Helau, Alaaf, or Ahoi! …

... carne vale is sure to follow.

Großer Karneval (Grand Carnival) by Karl Hofer, 1928, Pinakothek der Moderne

Start sobbing now? 

Absolutely not!

In Germany faced with the less-than-inspiring prospect of a few wintry months, the German people console themselves with the bacchanalian revelries associated with Fasching, which in lands north of Bavaria, is called Karneval.  It starts on 11.11.11. (November 11, 11 minutes after 11 p.m.) and grants the speakers of the Fasching Guilds Narrenfreiheit (Jester's privilege the ability and right to speak and mock freely without being punished.) 

The entire affair peaks on Rosenmontag and Faschingsdienstag (the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday).  Traditionally, it’s the time to indulge your hedonistic tendencies before the onset of Lent, and some Germans take their annual holidays in order to do precisely that.  Many city pedestrian zones are overrun with normally sober citizens now glad in outrageous fancy dress for a gargantuan party. 

Ladies prowl with scissors snipping of men’s ties, doctors in hospitals have been known to make their ward visits on roller skates, and sober businessmen appear in red Bozo wigs and out sized plastic noses. And Fasching parades are plentiful.

So dust off you costume, grease your skates, and drop your inhibitions…

…for, there is a time for every purpose under heaven ... A time to laugh, a time to weep ... A time to dance, a time to mourn ...and a time to choose your Lenten penance.

But, comes Easter Sunday…

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Ho-Made Pies & Queen of Tarts

 

Confessions of a Roadfoody

Many people believe it would be fun to travel on the road with me.  Many people are wrong.  I have a roadtrip rhythm that works just fine for me but would be hell to those of a passing interest in regional foods.  

I drive to eat.

Today any serious Foody can find their favorite poison on the internet and order it to be delivered to their front door within twenty-four hours. 

And then there is… us - who believe that life is not worth living without discovering some exotic back-road treasure.  We work hard to get them and getting them is often a wild ride. 

The first time I considered inviting a guest to ride along was in the mid 1970s. I had an aqaintance who worked in the movie business and who thought that the passion for homemade pies, barbecued ribs and roadside America would make a brilliant movie.  Looking back, I was prescient to know without a shadow of a doubt that there was no way on earth I would take this high-powered ego on a road trip.

Next, I considered Clive.  My first inkling that he was a kindred spirit came during our first West Coast wanderings.  He never missed out on any foody stops.

He loved the idea of roadfood.  I was in hog heaven. 

After laying waste to countless meals in just a few days, we got slap-happy.  The roadfood obsession becomes so pervasive that it infiltrates your dreams.  The more we were out there, away from home, wandering along blue highways and backroads, the more our sight, smell, and hearing became warped.  This is the onset of roadfood delirium. It may not be pathological, but it happens with such regularity that I have to conclude that our brains are wired a certain way.

p.s.:  The founder, Jack Morrison, spelled home made pie as ho-made so the letter would fit on the small sign.  It was not until later that the word "ho" got its current meaning.  The Thunderbird is built on tradition and family and thus the sign and the spelling has remained.

p.p.s.: permission granted to “purloin” D’s apricot tart recipe. Thank you.  

Tarte aux Abricots (Apricot Tart)

1  10-inch partially baked tart shell (baked at 400° for 5-10 minutes to dry out the bottom)

2 lbs. ripe apricots, halved and pitted

1/2 cup sugar

2 medium eggs

2 Tablespoons flour

1/2 cup crème fraîche

Preheat oven to 400°F

1.         Sprinkle 1/4 cup of sugar over the apricot halves, cut side up and allow to rest for 30 minutes.

2.         Arrange the apricots, cut side up and slightly overlapping in the tart shell.

3.         In a mixing bowl, combine the rest of the sugar, eggs, flour and cream and mix thoroughly.  Pour over the apricots.

4.         Place the tart on a cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes or until golden.

            Best served warm from the oven.