The small faded paper lodged undisturbed in my recipe box for over forty years. I’m sure I made this in the first years of our marriage, right after our time in Europe. But then, as we are all apt to do, we slowly reverted to the tried and true breakfast options we were familiar with and lost track of it. Until last December.
The back story: Ten months after our wedding, Tom and I spent the summer in Italy with a small group of twenty-somethings from the US and Europe talking to individuals about Jesus. Believe me, it wasn’t as glamorous as it sounds!
Funny but some of the most vivid memories are of the food! The wide variety of pasta dishes of course but also the sublime flavor of a perfect peach, the welcome burst of cold from the street vendor’s gelato on the stifling hot afternoons and the simple breakfasts the Swiss girls made: Birchermüesli. Ever heard of it before? We hadn’t either.
“I will send you the recipe” were the parting words of the beautiful Vreni whom we never saw again. Sure enough she did.
Right before Christmas, I was looking for ideas for a brunch for my daughter and her friends and tucked in between all the egg dishes was Vreni’s recipe. It was like finding a long-lost friend!
It was hard to read so I googled the recipe and found quite a few, all with similar ingredients. I whipped it up one Saturday morning to surprise Tom and made him guess what it was before I served it. He finally did 🙂
I’ve been making it about once a week since then and it is our new favorite breakfast.
Want to try? Here you go:
Swiss Birchermüesli
- 2 Cups rolled oats (not instant)
- 1 Cup plain yogurt
- 1 Cup milk
- 1 small carton raspberries (or blueberries) or 1/3 package frozen ones
- 1 pear cut into small pieces (apple would work too)
- 1 handful raisins or dried cherries or cranberries
- 1 sliced banana
- Juice of ½ lemon
- ½ C or so of walnuts or pecans
- Squirt of maple syrup or honey
Mix well and let sit at least an hour in the fridge before eating.
Maybe we wouldn’t enjoy it so much without the history but I think you’ll like it too.
Hope for the best,
Tish
PS My first recipe posting 🙂
Hope for the Best 
Sounds yummy! Thanks Elaine On Mon, Feb 8, 2016 at 7:00 PM Hope for the Best wrote:
> Letitia Suk posted: “The small faded paper lodged undisturbed in my recipe > box for over forty years. I’m sure I made this in the first years of our > marriage, right after our time in Europe. But then, as we are all apt to > do, we slowly reverted to the tried and true breakfast ” >
Let me know if you try it 🙂
I love recipes that are part of our stories. I have a absolute worn out cookbook from our year in Alaska. It has proven to be one of our favoites. Thanks for the story.
What a treasure for you to still have that!