After I dookied out of my diaper for the fourth time today (and when I say dookied out of my diaper I mean, like poops the size of my head that creep up my back and down my leg and soil my clothes and can only be cleaned up by way of total hose down.) I got dumped in the back yard naked- it was a gorgeous evening and I decided it was the perfect time to take this red beauty for a spin… hello ladies (my mom) Vroooooom vrooooom……

For me, it is always having fresh cut flowers on my dining room table.

 I found this little guy nestled deep inside his nutritionally dense home of delicious broccoli florets and it made me happy. I love finding bugs in my food… spiders in my salad- bring it on, caterpillars in my broccoli- beautiful, earth worms in my cabbage- yes please, because to me, this is how food should be. This plump little caterpillar, munching on broccoli, tells me that this produce is safe, that it has not been sprayed with pesticides, chemicals and other poisons that would kill him and harm my family.  If it’s good enough for this guy it’s good enough for my kids. Thank you Switzerland for stayin’ old school.

Do something different for dinner! Over the river and through the woods bumping along, eating cheese fondue,  drinking wine, laughing hysterically with friends all while enjoying the views from this horse drawn wagon… YES PLEASE!!! Bon appetit!

Back at the barn with full bellies and big smiles as we say goodnight to our strong 4 legged friends. If you are looking for a dinner adventure book your Chariot à fondu Here

I love the subtle, gentle yet extreme fierceness pouring out of this tiny human… she gets it… she owns it… she wants it…watch out world she’s ready for you!

This is my all time favourite jam and when my friend Sarah and I noticed that a little old Swiss lady was loading up her apron with what looked like Mirabelles I immediately ran over to see for myself and ask her if it was, indeed, true… ” Oui, Oui il est Mirabelle ” and then she plucked two gorgeous little plums from her apron and handed them to me…. they could not have tasted any better, perfectly sweet with just a hint of plum tartness. Later that evening I snuck over and loaded my own apron full of Mirabelles so the girls and I could have a most awesome jam session and enjoy the perks of living on the countryside.

Here’s what you’ll need-

-An big apron full of Mirabelle plums about 2 kg worth

-1.6 kg sugar

-3 tbsp vinegear

-3 litres cold water

Wash them up real good discarding any small stems or leaves then plunge them in your vinegar and water mixture and leave them to soak for about 10 minutes.

After they have soaked cut them in half and remove the pits. (yes, I let my kids use knives, in fact they each have there own kitchen knife so they can help with chopping.)

Now mix the Mirabelles with the sugar and place in the fridge over night. The next morning the Mirabelles have released their delicious juices and can be placed in a large sauce pan and slowly brought to a boil while constantly stirring. Let them boil for a about 3-5 minutes or until the jam has thicken a bit.

Now you can begin to ladle your hot jam into your clean jam jars.  Mine are just a random collection of old artichoke jars, pickle jars ect.  Once you have filled a jar put the top on and turn it upside down so it will form a vacuum seal and wait at least 6 hours for it to cool.

And Voila Mirabelle jam!  I love to eat this jam on toast, on top of greek yogurt or eat it (my favourite way) on top of a freshly made baguette with a chunk of brie cheese and and a big dollop of your homemade mirabelle jam on top- seriously yummy! Enjoy!

A perfect way to spend a hot Sunday afternoon… following the Bisse.

My lean, mean, mess making machine will be one year old in a few weeks…(big sigh) don’t do it to me my little puppy… please stop getting bigger!!!!

Re-entry was far from easy, the tears were plentiful, the jet lag was intense, unpacking was an explosion of mess followed by a marathon laundry session,  the rain kept coming along with the tears and the back to school madness. My French Swiss brain had def not turned back on and if I had to read one more letter about bus times, school supplies, creche times, UAPE times,  school times and teachers requests I was going to…… ahhhhhh!!!  One fine tipped, 1.5 mm silver, not the light silver or the dark silver, but the middle silver, not the generic brand, but the brand that costs you like 30 swiss francs and can only be found in one store in all of Switzerland… Yes, that’s the one… that’s the pen!!… Victory!!!… Take that!!! Ha!!!!  Here you go 4 year old- pack that in your back pack and take that to school! Wait, what’s that- it’s not the right pen you say…(insert swearing, screaming and hair pulling.) Another year, another defeat…  I will never get it right and you know what…I think I am just going to be okay with the fact that I am the stupid foreigner who will never nail the back to school list… EVER.

But we made it through that first week back and I started to breath again and sleep again and despite all the cultural differences and the language struggles… We have a beautiful life here. My kids are lucky. Lucky to live in this unique bubble of international goodness, a melange of cultures and friends from all over the world. A place where they can be wild and free and covered in dirt- feral little mountain children disappearing down a trail to find an adventure.

Swiss life… we are back!

and of course so happy to be eating cheese again…

We got hot and spoiled in Miami

We got our daily dose of sand, sun and salt water on the white sandy beaches of St. Armand’s Key.

Michigan sailed away with our hearts

And we got funky dancing in the streets of Chicago

Amazing summer moments were made… until next time America.

Next stop Switzerland…