Ice, from last night's freezing rain, coated the outdoors this morning, once the ice fog had burned itself off, leaving just a light veil of mist in its wake. But the footing in the ravine this morning was much superior to what it had been on yesterday's morning walk.

Yesterday, while we were walking in a single-file narrow track that had been forged through the snowpack that now included the ten centimeters that had collected the day before, I asked my husband what he would prefer among three choices for that evening's dinner menu that I know full well he is not enthusiastically fond of, but which I revisit from time to time.

The choices were to select either a macaroni-and-cheese dish to which I always add tinned salmon, a cheese quiche or a vegetable-cheese-fish strata. He was silent, then said he was thinking about it. A few minutes later his suggestion was voiced: how about an onion-tomato-cheese tart? Which took me by surprise, since this too isn't one of his favourites. He is not enamoured of most non-meat dishes unless they're cheese blintzes, potato latkes, or omelettes.

So I set about preparing that tart. First slicing and chopping two garlic cloves and four medium sized onions, and stir-frying them until they were just beginning to brown. Then I prepared the pie crust; cup and a half of flour, two-thirds cup Crisco shortening, tsp. of salt, two tablespoons of lemon juice and enough cold water to result in a almost-dry but firm and flexible dough. I rolled out the bottom layer and fit it into one of the pottery pie dishes that our son had made for us. Then spread the onions over the bottom, followed by a generous cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese, sprinkled a chopped half orange bell pepper over, and then placed a half-dozen small sliced cocktail tomatoes over the cheese, sprinkling them with freshly grated pepper and dried sweet basil leaves. Sprinkling finally with a thin layer of cheese I had reserved for that purpose.

The top crust was rolled out, fitted over the pie and baked in a 350-degree F. oven until it was sizzling in the interior, with the crust nicely browned. It went very nicely with a fresh vegetable salad and sliced strawberries over Greek yogurt for dessert.