Driving home through Iowa...

There had been an ice storm the day before, and it was quite eerie driving on the highway along this scenery. Well, it would have been eerie if we hadn't been listening to Demetri Martin's laugh-your-head-off funny standup comedy CD...

Flammekueche (Alsatian Tart)

Ooh yum. I tried this nice, simple recipe for the traditional Alsatian bacon and onion tart (called "tarte flambée" or "Flammekueche", i.e. "flame tart") for the first time and LOVED it! It's a traditional dish from the Alsace region of France. In Germany you can buy these just like any ol' frozen pizza in the supermarkets but alas, not here.

Ingredients: 200g flour (bit less than 2 cups), 1 tsp salt, 1 Tblsp oil, 110 ml water, 200g sour cream, salt, pepper, nutmeg, 2 onions, 100g bacon (cut into dice or thin strips).

Make a dough out of the flour, oil and water, kneading until the dough isn't sticky any more (otherwise add some more flour). Let rest at least 30 min. Season the sour cream with some salt, pepper, and (freshly grated) nutmeg. Peel onions, cut in halves and then into thin strips. Roll dough on a floured surface into a thin circle and lay on a baking sheet (use parchment paper underneath!). Spread with sour cream, onions, and the bacon. Bake at 400 F for at least 20 minutes. Goes well with a nice glass of white wine (or two, or three...). Enjoy!

Awesome deal

Yeah yeah I know, Walmart is bad, awful, exploitative, blah blah - but would you just LOOK at this? A super warm, super pretty quilted winter jacket in my new favorite color "eggplant"! And it's ONLY THIRTEEN DOLLARS! With one buck shipping! Probably cobbled together by small children in some poor country, okay, but LOOK AT THIS! Quick, buy one, before they're all sold out!

Finally...

And I present... the weirdest holiday gift I've seen so far this year: The Star Wars R2-D2 Fish Tank! We saw this yesterday at Petsmart and it was hard to drag the Hubby away from it...

Quote from the blurb: "FINALLY a complete working aquarium in the theme of your favorite Star Wars™ character! R2-D2™'s head moves back and forth and has sound effects when motion sensor is activated! LED light changes tank to red, green, and blue. Telescope rotates 65 degrees for up close view of fish. Feed fish through the secret feeding tray!" OMIGOSH, AWESOME! (Nah, I think I'll wait for the "Darth Vader" version and fill it with evil guppies... I'm telling you, they're evil!)

Best Mac & Cheese ever!

So I wanted to bring baked mac & cheese to a family gathering and googled for some recipes. Here's a link to the one I found, maintaining it's "the BEST"! It's basically a white bechamel sauce that you mix a LOT of grated cheese in (I prefer sharp cheddar and swiss), then mix it with cooked noodles, top with a breadcrumb-butter-cheese mix (yay for Panko breadcrumbs!), and broil until golden brown. Perfect! And awesome with baked ham and the usual stuff.

Just don't make the same mistake I made and double the recipe, thinking 6 servings doesn't quite sound enough, unless you have at least 4 large baking dishes and are prepared and happy to eat mac & cheese for the next week or so. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about (we call it "the great mac & cheese flood of '08").