Milano

We had about 7 hrs to see Milan-- though I am sure there is plenty more we could have seen in the area, this was enough time to get a general feel --- lots of shopping and lots of tourists!

On the train to Milan-- I should have taken more pictures.  We went through beautiful mountains and it was interesting to see the gradual change of Switzerland to Italy.  And weird to see palm trees next to Swiss style houses.

Our room in Milan at the Boscolo Hotel

The view of the Duomo from our hotel

The magnificent Duomo

And the square in front of the Duomo

Beautiful!

Old structure--now a shopping mall---literally shopping everywhere!

The ballet schedule at La Scala Opera House

Sforzesco Castle-- with a huge promo for Expo 2015 in front of it

Taking a little rest

Some afternoon drinks-- mine was a Spritz with Proscecco and Aperol

Outdoor cafe--- pretty touristy but sometimes that can be nice

Disgusting--- there is an Abercrombie and Fitch in Milan!--- you could smell the cologne from across the street

Peck! --Italian food heaven 

Only sunlight is on the Duomo

Again...duomo

Apertivo on the rooftop bar at the hotel...the food just kept coming 

The night view of the Duomo from the rooftop

On to Monaco in the morning!

Zurich

Our first 2 days in Zurich --- off to Milan in the morning. 

Along the Limmat

Fraumünstsr

Grossmünster

Steep little alley

The aftermath of the Street Parade -- huge Euro techno party

Swans on Lake Zurich

Swans on Lake Zurich

Grossmünster

A little square off of the river

On top of Lindenoff-- where Zurich was founded

View from Lindenoff

Swiss bier

It's Kaiser!!! --for about $450

Num! Döner Box-- sliced veal with coleslaw mix, fries and 3 sauces--- better than German Döner kebab in my opinion

Zurich's well known version of macarons from the famous Sprüngli 

Bourbon-Vanilla, Champagne, Citron and Chocolate

Biergarten along the river 

Biergarten along the river

Lunch of our German favs! -- Bratwurst, Curry Wurst and Paprika chips

Traditional Swiss meal -- Zurich specialty which is similar to Stroganoff and rösti!

Ended the night with a Basil Smash---just like the ones at Sardine!

Day 1: Here We Go!

So-- I'm unable to put captions or center the pictures so I hope this comes out ok once it's published on the blog.

All packed up and ready to go

My MSN ritual--- a large Scotch Ale at the Great Dane

First flight--- Bon Appetit and a margarita

International Business Class--- I don't know if I will ever be able to fly coach again 

Lay flat seats

Only part of the food we got on the flight!

Great start to the 9 hr flight

AND the seat massages!

The view from our 38th floor suite!

The view from our room!

Week #7: A few things I made this week

We are starting to get veggies in abundance, which means I need to start making the "big guns."  AKA: Soup!  Seemed a little odd to be making a soup on the hottest day of the year but it will be great to enjoy it when the cooler weather comes.  I will probably only post one more time before we leave for our European Excursion.  At that time the focus of the blog will move away from Wisconsin food and on to Swiss, Italian, Slovakian, Hungarian and Croatian food (and the other things we do while we are there).  While we are away we have friends and family taking the CSA for us.  I won't make them write anything up for the blog but I can't wait to hear what they liked/disliked and what they made.  Everyone has a different idea pop into their head when they see a vegetable.  For me this week, when I saw we had 11 small heads of broccoli the only thing I could think of was Broccoli Cheese soup!

Broccoli Cheese Soup:  Like I said, we use up ALL of our broccoli from the CSA.  May have been more than the recipe called for but I think it worked.  I used my immersion blender to puree some of the soup but still left some healthy chunks.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/broccoli-cheese-soup-recipe.html

Thick and Creamy Broccoli Cheese Soup

Rhubarb Freezer Jam:  I still had quite a bit of rhubarb in the fridge and I wanted to make something that would last a while since we will be gone.  I considered making the sweet bread again and freezing it but I wanted to do something different.  This freezer jam was really easy.  I think the jam will pair wonderfully with a triple cream brie.  Can't wait to try it!

http://foodpreservation.about.com/od/Freezing/r/Easy-Rhubarb-Freezer-Jam-Recipe.htm

Rhubarb Freezer Jam in my newly inherited mason jars

Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins:  We also had a lot of zucchini to get through.  I love these muffins because they are chocked full of them but it doesn't taste like it at all because of the deep chocolate flavor.  They are so chocolaty they taste more like a dessert.  The recipe calls for a small amount of canola oil but I replaced it with apple sauce.  Perfect recipe for that type of thing.

http://www.simplylifeblog.com/2012/07/double-chocolate-zucchini-muffins-from-whats-baking-in-the-barbershop/

Packing 2 muffins for work and using my Valentine's Day wrappers :-)

My first big harvest of cherry tomatoes from my plants!! The Sungolds are so sweet, they are like candy.

Cherry Tomatoes from my garden

Finally, Week #7 CSA: Dragon Tongue beans, basil, napa cabbage, onions, sugar snap peas, broccoli, cucumbers, patty pan squash, fennel, zucchini, cilantro and eggplant (which is hiding).  I have some work to do to get through all of this before we leave!

Week #7 CSA

Lots of great veggies and fruit are now in-season!  Go to your local farmer's market to check it out!  I hear Door County cherries are going to be at our market tomorrow. Num!