Sausage Mushroom melts

Very similar to the ham and swiss melts...but I think this one is a little better. Get some sausage, grill it, or if you don't have a grill (which we do not) just cook it on the stove top with some mushrooms and onions then lay on a half of piece of a baguette put really any kind of cheese you want, but of course I will swiss cheese then just pop it in the over for about 15 min just until cheese melts. I don't wrap these up in foil, because I want the bread to toast a lil too. No idea if anyone reads these or cares really, but I would love to hear if anyone tries these. There is nothing special or difficult about these...just are all common foods here and I am just wanted to share, because really I have nothing else to do. 

Easy but yummy dinner here in Switzerland

This is a very simple meal to make and super quick but is very popular here and Paul and I both really enjoyed it....

Ham and Swiss Melts:
I used just some sliced ham, sliced swiss cheese, mayo (or you can make your own sauce which I would normally do at home where things are lil cheaper), and a baguette for my bread. What kind of bread you use makes a big difference. Wrap the sandwich in foil and bake in the oven at like 200 C which is about 400 F. I baked it for about 20 min, just until cheese is melty. Easy, but we really loved it. Don't always think every really good meal has to be difficult. Easy leftover as well. Just pop it back in the oven.  

What's for dinner...Tartiflette

   My goal is to try and cook the way they cook here. So I plan to post the different dinner's I make here. It is a long process of really trying to find Original Swiss recipes, because anyone can add things on the internet, but I have found a few and will continue my search and will add what I made and it's recipe. A lot of the dishes I will make will most likely have cheese, ham, pasta, sausage, potato, and/or bread, because those are all main items here. So if you are not a fan of those items, well you may not want to try these recipes at home (or it won't kill ya to stretch your pallet a bit) I know I have always been bad, but here you have to, because when you go somewhere to eat and can't read the menu, you guess and hope for the best. So for tonight I will be making "Tartiflette".

Tartiflette: is a French dish from the Haute Savoie region of France. It is made with potatoes, reblochon cheese, lardons, and onions. A popular variation of this dish is to replace the lardons with smoked salmon (I will not be using either, because lardons are nasty and salmon is very expensive so I will be using bacon, which is really in most recipes these days anyways).
The word Tartiflette is probably derived from the Arpitan word for Potato, tartifla. This modern recipe was inspired by a truly traditional dish called "pela": a gratin of potatoes, onions and cheese made in a long-handled pan in France. It was developed in the 1980s by the Union Interprofessional Reblochon to promote sales of reblochon.
The name derives from the Savoyard word for potatoes, tartifles, a term also found in Provençal. The Savoyards first heard of tartiflette when it began to appear on the menus of restaurants in the ski stations, conveying an image of authenticity and mountain terroir. Which is now why it is popular here in Switzerland. Mainly in the mountain area though.

If you don't know what Relochon cheese is, you so should get some just for fun. It is so cool. It has this rind all around and in the middle is like this soft gooey cheese. So go to the store and get some for the fun of it. Try something knew. It really is fun! I will be going to the market and getting some homemade bread that is baked fresh everyday to enjoy with this dish. Which is a staple for every meal here btw.

TARTIFLETTE:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped white onions
• 1/3 lb chopped Ventrèche, or smoked bacon
• 2 1/4 lbs cubed white potatoes
• ½ cup white wine
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 lb sliced Reblochon cheese

Preparation:

Preheat an oven to 350F. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes. Add the Ventrèche and cook, stirring, for an additional 10 minutes. Add the potatoes, white wine, salt, and pepper; bring the mixture to a simmer, cover, and cook for 8 minutes.
Transfer the half of the potatoes to an oven-safe baking dish. Cover the potatoes with half of the Reblochon, and then repeat the layers once, ending with the last of the Reblochon on the top of the casserole. Bake for 25 minutes, until it is hot and bubbling.

When you are forced to slow down and think.

      I have so much thinking time here, with having to walk everywhere and just not knowing anyone. I don't understand what people are saying around me, so my mind is always running. It is so hard for me to put all my thoughts into words and really decide what I want to write about, but something that has been on my mind a lot is how much I love it here and how I expected it to take a long time for me to end up liking it and getting use to things here. I have been thinking a lot of why I expected that and I have realized how I think so negative on a lot of things. I came here with a negative mind set. I expected it to be really hard, frustrating, and I figured I would want to go back home as soon as I got here. Everyone of those expectations were wrong (thankfully). I love it! Sure it is a little difficult not being able to understand anything or anyone, but really it is fun. It makes going to the grocery store (which they call the market) way more fun. I can't just go in real fast focus on what I need to get and hurry and get out. I have to slow down, take my time, pay attention to what is around me...I actually have to think now when I go shopping, because I just have no idea what anything is. It all looks different and is definitely packaged differently. It is a great time for me to slow life down and enjoy where God has placed me. It is time where I can focus on many things that I need to work on in my life, where back in the states I would of never slowed down to even think about things I need to change. So my first lesson I have learned here, is think positive of every scenario God has placed you in. I know thinking like that now is totally going to change these next 6 months here. It is going to change my marriage and how I treat my husband. So friends and family, I know it is hard to slow down and really look and realize what is around you, but it is definitely worth it, I am thankful for this time I have to take life slow and enjoy my time with my husband. I am not in a hurry to get done with these next 6 months like I was before I even got here. I pray you all have a chance to slow down and think positive of where God has placed you. It may change more then you know.