Ham & Cheese Quick Quiche

I know, I know.  I've done a recipe on quick and easy quiche before.  But I just made this ham and cheddar cheese quiche over the weekend and loved it sooo much (we both did) that I had to share it with you.

It came out perfectly!!

Ingredients:
1 store bought pie crust, do not prebake

3 large eggs
1 1/2 C milk
1/2 t ground black pepper
1 t Italian seasoning

1 C ham, cubed, about 1/4"
1/2 C spinach, carelessly chopped
1 C medium to sharp cheddar, grated (1/4 C more for sprinkling on the top)
1/3 C onion, chopped

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Place pie crust into 9" pie pan (I used a glass one)
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs.
Add the milk and whisk until frothy.
Add black pepper and Italian seasoning, whisk to combine.
Stir in onion, spinach and ham cubes.
Add 1 C. grated cheddar.
Mix so that the onion, spinach, ham and cheese are all well coated with the egg/milk mixture.
Pour into pie crust.
When oven is ready, place on rack in the center of the oven and bake for 1 hour.

Ready for the oven

When the top is golden brown and the filling does not jiggle or appear loose or overly moist, the quiche is done.  Remove from oven and sprinkle top with remaining 1/4 C of shredded cheddar cheese.

Wait!  At least 5 minutes before slicing.  It is very hot.  And I fully believe that it won't cool anywhere so quickly, as it does on the place before me!

Serve with a cantaloupe and mango fruit salad for a perfect brunch.

Enjoy!

Moist Banana Bread

Good Morning!

Here is a recipe for a wonderful loaf of banana bread.  It has just the right combination of texture, moist bites, banana and a hint of cinnamon.  And with so many of my recipes, it is quick and easy!

Ingredients:
4 T margarine
2/3 C brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 C plain yogurt
2 very ripe bananas
1 t vanilla

2 C flour
3/4 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t baking powder
1/2 t cinnamon

Optional: extra cinnamon and 1 T white sugar

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Grease a loaf pan
In a large bowl, cream margarine and sugar.
Add egg, beat.
Add yogurt, mix.
Add bananas and vanilla, beat with hand mixer.
Add baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, mix.
Add flour and mix thoroughly.
Pour mixture into prepared loaf pan, shake to level.
Optional: dust top with a sprinkling of cinnamon and white sugar.
Bake for 1 hour, until toothpick (or wooden skewer) comes out clean.

Cool for 15 mins, then turn pan on side to finish cooling.
Enjoy!
What a nice thing to take to work and share with your co-workers on a Monday!

Farfale with Scallops, Capers and Feta

I love this dish.  WE love this dish.  I had something like it when I was in Baton Rouge, LA and had to make it for myself and the mister.  It is a very easy dish to make, but be warned, it is rich, so you might not want to make the mistake we made by serving ourselves each a heaping plateful for dinner.  It's a great spoil thy selves or date night dish!!  You can also sub the scallops with fresh shrimp, yes, get the uncooked ones, large in size (or extra large-better even) and then halve them before cooking---Magnificent!

Yes, I had a few stray shrimp that I threw in there too, but doesn't this look good?!!

Ingredients:
1 # bay scallops
1 T capers
1 medium sized bulb of garlic
5-6 oz. chunk feta*
1 1/3 C farfale (bowtie) noodles
1 stick (8 T) margarine--I used light b/c I was feeling guilty about 2 heavy meals in a row.
Fresh ground pepper to taste


*Do NOT get the pre-crumbled kind, you will be sorely disappointed, get the kind that is still solid with a bit of brine in it for moisture.


Method:
In a pot start the water to boil for the pasta, while waiting:
Slice medium-thin or chop coarsely all cloves of the bulb of garlic.
In a large skillet with 3 T. margarine, cook these on low heat.
Slice and cube the feta into about pea sized pieces.
By now you should add the pasta, cooking as directed by the package.
To the skillet, add 3 more T. margarine and the seafood to the garlic, cooking on med. heat until the scallops (or shrimp) turn opaque, approx. 3-4 mins. but depending on heat.
Add the capers and the feta, gently toss with black pepper, cover, and remove from heat.
Drain the pasta.
Add remaining 2 T margarine to the boiling pan (after drained), melt, and toss the pasta to coat.
Plating-pasta bed then scallops, use all of the sauce to drizzle.  Fin! 
Enjoy!


(Makes 2 heaping plates-quite big portions)

McCall's M6534 Two-toned dress (Easy)

I was sewing up a storm before our trip in February, and still haven't posted some things that were completed.  But this is a new addition, hot off the machine this morning.  A cute little summer/spring dress by McCall's, M6534.  Loose fitting dresses with elasticized neckline and sleeves, sizes 8-22.  I made a size 8 top and contoured a size 10 around the hips.

I'm pretty happy with it, it did turn out like the picture.  I hemmed the bottom up 3 1/2 inches and had to figure out the top back on my own (disappointed in the directions which ignored this entirely), but it was pretty much a no-brainer.  If I were to make this again, I'd use a patterned fabric for the bottom part and a solid for the top, I think, for variety, and would press the zipper portion of the back on the top before assembling it to the bottom.  Otherwise, it was an easy and enjoyable piece to make.  I really like the gathers and the pleats on the front and back-gives it some shape.

Do you like it?  (Please excuse my sloppy ironing job-not very good at it-and PALE self!)

Front

 

Back

Side, of course

Yam with Ginger/Light Spinach Salad

For Easter this year we decided to stray ever so slightly from the traditional meal, and mix things up a bit with non-traditional flavors.  Of course, we kept the ham...there will never be a deviation from the ham, and though we are two, ham gets devoured in this house with no questions asked and there have never been problematic left-overs.  So the fun comes in at the thought of side dishes.  This year we paired the ham with gingered yam and a zesty citrus spinach salad.  It was phenomenal!

The gingered yam was very simple:
Microwave 2 #'s of yam until soft, drag a knife through the skins in quartering the yam, peel it back and toss it in a large bowl.
While the yams are cooking, peel and chop small a well rounded tablespoon worth of fresh ginger.
In a small skillet melt a tablespoon of margarine and add the ginger, cooking over med-low heat until softened, about 5 minutes from hot.
Add 3 tablespoons margarine to the yams, add the ginger, and add 1/4 cup loose brown sugar (do not pack in measuring cup).
Mash together and you are done!

The salad was simple as well, we made two individual bowls for this:
Spinach
Red onion
Chopped/sliced almonds
Mandarin oranges (drained, from the can)

Dressing I made the afternoon before, so the flavors could develop.  Combine the following:
2/3 C olive oil
1/4 C fresh squeezed orange juice
3 T rice vinegar
1 T honey
1 1/2 t finely chopped red onion
1 t dried tarragon
the fine zest from one orange


Whisk together and let sit covered, refrigerated, overnight.
I made this in a glass measuring cup for easy pouring.  It made more than enough for our bowl salads, and would be fine for the plate salad size too.  It was nice, light, a touch zesty but not overpowering at all, just a subtle hint.  Would be great on an oriental/Asian salad too.

No, there are no pictures.  We were hungry.
!

To Make a Stand in 14 Steps

And now for my next trick…I shall attempt to make a stand for my humidifier.

Why? Because I’m tired of shuffling the humidifier on and off the step stool (which is the last in a line of things that elevate to be designated the duty) whenever I need to use it.  And, of course, because this will look better…I hope.

So, because it’s me, the stand will need to be something of a simple construction, at least simple-ish, and cheap.  I looked around on the internet, and just didn't see what I was looking for, and reading a lot of instructions is a big detractor for me.  Time to sit down and hatch a plan. 

Here is what I came up with:

Forgot to add grout to the list!

Finished measurements are: 14"L x 14"W x 32 1/2"H

Sneak peak of finished stand:

My Assembly

1. On sides 2 - 4 (where the cross pieces fit flush with the legs), I used 2 nails and 1 (1 1/4”) screw at each end to affix the supportive cross pieces along the bottom, placing the top of the cross piece at 11 inches from the leg bottom.

2.  For the top cross pieces, a calculation must be done first.  I wanted the tiles to be flush in height with the top cross pieces, so adding the height of the tiles plus the thickness of the subflooring top ( ¼” + ¼”), I used a position allowing 1/2” above the legs for the cross pieces.  This will be the case for all top cross pieces.

I affixed the top pieces for sides 2 - 4 in the same manner (2 nails, 1 screw at each end).

3.  On sides 1 - 3 (where the cross pieces extend 3/4” on each end), I affixed one nail to one end of each top and bottom cross piece.  Measuring to place the top of the bottom cross pieces again at 11 inches from the bottom of the leg, and the same measurement technique above for the top.

4.  Placing the sides opposite each other, clockwise 1-2-3-4, affix the remaining nails and screws once the cross pieces are lined up with those firmly affixed.

5.  Attach the top, using 2 nails at each corner into the legs.

6.  Time to stain…

7.  While the first application is drying, I began carving a simple curve on the wood tiles. 

8.  Second coat of stain, including the tiles.

 

9.  Then I gave the top a quick paint with a white enamel, and let all dry overnight.

10.  Now to affix the wood tiles to the corners of the cross pieces.  This will hide the ugly joint well.  I used my very favorite glue: E-6000.  Remember to glue them with an overhang of 1/4" so that both pieces will form a corner nicely.

Stand on its side

11.  On to the poly coat.

12.  Glue down the glass tiles on top.

Again, I used E-6000 glue

13.  Grouting.  Fun and messy!

Fully grouted!!

Wipe down wood with slightly damp cloth/paper towel.

Once set, 24 hrs later, buff tiles with slightly damp paper towel

14.  Seal the grout, final wipe clean.

Pretty!

Done!   

What do you think of this finished product?  A bit primitive, I think, but it should serve the purpose for some time to come.  And now my stool and step ladder are forever relieved of the duty.