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Alicia here to continue my culinary adventure through France. 

This week I chose Flammekueche, which I have made before, and loved! Flammekueche is from the Alsace region on the Eastern Border of France by the Rhine river. The region has a long and storied history. Many wars have been fought over the region and it has been conquered or just annexed by France and Germany. Alsace even has it's own dialect (language) that is being promoted recently to be learned in schools. Alsace is part of France now, but the region still has German influences in its culture. 

And that's why Flammekueche sounds German, but is a French food. I figure this fusion food is perfect since we have both French and German ancestors (remember we did German food in January).

Flammekueche is a thin crust onion and bacon tarte with a cream base. But in France it's more refereed to as a pizza. And also it's really delicious!!! Full disclosure, I have made this before. Last year Adrian and I did a very similar experiment, and I made Falmmekueche. I haven't stopped thinking about it since. I don't know why I didn't make it again until now. It's actually very fast and easy. It's one of the reasons I love it. I think there's a perception that French food is fussy and difficult, but not all of it is! And this is one of those recipes that can be a regular in your menu line-up!

Last time I think I used ricotta cheese to make the cream. But this time I saw some other recipes that lightened the recipe up by using greek yogurt for the cream base. If you were in France you would probably use something likebreakfast cream, but that is not very common here in America. I decided I would just get a single serving size of 2%  plain Greek yogurt, so I didn't have to have a whole carton of Greek yogurt. It was about 6oz of yogurt and 2 heaping TBS of natural sour cream. 

​This recipe calls for nutmeg and you do not want to skip it. It is so delicious! And it compliments the strong flavor of the onion so well. 

I also used store bought thin crust dough because we were having a really busy day, but usually I use our crust recipe (and I like ours better). But store bought works in a pinch. I accidentally over-baked it the first time around in the oven, but even though the crust was more brown than I would have liked, it still came out quite tasty!

Flammekueche ( Alsatian Pizza)

I hope you'll give this a try.

​And if you want to try out more French recipes, take a look at this awesome class put on by Panna! Panna is like Netflix for cooking videos by Michelin-starred Chefs, and they've just started a new class on French cooking! You can buy just the class (10 lessons) for $60 or sign up for the site for $5.99/month. There's also an option to join for life at $200. They have a free trial period, so you can sign up and if you don't like it, you can cancel your subscription. But I think you'll like it!

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     We've all heard the story of  John Montagu, the Earl of Sandwich, popularizing eating meat between 2 slices of bread and that meal taking on his name.  The sandwich became very popular in England from that point on, but after the Revolutionary War, American cooks avoided making food that reminded people of their British forefathers, so the sandwich didn't really become popular again in America until the 1800s.   (source)
        Since that time so long ago, we have made up for lost time and statistics say that Americans eat over 300 million sandwiches a day! I guess that is why the sandwich gets a day all to itself!  Today is National Sandwich Day and therefore, the subject of Friday Faves! 

What is sandwiches do you think are the best?

     Two of my kids work at competing, well known sandwich/soup/salad restaurants.  That means that we get to try some of the newer creations out there on some of the tastiest breads! Choosing favorites can be difficult, but we came up with a few for you and some of our choices are easily made at home. Not only that, my husband even weighed in this week when he heard about our fave topic for the week! 

     His absolute favorite sandwich is the grilled cheeseburger! He loves the pickles, the onions, the melting cheese.  As a matter of fact, not only does he consider the cheeseburger to be the best sandwich of all, it is his favorite meal over all! Of course home grilled burgers are the best because you can control the thickness of the patty, the amount of all of the other ingredients and so forth.  I have to agree that a good, home grilled burger is hard to beat! 
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     A couple of years ago my husband and I gave all of our sons-in-law panini makers for Christmas! This one from Sunbeam is a really great price and they work very well! We know this from experience! Shortly after that Christmas, Lindsey and her husband had us over for dinner.  She made her own ciabatta bread and we had delicious sandwiches made in the panini maker! They had chicken, cheese (she offered a variety), spinach and  pesto on them.  We had strawberry-spinach salad on the side.  It was all so delicious.  The panini sandwich is now one of Lindsey's faves.  I was so impressed with her ciabatta bread making skills.  I think she should do a Renny's Recipes post about it! 

    Can I just say that I am getting really hungry talking about all of these sandwiches? 
     Alicia couldn't decide which is the best between two kinds of sandwiches. Her first choice was a good French Dip.  I know the appeal of this sandwich, it is also a fave of mine! Alicia says, "I like French dips because they are so delicious. I love the flavor of the roast beef with the cheese. Then when you dip it in the au jus it’s so perfect." I couldn't agree more.  One caveat is that the au jus has to be flavorful and not bland.  When it is good, it makes the sandwich! The Pioneer Woman has a great recipe here! 

     Alicia's other choice is grilled cheese. She said,"I like grilled cheese because melted cheese is the best. And they are so good with tomato soup. And if you get just a little char on there the flavor works really well together. I mostly like to use white cheese for my grilled cheese. Monterey Jack or for a fancy one I would use gruyere." ​ It seems so simple, and it is, just cheese on buttered on the outside bread, then toast it up until the cheese is melty.  I use a small nonstick skillet. Of course, serving it with a creamy tomato soup in mandatory.  Tomato-Basil is great with a Provolone Cheese sandwich.
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      Our resident vegan, Madalynn says, "I like veggie sandwiches. Any veggies are good but I like to have spinach, tomatoes, onions, peppers, and spicy mustard on mine. It’s a lot of good flavors and I like the crunch." I think she left one thing off of that list that I know she loves, pickles! When you have all of those good flavors and crunch on a sandwich, you don't really miss the meat. But, if you feel you still need a little meat, you can add a few slices of turkey a some cheese to round it all out.

       Well, now it's my turn and I must say it is becoming impossible to choose the best sandwich with all of the good choices out there.  Here are a few that I have had that I would love to try to make at home or just make again.

• Crab salad with avocado and bacon (I haven't tried making this, but I must!)
• Turkey with avocado and bacon (This will be easy to do on my own.)
• Because Thanksgiving is coming, I am looking forward to a Hot Turkey open-face sandwich with gravy.  (I've had this every year after Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember! So good!) 
• Or, turkey with cranberry sauce on it.  Don't forget the salt and pepper! (Another after Thanksgiving staple.)

     Finally, when it comes right down to it, there is one sandwich that I just crave sometimes, along with a tall glass of milk, and that is a nice Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich.  It has to have a nice thick layer of peanut butter, (I like creamy) and a good amount of my homemade strawberry jam. (click the link to learn how to make it.) Now that is real comfort food.  When I was a kid, I didn't like the crusts, but now they make those store bought kind without crust.  Meh! Who needs to spend money on that when you can make these sandwiches more deliciously yourself.  If you want to cut off the crust and seal the sandwich at the same time, you can even buy the gadget that does that here or here.  Now that I am an adult, I love the crust, but I think one of those gadgets would be great for my grandkids! 
       So, there you go! Some of our favorite sandwiches and how to put them together.  What are your faves?  Do you like creamy or crunchy peanut butter? Whatever you enjoy, eat it today in honor of National Sandwich day! 

I am sorry I am so late with this post today, as well as skipping yesterday. It's been a rough one for me. If you've never been pregnant before never let anyone tell you how pregnancy is going to go. Nobody else has been you pregnant before, so, they really just don't know what they're talking about.

Anyway, did you know that yesterday was National S'mores day? It's the day when we can all celebrate and enjoy that delicious camp fire treat of a roasted marshmallow, a chocolate bar, and some graham crackers. It's a tasty treat that has experienced a renaissance in the way it's built and presented. 

Here on our blog we have shared a s'mores variation known as Chocolate Dipped S'Mores Bars. You may also remember this post where we talked about our favorite Campfire Dishes and showed you a picture of the S'mores bar Alicia had at her wedding reception.

We love getting together and roasting our marshmallows to perfection over the fire pit in my parent's backyard. I also have fond memories of camping as a child and making s'mores to enjoy over the fire.

Madalynn made this other fun variation on s'mores a while back and she is letting me share the how to with you. She used vegan marshmallows since she is trying very hard to eat vegan, but regular marshmallows will still work. She also used 86% dark chocolate and graham crackers without honey.

In order to make it you first put the marshmallows on the stick, then coat in melted chocolate, and roll in the graham crackers. Then you freeze them. She also warns to refrigerate them before you serve them or they are really hard.

Here is a photo of everything she assembled to make it. She used very dark chocolate, but I'm sure you could use less dark if dark chocolate isn't your thing. (It's my thing, but it is not my mom's thing.) This is a fun variation to use if you don't have a fire pit in the backyard and can't take the time to go camping, but you still need a S'mores fix. Even though yesterday was National S'mores Day, it's not too late. You can make this fun and tasty treat this weekend and enjoy a delicious s'more!