For the last of the food theme, I chose the lowly banana. With a beautiful color, flexible curves, a short life span, and so many textures, it seemed a worthy subject. Besides, I was hungry for a banana! Enjoy!

Our little town of Mount Horeb Wisconsin prides itself on the Scandinavian heritage of those who settled it. One of the oldest businesses in town is Schubert's Restaurant, They have the old fashion counter stools and booths, and a bakery showcase that houses their freshly made Norwegian Rosettes. According to Wiki a rosette  "a thin, cookie-like deep-fried pastry of Scandinavian  origin. They are made using intricately designed irons. The iron is heated to a very high temperature in oil, dipped into the batter, then re-immersed in the hot oil to create a crisp shell around the metal. The iron is immediately removed and the rosette is separated from the iron. Usually, the edges of the rosette are dipped into frosting or sugar."

They are delicate flaky cookies of goodness- especially with powdered sugar sifted over them. So, of course I needed to buy a couple for photograph purposes and then not waste them; so I ate them in the name of our theme of Food.

To keep on the Food theme, but also acknowledge spring...

The carts are back at the end of State Street, and that means it is springtime in Madison, WI. Food carts of every ethnicity open to serve lunch and snacks to the students at the University of Wisconsin... and the rest of us who wander past.

The Food theme marches on, and today I decided to get a bit abstract with it. We picked up our organic eggs fro the little health food grocery and had breakfast. I am totally enamored with the colors of eggs, and these brown ones are no exception. What I hadn't realized before was how glorious and abstractly floral-like the shell could be after it is cracked open and emptied out.  So I had some close-up fun!

I would be derelict if, as a member of an international group with a theme of Food, I didn't introduce the Midwest American "Hot Dish". Not to be confused with a cassoulet, a ragu or even a casserole, this is a uniquely upper Midwestern USA, phenomena crafted, more often than not, for the church basement gatherings or the school potluck. Often seen accompanied by Jello salads of every ilk and maybe a mayo soaked seven layer salad (which in many ways is a cold hot dish!) or, more recently, the "Chinese" salad that includes uncooked Ramen noodles.

All kidding aside though, it is the ultimate comfort food for many of us, whether in the form of the tomato based pasta with corn and ground beef as shown above, or the Tuna hot dish complete with smashed potato chips on top. In full disclaimer, a true hot dish would never be so showy as to use the pasta used above; only elbow macaroni is found in a true Hot Dish.

The other staple I am proud to portray is Peanut Butter Toast. It is my breakfast of choice. I will admit that I have "graduated" from the squishy white bread of my youth to grainier goodness, but the comfort level has never decreased for me.