buns - Happy White Easter!

The universe is telling me to slow down. After the busy whirlwind trip to Indonesia, I was so ready to come back for a mini Easter weekend a way to Turkey with M. But unfortunately, not even 24 hours after my return to Switzerland I managed to sprain my ankle walking down the stairs. A 4 hour emergency room wait, followed by my first German-speaking hospital encounter, I was finally told it was a damaged ligament. So it’s crutches for a week, cast for a month, no flying for a while (what is this DVT business…) which means… no Turkey for the Easter break and no skiing until next season! Boo hoo.. whinge whinge whinge… Who knew not watching where you’re going has such dire consequences.

So this Easter weekend I’m sitting tightly at home in Zurich. And it was a white Easter, can you believe it snowed in April? We ended up having a nice Easter lunch with a group of friends in Zurich, and stuffed ourselves silly with too much food. For dessert I served my favourite Easter treat, fresh out-of-the-oven hot cross buns. These little treats are sold everywhere in England and Australia during Easter. It’s traditionally eaten on Good Friday, with the cross symbolizing Christ’s crucifixion.

Red velvet cupcake with Bailey's cream cheese frosting: Happy Valentine's Day from Zurich!

I caved in and decided to do Valentine's baking after a boring day of doing admin work for my thesis. I was initially going to do macarons but that failed miserably so ended up with a red velvet cupcake instead. For a first try I thought it was ok, nothing like Magnolia Bakery's version of course  (I don't have enough butter in the fridge to do that).... As for the Bailey's, well any excuse for booze on Valentine's right? 

Luxurious Quiche Lorraine: Champagne, France

Reims Cathedral, much prettier than the Notre Dame Paris :) 

Moving to Europe was definitely one of the best things I've ever done. We've been here for a year already but the novelty of traveling around Europe still hasn't worn off. When we first arrived we decided to buy a General Abonnement travel card, which allowed us unlimited travel around Switzerland for a whole year on any form of transport and discounts on trains in France, Germany, and Italy. It was definitely a good purchase!