The sky is heavy with snow today and it brings back memories of Gstaad in the '60's when there were so many feet of snow that we couldn't open the french doors of our Chalet. My mother and father had rented a half a chalet called Les Trois Ours above the Palace Hotel. The half chalet was so large that we had invited friends from Toronto to join us for the holidays. It comfortably slept 2 families of 4. My mother would trapse down to the village twice a day to pick up warm croissants and pastries. We hiked to the the Wispile and back every day with our skis over our shoulders. Life could not have been more magical. For my birthday we would eat at the Cave at the Olden. Fondue, Raclette w/Grapillon. Does anyone remember Grapillon (the Swiss non-alcoholic grape juice) or know if it is still available?

A world away here in Carlisle my children and I will be having raclette for dinner tonight. It won't taste exactly the same however because Whole Foods carries a variety of the French raclette. It is made with raw milk and although I like the idea of that it doesn't taste quite as robust as the Swiss pasteurized version to me. We have one of the modern raclette machines which are available all over the place now but there is no need to have a machine. You can easily make it in the oven (or believe it or not in the microwave). The old machines are still available and for large parties are alot of fun. I am all for progress but there is nothing like doing things the old fashioned way and I think it important to note after all that the verb racler = to scrape, in french, is what is responsible for the name of the meal!