I’ve written about quiche before, and it’s one of those dishes that once you learn how to make, you can pretty much go any direction with it. I love quiche because 1) It’s delicious; 2) It’s easy and 3) Once it’s together and in the oven, you can go do something else!
Here are the basics:
Pie crust (I use Marie Callender’s because they are vegetarian)
2 Tablespoons room temperature butter
4 eggs
1 cup milk (I use whole milk or cream)
Here are the variables:
Cheese (4 oz. or about 1 cup)
Vegetables (blanch or steam them first)
Here are the steps:
Preheat the oven to 400.
Spread the butter in the bottom of the pie crust. Spread or sprinkle cheese on top.
Layer in the vegetables.
Beat together the eggs and milk; pour over the fillings.
Bake on a cookie sheet (you may want to cover the cookie sheet in aluminum foil) for 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
For Mother’s Day I made a goat’s milk cheese and asparagus quiche. For brunch yesterday (which was actually Meatless Monday, wasn’t it — yes I am just realizing this now in the post, and I don’t care, it’s staying as is) I made mozzarella, broccoli, and sun dried tomato quiche. It was lovely.
++
Other stuff that happened this weekend without me having to do too much:
Flora rode a two-wheeled bike. And just like that, she can now ride a bicycle. So. She got up on one at my nephew’s birthday party, and after being exhorted to “just keep pedaling,” she balanced herself and took off. She spent most of the rest of the weekend pedaling happily around the neighborhood. Her next trick will be to get her daddy to go on a bike ride with her.
Michael ran around the front yard in his birthday suit. Dear lord, that child has the cutest tushie ever. I resisted taking pictures, but just barely. (ha!)
This:
It needs a bit of finishing (either sod or a stone border?). That patch of ground has not been so thoroughly planted since we moved into this house seven years ago. Big props go my father-in-law who did most of the roto-tilling and sifting while we entertained friends from out of town. I helped finish up the sifting, decided where the plants went, and planted most of them. Dan helped with the planting, and then we mulched.
And then we showered. And today I am realizing that gardening is a lower-body workout. Ouch.
++
Here’s the thing that happened this weekend that I did not understand.
Flora had been eager to plant flowers since I mentioned the possibility sometime on Friday or Saturday. Sunday evening, we — all five of us — ran up to the Home Depot to pick up plants and mulch, etc.
All day Monday, from the time she got up, Flora asked when we were planting flowers. As I mentioned, my FIL started in on the roto-tilling and dirt sifting while Dan and I readied for brunch with our out-of-town friends. Flora went in and out, and didn’t want to eat anything (either for breakfast or brunch), and asked and asked and asked. After our guests left, I went outside to help Dad finish up with sifting the dirt.
And Flora asked and asked and asked. “When are we planting flowers? Is it time to plant flowers? Now? How about now? I just want to get to planting flowers!”
Finally, around 2:30, I started planting flowers.
Flora decided to go for a bike ride.
I found this maddening, but I tried really hard to let it go. But then it was, “When is Daddy going for a bike ride with me?” And then it was, “I want to play with the hose.” And then it was, “Why can’t I get wet?” (After she had “played with the hose,” which mostly seemed to consist of spraying Kate on purpose and spraying Bella and me on accident.)
I simply did not understand her switches of attention from the thing she wanted to do to the NEXT thing she wanted to do.
Maybe it’s her version of the running list I keep in my head, which is kind of the thing that keeps me from “living in the present”. Although I’ve gotten better. I guess I have to hope that she will too.
Red Pen Mama 