A close-up and personal look at Switzerland
I’ve always associated Christmas with warm, family time and yes, always somewhat magical. For me it’s candles that do it. As I’ve mentioned before I had never seen real candles on Christmas trees before I came to Switzerland. Year after… Read moreMagical Christmas Moments
While going to work in Berne I often stopped at a local bakery. You always had to have something to eat at the 9 o’clock break. Those were the days when I could eat bakery goods including doughnuts without worrying… Read moreDoughnuts and their Names
What sounds good and has meaning in one language is often not understandable when directly translating into another. Soon after I learned Swiss German, Ben and I realized how silly some sayings sound when translated directly into English. Sometimes even… Read moreTranslating German Sayings into English
Betty Crocker was like a member of our family. I remember Mom always cooking from a Betty Crocker notebook-cookbook. Betty Crocker came into being in the 1920s and by the 1960s was in full swing. When I moved to Switzerland… Read moreCooking Wherever You Are with Betty
Measuring differs depending on where you are. In America distance is all about miles, yards, feet and inches. In Switzerland it’s about kilometers, meters, centimeters and millimeters. Cooking measurements differ as well. Gallons, quarts, cups, teaspoons and tablespoons verses liters,… Read moreMeasuring Differences in Switzerland and the States
Different regions and towns in Switzerland have their own sweet specialties. Switzerland is known for its unadulterated chocolate. But wouldn’t you know it, most of the traditional goodies don’t even have chocolate in them! Okay, the fact that chocolate appeared… Read moreSweet Temptation – Regional Goodies in Switzerland
In America learning knitting, sewing and cooking is done in a Home Economics class in high school. When I went to school girls took home ec. and boys took wood working. I know, where was the equality? But that was… Read moreKnitting in America and Switzerland
My first memory of trading stamps were the “green stamps”. I was way too young to understand the concept of collecting stamps and trading them for other products. If you asked me what they looked like I would say green,… Read moreCollecting Stamps, Coupons and Stickers
As a child I did not like pumpkin. I would be willing to place a bet that my parents didn’t really like it either. I can’t remember ever having eaten pumpkin anything. Still, as a child you know what you… Read morePumpkin Pie and Other Things
I know I’m showing my age, but when I came to Switzerland you bought a train ticket at the station. That’s the way it was. Period. No Internet and no i-phones. Each and every train station, big or small, had… Read moreSwiss Trains have Changed
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