Switzerland

I don’t know why, but I have a habit of going on my long runs right before a road trip.  10 mile run Wednesday morning followed by a 5 hour drive to Crans-Montana Switzerland (Crans pronounced Crawh?…huh?…ok, just go with it).  Cousins Larry and Merilee were skiing the Alps this week and so graciously agreed to take me for drinks and dinner and stash me overnight in their European sized second room (a.k.a. Merilee’s closet).  Oh and what a lovely time and a lovely drive.  But, because you know me, this incredible trip was not without incident….

Yes, yes.  I ran for almost two hours then hopped in a car to drive for almost 5.  The resulting sensation of this brilliant stoke of genius was something I can only assume feels like rigor mortis.  After billy goating it up the cliff to Crans-Montana, Switzerland and Frankensteining it out of my soapbox inspired automobile I was greeted by a fashion show of snow covered ski boots and ice skates.   Ahhh,  bella.  All the stress just melted away, even in sub zero temperature.

Ok, I found their hotel and hoisted myself into a chair in their cozy cabin style bar.  Now, I was faced with the task of figuring out how to greet these models.  Think fast: What language do they speak in Switzerland.  Answer: Ok, that was a trick question.  French, German, Italian and ?Romansh? (again, just go with it) are all spoken there.  To further complicate things, Francesco from Italy, Ricardo from Venezuela and Anna from France served us dinner.  Appetizers were served, “Grazie”.  Oops, that was Anna.  Dinner, “Gracias”.  Crap that was Francesco.  Dessert, “Merci”. Ricardo !@#$. Larry, you’ll have to remind me of the name of the owner of 15 years that seems to be there night and day and doubles well as a sommelier.  Oh, and the name of the potato side dish from the region.

Ahh, but what a great evening…and we wake up to snow.  Ohh, pretty snow…in the Alps…in a ski town.  Now, a smart person would have thought ahead to what this new development meant to his or her near future…billy goat what?  (Random tangent #1: Chocolate…Per cousin Larry and Merilee, the Swiss make milk and dark chocolate in every combination of cocoa imaginable…AND, Nestle was not far from us, but, as fate have it, Nestle and I were not to meet on this fretful day.)  So I skip all of my planned shopping excursions and give a sideways glare to the rented Deathtrap.  Took me one hour to white knuckle it down the cliff to the highway when I realize the snow has Shut down my original route back to the safety of lower elevations.  So there I am, rubbernecking round and round the roundabout confirming my suspicions that they won’t let me on.  But…but….w.e.l.l….I guess we’ll go the other direction.

Where AM I?  One detour, and 3 mad dashes through traffic into the fast approaching exits till I find myself between Switzerland and Italy through the city of St. Bernard on a pass that was engineered by Satan himself.  Snow pack, 8% grade, 5 ft. wide lanes, semi’s, plows, spin out's, oh, right, and cars with 4-wheel drive crawling up my tailpipe.  Arrghhh.  Is that a.. no,    it is,     an X5.  wimper, wimper.  I miss my car.  (Note to self: never..tailgate..someone..in..a..lesser..vehicle). 

One red bull, three hours and exactly 5 visceral reactions later I drove into a tunnel...

God makes tunnels.  22 euros/francs…who do I pay?  I’ll pay it twice and kiss you on the forehead.  +4 Celsius on the other end of that one.  I don’t care if it was +1, the fact was it was above freezing and slushy.  I love slush.  I love tunnels.  I love Italy…. 

So I make it home, out of gas, out of adrenaline and out of energy.  In the words of my mother, “Are we having fun yet?”

Ooh, ooh.  Swiss border.  Did you see it?

 

Indiana Jones tunnel

Where is that Matterhorn peak?

Is that...?

Just missed it

Mooove... trees.

Ha ha. There it is

There it is

There it is

   

There it is 

WT...?

Valley 

 

 

 

Tiramisu and Logo's

Did you know traditional tiramisu is made with raw eggs.  Hmm, I tested my fate with the God's (a little scary in a place where you still find small feathers plastered to your egg shells and bone splinters left in your chicken breast...let no one say I am a coward).   http://cucinare.myblog.it/archive/2009/04/06/tiramisu-classico.html

  

Well, it tasted fabulous and I'm still alive.  Getting chubby, but alive.  The olive oil and mozzarella are catching up to me.  Had the hardest time figuring out why I was so dang tired yesterday, then I remembered I ran 14 miles that morning...Oh, right.  Freaked myself out walking up the stairs cause this creepy echo was coming from all angles, but the noise stopped everytime I stopped....ooooh, it's my knees.  Great.  

But, no amount of running can keep up with this caloric intake.  So, time for a diet.  Bought stuff for a salad but they don't sell salad dressing here.  Any guesses as to what I made?

Check out the alps peeking through

Alright.  I read websites for dummies, finished my Capella class and I applied for my second MBA program in 3 months.  I start Kauffman's New Venture Entrepreneurship program March 2nd.  On my way.  First thing first, I need a logo.  I'll let you in on a little secret.  The name of the company.... drumroll.....

global links...  Yes, all lower case.  Global, looks way too formal.  Found a fun website, cooltext.com to play with icons.  Anyone wanna vote on their favorite?

A. Ancient

 

B. Button 1 

C. DriftWood

D. Links 1

  

E. Links 2

F. Bubbles

G. Button 2

H. Graffiti

 

 

I. Aladdin

J. JP Hand 1

K. Link 3

  
 

L. JP Hand 2

Cannelloni vs Manicotti

Manicotti was originally made with crepes rolled around ricotta in a sweet or savory recipe.  Manicotti is not a known dish to Italians because any recipe with crepes around ricotta is known as crespelle.  Cannelloni is made with a pork and vegetable mixture stuffed inside fresh pasta tubes covered in béchamel and Parmisiano-Reggiano.

Oh and I have to show off my super cool apron my Brother and Sister In-Law gave to me.  It's made from a pair of Kevin's old flight pants.  How cool is that?

Six weeks into my MBA program and I quit.  Well, actually I’m transferring.  My sabbatical and first class at Capella have done their jobs.  I figured out what I want to do!!!  I am starting an Entrepreneur program (which is not offered by Capella), and creating my own company.  No, I am not going to tell you what it is.  You will only ask questions to things I haven’t worked out yet in an attempt to prove it’s a bad idea.  Don’t believe me, think of the first 3 questions you would ask.  So, I have stopped being a tourist and started working.

18-mile run went well on Saturday, though the rest of the day proves difficult with a mind that works and a body that doesn’t.  Feels a little schizophrenic.  I should get up (grunt) NO I really don’t think I will.  I had that conversation in my head at least 5 times that afternoon.

No demonstrating women or fleeing Tunisians here.  Though I may go to Milan later to protest Berlusconi’s hair plugs.  

Gnocchi and Truffles

Sunrise to Sunset

Went to Cafe Roma to study this morning. I forgot how good the coffee was here.  Had to resist ordering a second.

Bruschetta for lunch

Baguette with pesto spread, mozzarella, tomato and basil.

Nice walk!

Studying in 14 degree celsius temp (57 degrees fahrenheit) 

My new friend Cambi

Dinner

Truffles (tartufi)

The Piedmonte (and Alba) are known for their truffles (white and black).  No not chocolate.  It’s a fungus like a mushroom that never emerges from the ground.  This particular type of fungus feeds off of the nutrients of oak, willow and poplar trees.  I think they’re the same trees from my first pictures out here.  The trees with even spacing.  I went to the market in Alba Saturday and found some truffle infused oil to cook with.  Mmmm http://217.73.237.195/newversion/inserzionisti/index.cfm?lingua=2&uidaz=123

Gnocchi (pronounced neo key - shorten the ne and hang onto the o)

People try to make this recipe scary but as long as you have a ricer and don’t over work the potatoes, it’s easy.  With pesto…ok, with tomato sauce…horrible, with butter and sage…mmmm.  Don’t forget the truffle oil.

Can you guess what one of those fluffy little potato pillows is called (or Spaghetti for that matter)? 

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/how-to-make-gnocchi-like-an-italian-grandmother-recipe.html

 

gnocchi three ways

Fail – getting power gels delivered to me – I settled for honey/miele and I read gummy bears work to.  Sugar is sugar.

Fail – Trying to make nachos here

Epic Fail – Trying to get the Super Bowl streamed to my computer.  !@#$%

Ravioli and Wood fired pizza

I ate a cow today, or at least the caloric equivalent of one.  It’s not like I can justify it from a long run either.  I had breakfast, then second breakfasts then 11sies then brunch then lunch….ok, I’m a hobbit.  And dinner was ok, Ravioli with cream sauce http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1915,149166-244200,00.html (I give it a C+, maybe because I made it with tortellini instead of ravioli.  The carrots with nutmeg, honey and cinnamon were better but I lost one of my frozen ice pack doing so) but one sip of grappa incinerated dinner and I had to move on to supper.  Did you know they make fried mozzarella?  Similar to cheese curds I guess.  I’d weigh 300 lbs. if I lived in Wisconsin too.  But, I got an 8-mile run in, 3 more packages mailed from Alba, ingredients for 3 dinners at the store and laundry done.  All in all, a productive sabbatical day.

Next dinners: Gnocchi (I’ll stop by the truffle store this weekend before I make that) and manicotti/cannelloni.  I was eying the wood fired oven outside my kitchen door too and thinking I should probably make the obvious wood fired pizza sometime soon too, seeing as how my forecast is 50 and sunny this week (I’m not really being a snot, I actually do miss the snow).  AB, what kind of wood do I need?

Oh, and I finally killed the little pest of a spider that set up shop in my bathroom.  I chased it out of the shower into a different corner where he sat for days only to have him to return as the peeping tom that he was.  I decided to escalate the situation by knocking him down only to find the spider stuck to one spot on the ceiling flying around in a circle like a fan on his sticky long legs.  WT….  As I stood there with my head cocked to one side, I blasted the persistent little snot with the detachable showerhead.

Be good everyone and do something memorable this weekend!

Ciao!