Our international student from Bavaria has the cooking bug.  One of the gifts he gave us was a Bavarian cookbook by Alfons Schuhbeck along with a cooking tool used to make spaetzle (pronounced shpetsleh), which is a German egg noodle that the kids say look like teeth.  Tom, with the help of Mr. Shuhbeck. has reinvented my outlook on German cuisine.  We’ve made two different goolashes, one pork and one beef, both delicious and fairly simple to make.  And then there is the cheesecake recipe which is the best I’ve ever had.  Not only that, but Tom prepared it with perfection, which is par for the course.  Sadly for us, he’ll be leaving us in just a few weeks.  Here is a recipe for a casserole he made for our poker party.  Everyone loved it, kids young and old.  It made enough for 10 or more.  It’s unique because of the combination of potatoes with pasta and definitely and one of the best recipes in my blog so far!  Served with a cabbage or carrot salad, this is a complete meal for a busy weeknight.
Swiss-Alps Macaroni
9 medium-sized potatoes
21oz (600g) macaroni-elbows
1 big onion
16oz (450g) bacon (avoid heavily seasoned or boil it first to remove smokiness)
21oz (600g) Swiss shredded cheese
25oz (750ml) cream
salt and pepper
Preparation:
Bring water in a pot to boil and put some salt in it. 
Peel the potatoes, cut them into cubes put them together with the macaroni into the boiling water. You might want to put the cubed potatoes in the water at first, because they take longer, but it depends on the cooking tome of the noodles. The potatoes take about 10-12 minutes until they are done (careful not to overcook). 
Meanwhile cut the onion and the bacon in little cubes and put the bacon in a pan at first. Fry the cubed bacon half way done and skim the fat out of the pan. Then add the cubed onion and brown the onion-bacon mixture. 
As the potatoes and elbows are done, strain the water off and add them to the pan with bacon and the onion. 
In a casserole dish make layers out of the elbow-potatoe-bacon-onion mixture and the shredded swiss cheese. 
At the end mix the cream with pepper and dash it over the layers. 
Then put it in the oven at 300°F for about 10 minutes to bake it over.  
In Switzerland it is served with apple sauce, but a salad fits perfect, too.