Day 1: Switzerland

Day 1:

Imagine this: You just step off the plane after a long flight over to Switzerland, the jet lag is fierce and you're very tired, but seeing the bright green pastures, wind mills, and clear rivers, you instantly perk up. It's been awhile since you've eaten anything but airplane food, so you take a trip to a local restaurant. Your body clock is a little messed up from the flight, so you're in the mood for some breakfast food, you decide to order what looks the most similar to an American entree, "Rosti"

Rosti is essentially a potato pancake, in Switzerland, the dish is traditionally made with grated potatoes, butter, and goose fat.

Obviously, as a vegan, I wouldn't touch goose fat with a ten foot pole. Here are the ingredients I used:

1. Orieda Shredded Hash browns about a quarter of a bag (Frozen)
2. Enough Olive Oil to cover the bottom of the frying pan
3. Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Spread (artificial butter)

And here's how to make it!

Step 1. Put the Olive Oil into the pan, turn the pan to a medium heat, leave until simmering.
Step 2. Once simmering, pour in the Hash-Browns.
Step 3. Let cook for a few minutes, than form into a pancake shape.
Step 4. Let cook for 7 minutes.
Step 5. Slide Rosti out of the pan and on to a plate, than put your Earth Balance vegan buttery spread on the pan.
Step 6. Put your Rosti back on the pan with the cooked side facing up, cook for 7 minutes.
Step 7. Remove from pan, take the excess oil off the top with a napkin, put salt and pepper on top, and enjoy!

Mine sort of took an out of pancake form, and I cooked the one side for 10 minutes instead of 7, but overall I really enjoyed it and It was my first time cooking restaurant style hash-browns!

Touristy stuff I would do in Switzerland: There is a town called Fribourg, it is said to look the most like a fairy tale setting, I would love to go to Fribourg to explore, and to take some Princess/Fairy Style photos! 

Thanks for traveling to Switzerland for me! Join me tomorrow as we fly to Austria, and make an Austrian Potato Salad! Yum!

Let's take a trip!

New blog friends,


My name is Melanie Ulbricht and this is my first blog, yay! Over the summer my brother Richard received a fully funded trip to China to take language classes and explore the culture, (I was so jealous) and a lot of my friends either just got back, or just left on their school trips to Europe. I was beyond envious of them getting to travel the world, I don't have the piggy bank or the time to go on a luxury vacation hopping around the globe. It's something I want to do one day, when my bank account allows it, but the wanderlust kicked in, and then I got an idea.

Have you ever heard of the Disney movie "around the world in 80 days" ? I think it stars Jackie Chan? Anyways, ever since that movie came out in 2004 I have wanted to do "Around the world in 80 Dinners" doing a different dinner each night, from a different country. A lot has changed since 2004, I'm no longer 8 years old and my diet no longer consists of happy meals and cotton candy ice cream. I became vegetarian in the summer of 2008 (I was 12 at the time,) I became Vegan in the winter of 2011, and I haven't looked back since. The idea to do Around the World in 80 Vegan Dinners came up the day my brother left for China and I realized how boring my hometown is ALL THE TIME.

In each nightly blog post I will be doing some brief tidbits about the country I am doing, such as the food, the original recipe, the vegan recipe, and talking about the culture, history and things I would like to do as a tourist if I visited this country.

This week, right from the comfort of my own kitchen, I will be traveling to:

Switzerland, Austria, Australia, Aruba, The Bahamas, Thailand, for the fourth of July we will be doing United States favorites, and Barbados!

So get ready to take a trip with me!