Chocolates and cheese

Miss A with her cupcake

Birthday cupcakes with Washi tape flags

Chocolate and cheese ... who can resist these two things??? I feel for those people out there who have allergies to milk and cannot enjoy the luscious flavor of chocolate (dark, being my flavor of choice) or the variety of cheeses available in Switzerland.  We love chocolate and had a great opportunity this week to enjoy it multiple times - birthday celebration early in the week and a visit to tour a chocolate factory on the weekend. Miss A helped me make the best ever chocolate cupcakes for my birthday on Monday. I absolutely LOVE Wacky Cake which has no eggs and can be mixed up in the dish/pan you want to make it in. So easy and honestly one of the moistest cakes I have ever had. For the frosting on the cupcakes above, I just melted some dark chocolate and added a couple spoons of sour cream and a little powdered sugar - deeeeeeelicious!

On to our next chocolate expedition... Mr Z and his friends started a book club in the Fall and read several of the Roald Dahl books, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The kids read the book, watched both versions of the movie and, of course, had to tour a real chocolate factory at the end of the session! We drove to the French region of Switzerland to a little town named Broc to visit the Callier chocolate factory (a branch of Nestlé). Kids had a fabulous time and by the end of the tour, had eaten enough chocolate to last for a month :-)! Here are a few photos of the tour:

The Golden Tickets!

Duh?!?! All the time!!!!

Mr Z stuffed full of chocolate - looks a bit like the squirrels that Veruca Salt wants in the movie!

Gruyére cheese is one of the most famous cheeses in Switzerland and is used in everything from fondue to quiche to slicing and eating plain with bread for dinner. The Callier chocolate factory was only about 10 minutes from the town of Gruyére, a gorgeous old village that sits on top of a hill surrounded by incredible mountains. So, of course, we had to stop and check it out! The day was beautiful and the kids enjoyed running around the open cobblestone streets (no cars allowed!). Unfortunately, we didn't have a chance to eat there as we had 5 rowdy kids, 4 adults and only a few restaurants to choose from who could not (or would not) want us partaking in their overpriced cuisine! However, we can now say we've "been there, done that" and have some great photos of the day. Here are a few of Gruyére:

 

Have a great week!  I'll see you again soon!

Jx