#otteuropeaninvasion

Ott European Invasion – Lausanne

May 8, 2014 By Caroline Leave a Comment

I don’t know if you heard, but I had a major scare with all of my pictures. First, I lost all of the pictures from when my family came to visit me in Switzerland and our trip to Barcelona. Then, somehow I managed to get those back after some research online. But, when I got those back, the rest of my pictures disappeared. Luckily, I have Apple Care and was able to call them up once I got back to the states and they saved my life. It’s not the first time they’ve saved my life. Seriously, they are amazing. Anyway, now that I have all of them back I can post about the Ott European Invasion! Yay!

I was so excited to finally be able to show my family the town that I had called home for months. I remember walking to dinner the night before they came thinking ‘wait, they are going to walking these streets tomorrow’. I could not believe it was going to happen…but it did!

My sisters both sent me identical pictures when the Swiss boarder control let them in:

I showed them all around, gave them a tour of my house (you can see a tour here), took them to the Cathedral and to get the best swiss hot chocolate in town. We had picnics down by the lake, they visited the Olympic Museum while I was in class, and of course we had to have some fondue!

Then, we were off to Zermatt! Stay tuned for that post and more of the Ott European Invasion xo

Filed Under: #otteuropeaninvasion, Caroline, Caroline's Year Abroad, Travel Leave a Comment

#OttEuropeanInvasion Food Inspiration – Bircher Muesli

April 18, 2014 By Allison 1 Comment

Bircher Muesli is one of my all time favorite breakfasts… even though it doesn’t include bacon or hollandaise sauce or pancakes or maple syrup. Bircher Muesli is such a refreshing and lovely way to start your day! I first fell in love with this dish while we were living in Australia. The Ott Girls love whipping up a batch of this yummy goodness. Caroline posted a recipe for this last summer but this time I tweaked the recipe a bit… with inspiration from the cutest little bakery in Lausanne, Switzerland. This bakery was right by our hotel. We went in there every morning for bircher muesli and croissants. The cute lady who ran the bakery was always so shocked when we ordered 6 bircher mueslis… we would almost wipe her out for the day! Aww, memories.

Anyways, here’s how you make this classic Swiss Dish!

First, you start off by soaking your oats in apple juice overnight. I did 1 cup of Oats (I used Gluten Free Oatmeal) and a 1/2 cup of Martinelli’s Apple Juice.

Stir the mixture so that the oats are coated in the juice. Pop on the lid, put it in the fridge, and then forget about it until the morning.

Then in the morning, stir the oat and apple juice mixture and then transfer it into a bigger mixing bowl. It will be soft and gooey… yum!

Next, cut the skin off one apple and grate it… you will then need to squeeze the pile of grated apple with paper towel to soak up the extra juices. You don’t want the muesli to be too watery or soggy. Then put the grated apple into the mixing bowl. Next, add a cup of dry muesli. I would only suggest using Trader Joe’s Blueberry Muesli. It has dried blueberries, apples, raisins, currents, corn flakes, rices puffs and oats. (It’s the best one I have found so far.) Adding the dry muesli gives the bircher muesli different textures. (Note: Adding the dry muesli is optional! We would make it without this step.. if you want to keep it Gluten Free just use the Gluten Free Oats.)

Next, add yogurt! Any flavor. I chose vanilla bean. Then add fresh berries! You can add raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and/or pomegranate seeds! Mix it all up and then put back into the fridge to chill. Then when you are ready to eat, scoop the bircher muesli into your bowls, top with more berries and nuts…. and ENJOY!!

Breakfast is served! And this is a perfect summertime alternative to oatmeal… No one wants to eat hot oatmeal in the summer.

If you want to be really European, you must serve with a cappuccino! (I’m having fun with my new Nespresso Machine and frother!)

Filed Under: #otteuropeaninvasion, Allison, Food, Recipes 1 Comment

#OttEuropeanInvasion Food Inspiration – Cornflake Clusters

April 16, 2014 By Emily Leave a Comment

While we were in Zermatt, Switzerland we were told to visit the beautiful chocolate shop, Laderach. We were also told to try the Cornflake Clusters because they would change our lives. Life changing chocolate? Um.. yes please. So we followed these wise words of wisdom and we were not disappointed. As I devoured this tasty treat, barely coming up for air, I said to my sisters… “Sisters, these are probably pretty easy to make!” Here is the next entry into the #OttEuropeanInvasion Food Inspiration series. (The first entry was a Mojito from Barcelona.)

So, I set out on a little experiment… Think of it as a chocolate alternative to the Rice Krispy Treat. It turns out, it is so simple! And all you need is cornflakes and chocolate. Yep. Told you it was simple. (I tried other batches by adding butter or golden syrup and the consistency wasn’t right. Why mess with something so easy?!)

Ingredients:
1/2 bag of semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 bag of milk chocolate chips
3 cups of cornflakes

Heat up a double boiler and melt the chocolate.Combine the cornflakes and chocolate until the cornflakes are coated. Spray a mini cupcake pan with a little Pam and spoon the cornflakes into the tin to shape the clusters. (You can also just spoon the clusters onto parchment paper.) Let them set. (Or put them in the fridge to speed things up!)Use a butter knife to help pop them out of the tray.
Now… Enjoy!