It’s the end of August, and I know there are people out there already excited about the fall fruits and vegetables that are just around the corner.  There will be pumpkins and squash and chestnuts all over town.  But don’t miss what’s at the market, now!  The very best plums (recipe for Triple-Plum Galette below), melons and every berry you could ask for.  And what says summer more than watermelon juice on your cheeks and black pits to spit out?  I found the most adorable mini watermelons at the market here in Zürich, just as sweet as their hefty versions we may be more familiar with, but just as juicy and fun to eat.

As for melons, I have always been loyal to the French Charentais or Cavaillon, their bright orange flesh reminding me of summers in France, al fresco lunches with piles of melon slices, so sweet and refreshing.  However, when my market vendor told me about the “Rolls Royce of Melons,” the Italian Jolly, I certainly had to try. And disappointed I was not. So fragrant, every bite seemingly more flavorful than the last. It’s always a letdown to slice open a melon and find that it’s lacking flavor or realizing you should have been patient and let it ripen just a bit more. But just the opposite when you separate the two halves and the aroma lets you know all is good here.  The only thing to do with them is slice open, take out the seeds and eat the whole thing with a spoon. That said, Deb’s melon agua fresca on Smitten Kitchen is quite tempting…

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90 degree days (30 for you metrics), the sun out until 9pm, hordes of people by the lake here in Zürich – there aren’t many signs that the end of summer is near.  And thank goodness.  I’ll keep returning to the market, filling up my basket with berries and the seasonal fruits we wait for all year long.  Back in the kitchen, I haven’t quite sworn off chocolate desserts, but there’s more often a fruit tart or crumble coming out of the oven, and a new jar of jam cooling off on the window sill.  There is one very simple dessert that I have made several times this summer, showcasing a different fruit each time.  It’s basically a fruit compote topped by soft baked meringue.  A dessert that is easy and requires few ingredients, yet looks rather impressive.  Not to mention, tastes delicious!

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It’s not every day you see a 26 foot (8 meter) tall fork sticking out of a lake.  I know you’re all curious to know the story after all.  So here it is…

The fork went up in 1995 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Alimentarium – Musée de l’Alimentation, Vevey’s Food Museum.  (Aha, that’s the reason I had Vevey high on my list!  But more on the museum in a minute.)  A Swiss artist created it as a temporary exhibit, and still laughs to this day about the years of controversy it created.  Instead of one year, it came down in 1997 for “aesthetic reasons.”  Ten years went by until up again it went for a temporary exhibit at the Alimentarium on cutlery (“Couverts découverts“).  Well apparently the people of Vevey had grown to love their gigantic fork, and it practically became a public symbol.  Following petitions, Vaud authorities finally signed papers in 2008 declaring the fork stays!  Permanently.

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The town of Vevey in Western Switzerland is well worth a visit for its Saturday morning market alone: the lively market ambience, amazing array of fruits, vegetables and local specialties and its location right off the water.  It’s even more of a destination during the summer months when there’s folk music, artisanal crafts and unlimited wine tasting as well.  But without the ordinary market or even le marché folklorique, I’d still recommend a visit to Vevey.  It has a beautiful spot on Lake Geneva, narrow, winding streets to wander around, tons of cafés, as well as shops overflowing with cheese, meringues and chocolates shaped like Charlie Chaplin’s shoes.

…Not to mention a gigantic fork standing upright on the water!

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If you love markets as much as I do, then there’s one you definitely shouldn’t miss here in Switzerland.  It’s in Vevey, Montreux’s neighbor, a city on the northern shore of Lake Geneva, and not far from Lausanne.  A massive market with fruits, vegetables and products both local and exotic, takes place on Tuesday and Saturday mornings. It’s usually on the main square by l’Hôtel de Ville, but when we were there earlier this summer, it was all along the water.  Could not imagine a better setting for a market. Well worth the 2.5 hour train from Zürich, which was a beautiful ride in itself.

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With family visiting us from France for a few days, we wanted to pick a destination that was as Swiss as we could find.  During our past year in Zürich, talking to locals and travelers and reading about the different regions in Switzerland, all signs pointed to Appenzell.  Narrow, picturesque streets, delicious Swiss delicacies, mountains in the background and a traditional way of life.

Just south of St Gallen, near our Brunch on the Farm for the National Day, we found ourselves looking up at pure green, rolling hills, undulating into the distance with grazing cows, farm stands, barns and only tractors on the roads.  The tiny town of Appenzell was set against this scenery, just as beautiful with its painted houses, decorative facades and abundance of colorful Swiss flags seemingly filling the streets.

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After our celebration of Switzerland’s National Day here on August 1st, our travels led us to Appenzell. Many say this is a town where time has stood still. Coming up, I?ll report on the charm and very Swissness of the city (yes yes, and its cheese too!), so stay tuned. But first, a quick post about the opposite extreme – where time does anything but stand still. On some blogs, you may notice as many as 20 options to be notified about new posts (DIGG, Bloglines, Technorati, Newsgator, MyYahoo, etc). It’s pretty incredible, the speed at which information is being transmitted and shared, and to such vast amounts of people all across the world.

Well, MyKugelhopf is keeping up with (most of!) this technology. Worry no longer about missing a new post! Some of you may already be a fan on MyKugelhopf’s Facebook page – feel free to add comments and photos there. You may have also noticed the new, colorful trio of icons over there on the right. Don’t be shy… go ahead, click on them! Many readers have asked me about the RSS feed, so that’s there now. Or feel free to sign up for an email notice as well: each time I post something new, you’ll be (one of) the first to know! And last but not least… MyKugelhopf is now on Twitter!

Which brings me to the last order of business. For all of you on Twitter, what would YOU like to see in MyKugelhopf’s Tweets? Please share below, and that’s what you shall see!  For example…

What’s baking in the oven here?  What’s doing in Zurich?  Fun articles on the web I’m reading?   What chocolate I’m tasting?  Travel plans?

Thanks for letting me know!  And as always, thanks so very much for following MyKugelhopf!

One thing I love about Zürich is the omnipresence of both the Swiss and Zürich canton flags.  Hanging from buildings and homes in the old town and all across the city, along the lake and river, perched proudly on cars and trams, patches sewn into locals’ clothing, bags and other accessories.  So you can just imagine my delight during the Swiss holidays when these flags show up in even more guises.   They blow in the wind on top of churches, and food products are cooked or baked into the shape of the Swiss cross or in the colors of red and white.  Yesterday, August 1st, was the national holiday here, commemorating the Helvetic Confederation’s 718th birthday.

430 farms across the country opened to the public for the holiday with a “Brunch on the Farm.” You reserve a spot, pay around CHF 20 and can enjoy the setting, food, music and any other festivities. We chose a farm with traditional production methods (and animals for my 4 year old nephew to pet!) in the canton of St. Gallen, towards the Austrian border.  It was a beautiful drive from Zürich (about an hour), with a truly representative landscape of Switzerland – rolling green hills, so smooth and clean, cows grazing upon them, their bells swaying as they moved about, fields of sunflowers and the entire landscape dotted with the red and white of the Swiss flag.  My favorites were the signs off the sides of the road, letting us know we could stop at any time to pick up fresh berries, plums, sunflowers or eggs.  Using a system that perhaps might not work as well in the United States – you take what you want and leave money for it.  Stands unattended, prices marked, functioning on the honor code.  What do you think of that?!

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