Alpine Macaroni - Älplermagronen - "Swiss Mac and Cheese"

This traditional Swiss dish was invented by the Swiss Alpine People (The Sennen or Älpler; I will call them Älpler from now on).

The Älpler take care of cows during the summer and uses the milk to make cheese and butter.

Life was not easy in the old days, as food had to be transported by foot up the steep alps. 

In 1882, when the Gotthard Tunnel was opened, Italian workers came to Switzerland and brought along their beloved pasta.

The Älpler immediately realized the value of pasta: light to carry and heavy on carbs.

Originally Älplermagronen was simply a mix of pasta and potatoes, cooked in cream and cheese over an open fire.

Cheap home-grown potatoes were added because pasta was expensive in those days.

This is how Älplermagronen are done in modern Switzerland:

You need

5-6 potatoes

250-300 g pasta

2-3 dl cream

150 g diced bacon

1-2 onions

1-2 cloves of garlic

grated cheese

one bouillon cube (beef or veggie)

dried onion

How to do it

Fry the diced bacon on low heat, add

chopped onions and garlic. 

Chop the peeled potatoes. 

(Keep the peel for a ManSalad;
- fry the peel in butter or 
immerse in olive oil 
and follow the recipe of 
crunchy parsley).

Let the potatoes boil for about 10 minutes in 0.5 litres of water with the bouillon cube and cream, then add pasta.

Let simmer until you get a creamy texture, then add the grated cheese to make it even more creamy.

Serve with applesauce and dried onion.

I do not know how or why applesauce made its way to this dish. William aka Wilhelm Tell perhaps?

Memory loss in middle aged women

Middle-aged women are said to develop memory impairment.

Why is this claim not documented in the scientific literature for men? 

I do not know, but I think it’s because there is no noticeable difference to be measured.

But there is good news for us ladies going on our 5th decade and those of us who do not believe “Hot flashes are Nature’s way of preparing us for hell” –or any other proverb that gives the female middle-ages a bad name.

The rescue is:

- A sympathetic root that comes in various shapes that stimulates anyone's imagination in a good way;

- A root that has been in medicinal use for more than 2000 years in Asian countries, traditionally to remedy nausea and flatulence (=farting);

- A root with a tangy –even pungent taste, rounded by a promise of sweetness;

It is Ginger or Zingiber officinale and on top of the root there is a nice plant with decorative flowers. 

For healing, the root is the key.

Ginger root is good for nausea (all kinds of nausea, including morning sickness during pregnancy) and there is proof that it enhances the cognitive power of middle-aged women.

And you can even grow ginger yourself.

And yes, ginger is the cousin of curcuma, turmeric!

Here are two easy ways to add these benefits into your daily life:

If you wish to make your pre-, ongoing- or post-menopausal stage of life a happy journey you can simply slice up some ginger root, pour hot water on top and add a squirt of fresh lemon juice.

Or  try some neat recipes, combining ginger with various phytoestrogenes. 

If you are a middle-aged woman, you probably made it this far thanks to some of the inventions from modern medicine (called Big Pharma by some conspiracy theory-prone people).

Should you have children or grand children: Please try to make sure they are vaccinated against those childhood diseases that have disabling or even fatal complications.

Here’s a good one I picked up in public transportation in Switzerland:

This is measles in an adult. Bad timing and it may leave scars -but only when the virus is being kind to your body.

and:

(My home-country mentioned on Swiss public transport!!)

And if still in doubt regarding vaccinating your child (or yourself if your parents were übergreen and you didn't catch the disease yet), do read the facts behind the pics.

Admittedly these facts aren't nearly as scary as what the anti-vaccines propaganda people are posting all around the web. But at least it is based on facts.

Now let's all Male, Female, Child, Unvaccinated or Vaccinated go and and have a nice cup of ginger tea with a squirt of lemon juice on top!

Or any cup of tea. 

Peace.