Family weekend...

One of the most difficult parts of living in another country is being away from family and friends.  So when my sister and her husband did a whistle stop visit of Geneva in June on their way to a family wedding in Ireland we were super excited!

They arrived on the Saturday afternoon and then had to leave again Monday morning.  So less than 2 days to fit in a lot of touristy things and enjoy some quality family time.

We met them at the airport and then headed on the train back to our apartment.  After a quick freshen up the boys headed down to the pub to watch the SA rugby while us girls joined the boys a bit later.

On the train home and looking surprisingly fresh after all their travelling

Very serious rugby talk

The weather was lovely so after the match we went for a walk along the lake.  We walked to the Jet d’eau and walked along the wall to get a close-up view.  The wind was blowing the spray across the wall. The boys went first through the spray first and came back soaking wet and told us there was a beautiful double rainbow on the other side.  My Sis and I walked very carefully to the other side while getting soaked by the cool spray but there is was, a beautiful double rainbow!

The beautiful rainbow

It was time for dinner and we had a lovely picnic of fresh breads, cheeses, meats and other snacks at a picnic spot on the edge of the lake. There were loads of people doing the same thing as the weather was so warm.  Although a bit hazy we could see the Mont Blanc in the distance.

Enjoying a relaxing picnic

Sunday we surprised my Sis and her husband with a cruise along the lake to Yvoire (http://www.cgn.ch/eng/).  Once again the weather played along and we enjoyed a sunny cruise along the lake, stopping at a few places to pick up more passengers. 

On the boat

Beautiful views of the villages as we cruised along the lake

Arriving at Yvoire we immediately all commented what a quaint village it was (http://www.yvoiretourism.com/accueil_en.html).  It looked like a picture postcard and as we walked through the little side streets and alleys we fell more and more love with Yvoire.  It is very touristy as many cruises stop there and there are so many quaint and quirky shops that were open, even on a Sunday!

Beautiful and colourful Yvoire

After perusing the shops we headed to Les Jardin des Léman (http://www.lesjardinsduleman.com/).   The restaurant is on the main street and we booked a place as it gets very busy with all the tourists.  The restaurant is over 3 levels and we were able to get a spot on the second level terrace which has a view of the bustling main street.  The third level terrace is the best spot as it has gorgeous sea views so we will book there next time.  

Sis and I both had grilled fish with risotto, while Hubby and Brother-in-law had filets de perche.  All the food was really tasty and delicious but the stand out dish was the filets de perche meunière a la crème et basilica that Brother-in-law ordered.  It was so full of flavor that we all kept dipping bread in his sauce.  I will order this next time.

Although the service was a bit slow I would recommend this restaurant and book a spot on the third level terrace.

After lunch it was time to cruise back to Geneva.  On our arrival we walked straight to Old Town and showed them a few of the sites. Then headed home for a well-deserved chill on the couch.

Then it was Swiss cheese fondue for dinner.  We took them to our favourite spot close to our apartment, Restaurant Auberge de Savièse (http://www.aubergedesaviese.ch/).   We were still pretty full from lunch and we weren’t sure how much we would manage but as soon as we started smelling the cheesy goodness it all changed.

We had mushroom cheese fondue and normal cheese fondue with bread and baby potatoes accompanied by Swiss wine. To finish we shared cherry kirsch. YUM as usual!

Heading to bed with full stomachs the wonderful family weekend was drawing to an end.  Monday morning it all came to an end as they headed to Ireland for the wedding.

It was a wonderful busy weekend with my Sis and her hubby.   We are so happy they came for a whistle stop visit…THANKS J

Sweet Ideas – The Art of Baking

So as you might have noticed over the past few months I have been neglecting my blog.  The reason is not due to the fact that things have been very boring lately, actually I have many exciting things and trips to share with you all but that will have to wait. The main reason for my lack of blogging is that I have been keeping very busy with Sweet Ideas!

Sweet Ideas (www.sweetideasbaking.com) is a baking business that a friend and I started.  It is no secret that I LOVE CAKE (you only need to look at the blog title) but until recently it was mainly a hobby – both the baking and eating part.  Then last year things changed and we took the leap to making it a business.

My business partner and friend, Luciana, and I met on the French course last August.  We were both new to Geneva and were looking for ways to keep busy.  Most importantly we shared a love for food and after about a week I asked her if she would like to start a baking business with me and as they say, the rest is history…

Some of our cupcakes

We spent the rest of the year researching, perfecting our skills by attending professional courses, ordering equipment and working on our logo and website. Towards the end of the year we started making free samples for people to try and then from January this year it was BLAST OFF…or BAKE OFF!!!

We work from home and specialize in cupcakes, cakes, cake pops and cake bites.

Some examples of our cake pops

We are exceptionally happy with the response we have received over the last few months.  We have a great website (http://www.sweetideasbaking.com) and many people find us through Google.  Most of the advertising has been through word of mouth and through advertising at local businesses.

We have received many great and creative requests and our personalized cakes have been very popular.  We have also received many international orders for clients, friends and family living in Geneva.  We have started baking cakes and making cake pops for a coffee shop Munchkins (http://www.facebook.com/#!/MunchkinsBoutiqueCafe).  And importantly we are receiving wonderful feedback and our customers are returning for more!

A few of our personalised birthday cakes



Visit our website to see more about Sweet Ideas and to see some more of our creations - http://www.sweetideasbaking.com.   I also invite you to join and like our facebook page (there is a link to our facebook page at the bottom of our homepage or follow this link http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Sweet-Ideas-The-art-of-baking/287665714596866).

One of the most intersting and fun requests we received was for gender revealing cake pops.
The expecting parents wanted to share the gender of their baby with their friends and family in a unique way.
The outside kept you guessing while inside of the cake pops were coloured to represent the gender
And in case you were wondering...it was a BOY!

I am loving the baking and am so happy that we took the chance and started Sweet Ideas!

The month of LOVE...

February is a particularly special month for us as it is the month we got married and went on honeymoon and, of course, Valentine’s Day!

This year we celebrated our first wedding anniversary.  We decided to make the most of the cold weather and explore more of the skiing areas, so we headed off to Verbier for the weekend.

We left early on Saturday morning and went by train to Martigny where we switched to the St Bernard Express train which took us further into the mountain area till Le Châble.  From there we took a very windy bus trip up the narrow twists and turns to the top of the mountain, Verbier.

The Saint-Bernard Express

It was beautiful and looked like a postcard. There was so much snow everywhere with at least a meter of snow on the roofs of the houses. It was just VERY cold!



So much snow!



January and the beginning of February was extremely cold here in Switzerland (and I believe in England and many other parts of Europe). We were experiencing temperatures of around -20 degrees Celsius in Geneva when taking into account the wind chill, and the wind does like to blow across the lake.

The temperature in Verbier was similar (-20), although thankfully a lot more sheltered. So being outside for long periods was way too cold.

When we arrived we dropped our bag at our hotel Farinet (http://www.hotelfarinet.com/en/verbier.htm).  Then we headed off to explore the town a bit and find a place for lunch.  The town was very busy with skiers taking advantage of the good snow and had many ski rental shops and stores selling warm clothing.

Icicles on the hotel Farinet

There were quite a few restaurant and we opted for an Italian. Hubby decided on a pizza while I selected a mushroom risotto.  Many times I have food envy, but this time was different. Although Hubby’s pizza was good, my risotto was sooo tasty! It was packed with mushroomy flavours and goodness and I loved every bite!

Relaxing at lunch

My mushroom risotto - looks like porridge but tasted great

We finished off the lunch with some dessert of tiramisu and panna cotta.

Tiramisu

Panna Cotta

After lunch we headed back to the hotel and relaxed in the warmth till dinner time. 

Swiss all the way

View from our room

We went back to the Italian for dinner.  This time we opted for dishes that are not particularly Italian and I slightly regretted it as it was not as nice as the lunch we had.  I should have known, in an Italian restaurant stick to Italian food – lesson learnt.

I opted for the pork ribs as I hadn’t had some since South Africa and Hubby went for a steak.  The ribs were quite dry, although the bbq sauce was tasty. Hubby’s steak was very tasty but a bit tough and sinewy.

Steak

Ribs

After dinner we headed to the bar in our hotel. Our hotel is known for being a party hotel and has a huge bar area where people go for après ski drinks and it also has a night club. They even give you ear plugs in your room to block out the noise!

We had a couple of drinks but after a while started feeling decidedly old as we were not enjoying the repetitive beat of the dance music, where every song sounds the same.  

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel, which was served in the bar area. The selection was good but being in the bar the place smelt like beer, not great for me but Hubby didn't mind.

Breakfast

We then headed to the slopes.  We rented ski gear (which was so expensive compared to what we paid in Italy) and hopped on a bus to meet our ski instructor as we booked a 2 hour lesson for the morning. 

Let’s just say the lesson did not go great for me. The instructor was very helpful and tried to encourage me but I am too much of a scaredy cat and would not go fast.  He kept telling me to pick up speed and put my skis parallel but I refused.  Somehow I don’t think skiing is my thing.

Hubby getting pulled up the slope

So tiny...AMAZING!

After an hour and being very nervous and refusing to go down one of the baby slopes I asked the instructor to rather spend the second hour with Hubby.  This turned out great as Hubby is a better skier than me so the instructor helped him improve his technique and by the end of the hour he had improved so much and was a lot more confident.

We headed for the restaurant on the slopes and opted for a good old cheese fondue. The view was great and we enjoyed relaxing and watching the skiers.

The restaurant

Cheese fondue...mmm

After lunch we headed back home to Geneva. 

The beautiful sunset on the way home

We really had a wonderful anniversary in Verbier! It is a great place to go visit with beautiful scenery and has a good vibe.

Mmm, what to do next year…