MULTIPLY Creative Challenge #32: Duel

Twas on a misty morning early, they met with hate as fuel
My tabby cat was insulted and so she decided on a duel
The neighbour’s cat was in the way and getting very cheeky
She was doing her best to enlarge her revere and this was very sneaky
But Tabby knew this was not right and challenged to a fight
She was supported by her sister Nera, who helped with all her might.
The neighbour’s cat called Roschti by name, was partnered by Mr. Grey
All were ready and waiting to fight, deep in the grass they did lay
The neutral cat called Bobinette, was to judge that all was fair
The cats were ready to bite and scratch, they had already left their lair.
Nera gave Tabby a piece of wood to sharpen up her claws
Roschti was chewing on a piece of meat to strengthen up his jaws
The stage was set the fight could begin, the cats were ready to pounce
When suddenly there was a noise, then Bobinette had to announce
The humans have the tin opener, why didn’t I think of this sooner
It seems that they will be preparing a meal of meat topped up with a tin of tuna
At the sound of these words, the cats were calm, they decided to touch their paws
Let us make peace said Tabby and Roschti, now there exist other laws
So if your cats just want to war, then grant them their last wish
Before they start to fight each other, give them each a tuna fish dish.

It's here

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We have had a few snow falls on and off since beginning November, but nothing really worth talking about. Yesterday evening the weather forecast on the Swiss TV showed a map of Switzerland with snowflakes everywhere except for the region where I live. The forecaster said we would have a little bit of snow, but not so much. Well if this photo of my garden taken this afternoon is a little bit of snow, then I wonder what a lot would look like. When I drove to work this morning it had just started snowing in small respectable flakes, nothing dramatic. However, during the morning the flakes grew and were larger. When I left work at lunch time I spent at least ten minutes wiping the snow off the car. Thank goodness the roads were more or less clear and I managed to go shopping and get home ok.

There were horror stories about the rest of Switzerland. Our company's reps that have to travel during the day to the customers told about moving only five kilometers in one hour. Some parts of the motorways were closed and many lorries were stuck on the slopes and could move no further. One thing the forcaster did say rightly was that our area is not so affected as others. A lot of mountain villages are now cut off and towns such as Zürich and Bern are buried in the snow that fell today. The snow is supposed to stop tomorrow, although we will still have temperatures of Zero degrees Celsius. It might get a bit warmer in the afternoon up to about 2°C. It is supposed to stop snowing tomorrow slowly, but surely, and at the week-end we have the big thaw so will probably be surrounded by water.

I just cannot understand that there are people who find it looks so pretty. I will now be retired by the end of February, so I might be able to appreciate it next year when I do not have to go to work. At the moment I am one of the few that are longing for a "green" Christmas.

My son is coming home for the Christmas holidays from Belgium and will be staying with us until the new year. This time he is travelling by train, taking the train to Paris and then the fast train to Switzerland. He does not need much longer as if he would be flying from Brussels to Geneva and as our airports are more or less closed at the moment because of the snow, I think he has made a good choice.

So from a snowy Switzerland I will now close this blog. Just a photo I took from the office window this morning.

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Christmas Biscuits

What does almost every Swiss housewife bake at Christmas? I was surprised when I found out. Being originally English I grew up in a world of Christmas Puddings, Christmas Cake and Mince pies at Christmas. When I arrived in Switzerland and got married and had a sort of Swiss family around me I found that Swiss housewives do something completely different at Christmas. They bake biscuits, but not just any old biscuits, they are almost works of art.

The pastries are made according to the end result. The final pastry is rolled out and various shapes and sizes are cut with the cutting stencils. There are various sorts of pastries and flavours. I found out that every Swiss housewife has her own favourite recipes and a baking marathon begins around the beginning of December. Not wanting to be left out, I do my own thing as well, almost every year. You can of course buy the biscuits, but let's face it, it is not the same thing. I decided to do my duty last week and each day I made a different sort, at the week-end even two sorts. So let us begin.

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The white biscuits with the Christmas scene are flavoured with aniseed and made with flour, sugar and eggs and a spoon of kirsch. They can become quite hard especially if they are kept open on a plate. The forms for making them are carved in wood and are often a source of losing patience when making them as the pastry tends to stick to the form. After the biscuits are finished they are left to dry for a complete night. The next day they are baked in a hot oven for about five minutes to finish them off.

The ones with the chocolate on them are sables. Getting the pastry to stick together can be a bit difficult as they are made from just butter, flour, sugar and a little bit of milk. However if you form them into a roll and put them in the deep freeze for about 30 minutes you can easily cut them in biscuit sizes. I melted a block of dark chocolate and coated them with it.

The moon shaped ones are made from a pastry composed of ground almonds (which I grind myself without the skin) and lemon juice and grated lemon zest. You have to leave them for at least five hours to dry out in the air when formed and then bake them a few minutes in the oven to dry them out completely. Then I put icing on them and dip them in roasted almonds.

The hearts are orange hearts. Made from butter, egg yoke and orange juice and coated with an icing also made with orange juice and some grated orange zest. That is one of our favourites.

The star and christmas tree shaped ones are known as "Mailanderli". "Mailand" is the German word for the Italian town of Milan, but what these biscuits have to do with the town I do not know. Made from butter, sugar and eggs you can bake them just as they are. I coat some of them in icing with Kirsch flavour and make them a bit colourful.

What I also make are cinnamon stars, but unfortunately you cannot see any on the picture. The pastry is a mixture of ground almonds, cinnamon and sugar and is rolled out on sugar. A very messy business, but after twenty years of practice I can more or less do it without swearing as much as I used to. The stars are coated with icing made of beaten egg white and icing sugar. Star shapes are cut out left to dry for about five hours. Afterwards they are baked for about five minutes.

The shiny ones are spicy biscuits flavoured with cinnamon and clove powder and put in the deep freezer for half an hour. Afterwards they are cut into biscuits and baked. I then make a caramel out of burnt sugar and water and paint them with it.

I had a few egg whites left over from the baking so I whisked them up, flavoured with lemon zest and backed them in the oven. They are the small yellow meringues on the plate.

At the moment each sort is packed in a metal tin, lined with aluminium foil and with a tight fitting lid. This means I have about eight tins of biscuits in the bedroom on the floor as I had no room elsewhere at home.

I am now glad I have got the whole process behind me. When the kids were small it was more fun and they all had their favourite biscuits. I do it today more out of tradition - the kids are now grown up but enjoy them all the same. It is often custom in Switzerland to perhaps put a mixture in a special bag and give them to neighbours etc. I found over the years it is one big exchange and let's show everyone what we did this year. I appreciate it very much, but my neighbours bring me a selection of theirs and I bring the neighbours a selection of mine. I brought a selection into the office this week and they were very much appreciated, me being the only part time housewife in the office.

So that is a little bit of Swiss tradition at Christmas and now I have it over for a year. I will be retired at the end of February, so it looks like I will have a lot of time for my baking in the next years.

MULTIPLY Poetry Posse Week 12: A Letter to Santa

Dear Santa

The years have gone past and I have been told
That for Santa’s visit I am now too old
But I still have wishes for all of us here
That life could be peaceful and have much more cheer

This world has grown older but nothing is learned
We still fight each other, for peace we have yearned
So please bring this gift of love for all others
To greet all the people as if they were brothers

When I was younger I wanted a toy
Just this present alone would give me great joy
As the years have gone past, I need this no longer
My wants for the world have become a lot stronger

No hunger more for people of this world
The wants and the needs should now be unfurled
That money is spent on the things we should get
to let us survive, for our hopes to be met

A rocket to the moon does not make me fine
The best things are free, so bring some sunshine
We spend money on items that have no real meaning
A drug or a mink coat, on this luxury we are leaning

Let us wake up and see where it leads
It is time for the truth, look after our needs
Oh Santa I was young and believed in your power
For me you were all, a support and a tower

Now I am old and you are a dream
Perhaps these words remain nothing, a joke it may seem
But one day we hope that this life will be better
And perhaps all will come true that I wrote in this letter