I made a Quiche.

Okay, so you may not look down on me for admitting this, but I didn’t know what a quiche was when I put it on my 30 by 30 list.

However, now I know that it’s basically a pie but with something besides fruit in it.

That said, it’s not an easy endeavor.  However, here are my images from making a quiche:

I changed the recipe a bit.  I started with this recipe and used Swiss cheese instead of goat cheese and basil and garlic instead of thyme and parsley.

It was delicious!

Love forever,

[Framed]: 9/52 (Let’s Do 52)

Yesterday, The Hunk and I made a delicious dessert.  Check it:

It is delicious!  I say “is” because there’s still some left.  I’m a rationer.  Sometimes too much.

I mixed a box of white cake mix with one stick of butter until the mixture was crumbly.  I thought this framed peep show was fun to look at.

The Hunk sliced the strawberries and put them in the baking pan with the other fruits, including blueberries, raspberries, and whatever the purple ones are:

Then, I put the crumbles across the top (pressing down slightly after the fruits were covered).

After 20 minutes in the 350-degree oven, it’s delicious!

Yum to the max!

I love the crumbles.  So delicious.  Butter. Is. Good.

Sweetly,

Pet Peeves and Tomatillo Salsa

To summarize my evening shopping trip, please read the list of items my cashier rang out tonight: mild salsa, two bags of tortilla chips, tomatillos, cilantro, one jalapeno, one small white onion, and liners–not the ones for garbage cans.

I’ve never before purchased four of those things–liners are not one of them.

Anyway, I’ve discovered my biggest pet peeves about recipes; look at the ingredients on this list.  I mean, sure, I have copped cilantro just hanging out in my house; don’t you?  I also have peeled, rinsed, and quartered tomatillos.  No.  No I don’t.  Actually, I have to cut ’em up.  So, then, I ask you this: “Why don’t they make this part of the directions?”

Anyway, tonight I made tomatillo salsa.  I’d never heard of it before Chipotle came along in my life.  And I like it.

So, I found this recipe for tomatillo salsa.  And I pretty much followed the recipe.

Here are some pics from my adventure:

First, I peeled and rinsed the tomatillos.  They were a little gummy feeling under the peel; normal?  It was simple; I peeled back the dried out layer and rubbed the rest with my hand to rinse.  It was easier to peel them before getting them wet, FYI.

Then, I quartered them.

One looked a little sketchy on top, so I lobbed off the top.

Fun so far!

Then, I cut a small onion in half.  The recipe called for a large onion, but I don’t like onion in general, so I bought a small one for this recipe.

Then I quartered the onion and put it in my little bowl for safe keeping.

Then, I needed to seed a jalapeno.

Raise your hand if you know how to do that?  I learned how here.  I used the knife to scoot away some extra seeds at the end, but this was easier than I expected it to be.

Then, I needed two cloves of garlic.  I’d never achieved garlic cloves before; I did a little research.  Don’t tell my husband that I now know how to do this.  Cuz I don’t.  There’s not even photographic evidence below.  Um, stock photo.

Then, I put everything I mentioned so far plus a half cup of water, plus a teaspoon of salt into the food processor; the directions say to puree these ingredients.  I minced for a very long time.

The mix was poured into a skillet and began to simmer.  I always wonder what “simmer” setting is; I chose 4 on the nob.  Also, the directions said to simmer for 15 minutes; I let it simmer for longer–maybe 20 to 30 minutes.  I had time… keep reading.

While that simmered, I needed to get the cilantro out.

Why didn’t anyone ever tell me how heavenly cilantro smells?  Oh, cilantro, can you please be my air freshener now?

Anyway, I used these directions to try to get the cilantro leaves off the thicker stalks…

I failed.  Miserably.  Well, not quite miserably, but I resorted to pulling the leaves off by hand.  Maybe I need a sharper knife; maybe I need more knife skills.  Either way, my second resort worked satisfactorily.

These were my leftover cilantro stalks–if that’s what we call them.  They are now acting as fragrance in the kitchen.

I used the chop setting on the freshly cleaned food processor to chop up the cilantro leaves.

Then, I poured the simmered mix into a 5-cup bowl.  The directions said to let the mix get to room temperature before moving on.  At 9:30pm, I was not feelin’ it.  So, I put it in the freezer for about 20 minutes, mixing a few times to cool the mix without it freezing.

Then, I dropped in the half-cup of chopped cilantro and squeezed in an estimated tablespoon of lime juice before storing it in the fridge for the evening.

Dinner with the neighbors should be delish tomorrow!

Happy eating,

Future Kitchen

I love this idea I found on The Pioneer Woman blog.  The Hunk doesn’t know it yet, but we’re going to do this in our future kitchen.

The drawers have covers on them to keep the kreepies out and are removable so they can be cleaned thoroughly.  LOVE IT!

Happy Thursday!

Love,

A Reunion

On Friday, I spent several hours catching up with some fabulous friends who I worked with at my last job.  Seriously, it was like we never parted.  That’s when you know that these are freal, serrus friends.  We had a pizza-making party and talked about the old days and they caught me up on the last school year.  Gosh, I love those girls.  And I have pics of our super-awesome pizzas.

Shannon made a heart-shaped pizza–in honor of me.

This is my pizza before baking:

And here are the other pizzas before baking:

We concluded the meal with these awesome desserts:

Soula did her victory dance, Shannon made heart hands about some –well, one student, and Laura said bad things about Shannon to her new boss.  I enjoyed every nanosecond of it all!

Miss you girls,