May 23rd, 2010
Last fall, Juan sent me an email that his 10,000th day birthday is May 21, 2010 and mine is December 28, 2011… I love randomness and celebrating quirky days (we did celebrate Valentine’s on Flag Day last year) so I put the dates on my calendar…
of course, as the date got closer I did not know what to do… luckily, I was in town but Juan had been saying how he was sick of sweets (yes, he’s odd) so no cupcakes… He loves my quiches though so I made little breakfast “cupcake” quiches. I couldn’t find the cupcake holders anywhere…hence the improvisation but they tasted good and Juan loved them…
but that was just the beginning of my plan (can you tell I’ve had a lot of time on my hands since school ended?)… while Juan was at work, I hung this awesome half-homemade banner… and I made dinner…
Now, I would have made this dinner regardless of any special occasion. I have this very elaborate idea for a dinner party but it involves some techniques that I have not mastered… such as handrolling pasta…
My first pasta attempt was not very successful (hence, it never made it up here) but this time I used this pasta recipe and was very pleased with the results. I couldn’t find the rolling pin (it isn’t my kitchen and sometimes it is hard to find things!) so instead I used a SIGG. It worked great and, of course, I promptly found the rolling pin after I finished.
I let the pasta dry for about an hour and put it in the fridge until dinner time. I served it with Sun-dried Tomatoes Pesto with Slow Roasted Tomatoes. I added some more garlic to the pesto and a few of the slow roasted tomatoes. It was really good… Juan said the best part was the pasta…
So, yes, it was a very successful 10,000th day birthday celebration… plus, I feel more comfortable with my pasta technique… next, mastering Carolina BBQ…
Filed under Eggs, Flour, Garlic, Pasta, Thyme, Tomato Sauce, Tomatos | Comments (3)
April 28th, 2010
yes, it is that time… to name the winner of the Culinary Mad Libs Giveaway…chosen by random.org… but first… a culinary mad lib dish… Individual Asparagus Quiche… inspired by Foodcents (Egg), Colleen (Asparagus) and Mark (Celery Seed).
I love making quiches especially when I have a lot of random leftovers and almost bad vegetables. However, I often get sick of a quiche before I finish eating it so I rarely ever make one. For this challenge, I made small individual quiches. They were good except I’m not sure the celery seed and asparagus is really a perfect match. But I’m not a huge fan of celery so…
without further ado… the winner of the giveaway is Rachana… Congratulations! Thank you everyone for participating… stay tuned as I make your suggestions into dishes…
Individual Asparagus Quiche
1/2 onion, chopped
about 6 asparagus stalks, chopped
2 tablespoon grated parmesan
1 teaspoon celery seed
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
salt and pepper
Mom’s Pie Crust
1. In two ramekins, mold the pie crust. (One batch made enough for three 1 cup ramekins but I only made two quiches).
2. In the bottom of the crust, put the onions, asparagus and parmesan.
3. In a bowl, mix the eggs, milk and celery seed. Pour into the ramekins.
4. Cook at 375 for about 20 minutes or until cooked through.
Filed under Eggs, Flour, Onions, Parmesan | Comment (0)
April 2nd, 2010
… the sun is shining in Chicago! It is beautiful! I can’t wait to run my errands and dance around outside… This morning I was doing some spring cleaning. I cleaned the apartment, reorganized the closet and did some laundry. I opened the windows to let the breeze in… It feels great!
On the theme of spring cleaning… here is a picture I took a long long time ago and never posted… this is how I like my eggs… I slice a tomato, make some toast and make two sunny side up eggs. I like to flip them over at the end just to semi-cook the top but keeping the yolk runny. I sprinkle with truffle salt and pepper… also, sometimes a little olive oil. It is a very delicious combination for a quick dinner- in fact, I had it last night.
Enjoy the sun!
Filed under Eggs, Tomatos | Comment (1)
