Quiche

Since quiche is one of my favorite things to make, and my family's near favorite thing to eat, I thought I ought to do a post on the making of my favorite kind of quiche. :)

You will need a pie pan or two, with a good pie crust. I am not good at making pie crusts, as you can obviously see, but they're passable, and edible, if it's not too thick. I usually make about four or five quiches for our family.

Tater tots are a very good addition for the quiche's flavor. This is a good amount, though you can put less or more on the bottom of your crust.

Next I add some shredded zucchini. You could also saute some zucchini slices and layer that over the tater tots, but I think it's easier to just shred it and put it on raw.

A layer of sauteed green and red peppers with some onion

And the egg mixture. I don't have measurements, I'm sorry. I just crack a bunch of eggs, add some milk, and put in a whallop of cottage cheese, then mix it up.

Or have a special helper mix it up. :)

If you so desire, you may slice or dice some tomatoes and layer them on the quiche, then put the egg mixture into the quiche.

Sprinkle some cheese, and you're all set.

Bake it at a temperature and time of your choice.

And enjoy. My apologies if I offended any proper quiche makers. :P I am unproper in my methods.

Of Recurring Normalcy, and Good Things

The past few days have been normal ones. I find myself liking some things about the normalcy, and disliking others. I don't like how normal it is for unpleasantlness to arise in our house. I don't like the cross words and the unkind behavior I see so often... But I like to be at home, and there is some security and comfort in the normal routines. I enjoy the cooking and baking I do, which is almost a sort of therapy. I like the meals I can prepare with taste and beauty. I love the colours... the colours are beautiful.

I love the produce which has been so abundant from our garden. Tomatoes are gathered every few days, and the harvest looks like this:

There's a peacefulness in the husking of corn... To sit outside and listen to the birds and cicadas chirping... To fill bowl and pot full of corn cobs, and to layer up the stack of corn husks and silk for compost, after being sufficiently played with by the youngsters...

Cookies... Baking... Such enjoyable things for enjoyable people. Something I love doing: baking for people. Not only for my family, but for others...

The days are full of things like this... full of teaching the kidlings how to work and have fun...

.... of staying up late to finish projects (and this certain project resulted in at least eight quart bags full of corn in our freezer)

...full of canning extra produce, such as the tomato sauce seen here...

Made me so proud, my first canning nearly alone, and with only minimal help.

Special memories, of making Baked Blueberry Oatmeal at four in the morning so that it can cook in the crockpot until seven o'clock, then topping it off with hand whipped cream, skimmed off the top of a gallon of fresh Jersey milk.

...of children playing, pretending to be asleep for the picture, then scrambling back up, giggling...

...of sterilizing mason jars for canning...

....of washing cucumbers to make pickles...

...of peeling red beets while they're still hot, and making my palms exceedingly hot.

...of feeling responsible, and oh-so-satisfied! of my work....

Thank you, God... thank you.

Omlettes and Such Elegant Flops

For breakfast today I made omlettes... but they kinda didn't look very perfect. :P

First the onions and peppers I sauteed...

Then I chopped the tomatoes...

Shredded cheese...

Mixed up the eggs with some milk and fresh basil and oregano...

And the omlettes.

The first one flopped and totally fell apart... Not to mention the pan burning. :/

See the ugly face I'm making? :P

That one was pretty nice. :) Not bad, anyway. And the kids liked em... Except Lori.

On Matters of my Mexican Lasagna/Taco Casserole

Schelly:

If I were a guy, and I married for food, I'd marry you.

Each time I make it differently, but I usually start with some tortillas, refried beans, salsa, sour cream, and cheese. I also like to add onions, tomatoes and whatever else I find on hand (once I used up some leftover rice, and beans in a casserole...) sometimes. Olives and scallions are nice, too.

And I layer the different ingredients... Usually tortillas, refried beans, sour cream, then salsa. Then on the next layer I omit the salsa and add tomatoes and onions instead. I often put some garlic salt and chili powder on one of the layers on top of the refried beans. Oh, and don't forget the cheese!

Yes... even I text and cook. :P

I usually bake it at 375 for forty-five minutes, about... sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. I never time it, I just look and see how bubbly and nice it looks, then take it out when it looks fit to my tastes. Usually it's nice to have it set for a while afterwards, because it can be kinda runny right after you remove it from the oven.

Thanks to Schelly for the photography... :)