A.k.a., Tarte Flambe.

A.k.a., a pizza topped with cream, onions, bacon, and emmentaler cheese.  Is there anything here that is not covered in bacon and cheese?

These apfel kuchen are not.  Warm with powdered sugar, mmm………..

We must be the most fortunate people on earth to be renting a home from people who volunteered to cook us Christmas Dinner.  On Christmas Day!  Marilou and Philippe are the owners of Le Moulin Vollach, a home they purchased many years ago when their children were small and they wanted to raise them in the country.  It is an old mill from the 16th century, complete with keystones and crests and waterwheels, and all sorts of  beautiful relics from the life lived within these walls so many ages ago.  The result is clearly a labor of love.  We felt so grateful to be sharing their home and their company.   We are being treated to real Alsatian tarte flambe!

Part of the restoration of the mill included the Weinstub, with a real pizza oven imported from Italy.

The temperature inside reached 800 degrees which meant the flammekuchen cooked in minutes.  Marilou and Philippe got all of us started with a few pies and bottles of Alsatian Pinot Noir, then gave a cooking lesson to the kids.

First, spread the thin crust with cream.  The crust is like a pizza crust, only completely smooth with no “edge,” and very, very thin.

Everyone got a turn.

After spreading the cream, sprinkle with onions, bacon, and a layer of emmentaler cheese.

This is pretty fun.  It smells so good in here!

Philippe lifted each pizza onto a pizza peel as the kids finished the toppings, and slid them one by one into the oven.   Five minutes later, they were crisp and bubbly.  Wow, that oven is hot.

Wow, this is a lot of pizza!  More champagne, anyone?

It was warmly chaotic with all the tarte flambe, kids, flames, wine, and the buzz of Christmas Day joy.  When we could eat no more of our bacon and cheese pies, we sat around the Stub, talking about politics and world adventures, and thinking how wonderful it is to travel and meet new friends.  Isn’t this why we do it?  Isn’t this why we love it?  Yes, this is why exactly.

The kids and grandparents started drifting off to bed.  But Christmas Day was not over.

Oh no, it was not over yet…

Santa had not delivered his final gift, a gift to the ladies in the form of world conquest.  However, I am certain that if Santa had gone over his list he would have reconsidered.  The aggression and non-aggression that was brought to the winstub that night seemed random and was applied on a whim:

Twas the night of Christmas and all through the mill,

not a creature was stirring, except 5 generals  with their eyes on Ural.

The infantry was placed o’er the globe with great care

With hopes Uncle Nateys would not notice Siam was soldier bare

While Noelle was sleeping all snug in her bed,

Mom and Dad had visions of conquering the West in their heads,

With Leila entrenched in Africa, and Nate in Aussie’s East and West

We all hunkered down for hours of deal making and conquest.

When all of sudden, for what seemed to be no reason,

Leila’s red army, decided to call open season,

On the blues in the South and the yellows did not win,

And in a snap, it was mostly reds and whites o’ Jaclyn,

There was a bottle rocket across Asia, in search of the cards,

but it did not happen, Japan was just one country too far,

With her forces depleted, and Nate, Paul and Mike no morey,

Jacklyn defeated Leila in Europe and went on to Risk Glory.