Anna Sultana’s Fish Seasoning, Turkey Stew with Dumplings, and The Full Beaver Moon

Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers!

Hope it’s a day that has fine weather and safe road conditions, and that it leaves you with many happy memories. 

About two weeks ago I posted recipes for Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend, Sugar and Spice Christmas Blend, Homemade Seafood / Chicken Spice Blend, Meat and Poultry Seasoning Mix.

Hope you’ve been finding them useful.

Susan emailed and, since she loves fish, she asked if I had a second fish blend for a bit of variety.

Here you go, Susan!

                                   Fish Seasoning Spice Blend

1/4 Cup paprika

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon basil leaves, crushed

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground marjoram

1/4 teaspoon ground thyme

1/16 teaspoon ground black pepper

Back to Thanksgiving…

Along with being left with the memories, I’ll bet you’re facing leftovers.

I know that in the movie A Christmas Story Ralphie and his family were looking forward to enjoying leftover turkey dinners all the way through to New Year’s.

Yeah, well, sometimes it’s possible to have too much of a good thing.

If your family is beginning to flip through their fast food coupon booklets, here’s an easy way to serve leftover turkey that, hopefully, will be new to the family.

Hints:

This recipe will also work with one pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces, or meatballs.

Brown either in oil before adding to the potatoes.

If you want a creamy stew stir in a cup of milk or a 10 ounce can of condensed cream of chicken soup. 

You can also use fresh carrots and cook them with the potatoes.

Canned vegetables can also be used, as can more vegetables, such as corn, cubed butternut squash, sliced mushrooms, and/or zuchini. 

Don’t like dumplings? You can serve the stew over rice, or as a soup with some nice crusty bread or biscuits.

Sometimes Ma added some fried bacon. 

Well, that is the Maltese way. 

                                   Turkey Stew with Dumplings

Wash and quarter
3/4 pound small red potatoes
Place in a dutch oven and cover with water or chicken broth.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.

While the potatoes are cooking, cut into bite-size pieces
1 pound leftover cooked turkey

Cut into slices

1 onion

2 stalks celery

Add to the potatoes

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon ground thyme

the cut up turkey

the onion and celery
3 Cups frozen peas and carrots or mixed vegetables

Stir to combine and allow to simmer while preparing the dumplings.

                                   Dumplings

In a medium bowl combine

1 1/2 Cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

Add

1 Cup milk

Stir until just mixed.

Drop by spoonfuls onto the stew.

Cook, uncovered, 10 minutes.

Cover and cook another 10 minutes.

Another way to use up some leftover turkey is in Chicken Pot Pie.

Really, it will work.

About the sky, thanks to the folks at The Farmers' Almanac…

November 23 - The full Beaver Moon at 12:39 a.m. In this phase, the visible Moon is fully illuminated by direct sunlight. Although the Moon is only technically in this phase for a few seconds, it is considered full for the entire day of the event and appears full for three days. Actually, this Moon has two names. Learn about them in this short Farmers’ Almanac video.

November 26  - High overhead at around 8 p.m. this week is a star configuration that people unfamiliar with the sky often mistake for the Big Dipper. The bowl is composed of the four stars of the Great Square of Pegasus, the Flying Horse. The handle is composed of four bright stars belonging to the constellations Andromeda and Perseus.

November 29 - Last Quarter Moon, 7:19 p.m. In this phase, the Moon looks like a half-Moon in the sky. One-half of the Moon is illuminated by direct sunlight while the illuminated part is decreasing, on its way to the new phase.

Anna Sultana’s Spices, and the North Taurids and The Leonids Meteor Showers

Now that the holiday season is in full swing it’s time for some serious baking.

And that, of course, also includes using more and different spices.

Don’t be afraid of buying spices in bags. 

Along with being quite a bit cheaper than the spices in those small, pretty bottles, the larger bags of spices are also a good buy for making your own spices blends, which is a lot cheaper than buying the prepared blends.

Ma had a few favourite blends she kept on her kitchen shelf throughout the year.

The sweeter ones were really handy during the holiday season.
Pumpkin Spice on everything is not a new idea!

                                   Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend

1/4 Cup ground cinnamon

1 Tablespoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

1 teaspoons ground cloves

1 teaspoons ground allspice

Makes a scant 1/2 Cup

Pumpkin Pie Spice also goes nicely on mashed sweet vegetables and onions.

                                   Sugar & Spice Christmas Blend

1/2 Cup granulated sugar

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Makes a scant 2/3 Cup

Sugar & Spice Blend is perfect for topping rice pudding or egg nog.

                          Homemade Seafood / Chicken Spice Blend

2 Tablespoons ground allspice

1 Tablespoon celery seed 

1 Tablespoon salt

2 Tablespoons powdered mustard 

1 Tablespoon ground ginger

1 Tablespoon paprika

3/4 teaspoon cayenne (ground red pepper)

Makes 1/2 Cup

                        Homemade Meat and Poultry Seasoning Mix

2 Tablespoons ground black pepper

2 Tablespoons onion powder

2 Tablespoons paprika

2 Tablespoons salt

1 Tablespoon garlic powder

1 Tablespoon ground thyme

Makes a scant 2/3 Cup

Hints:

Here are some links to give you more ideas on how to best use spices:

Allspice 

Anise   

Caraway 

Cardamom 

Cayenne

Celery Seed

Cinnamon 

Cloves   

Coriander Seed 

Cumin 

Fennel 

Ginger   

Nutmeg & Mace  

Mustard 

Paprika 

Thyme 

About the sky, thanks to the folks at The Farmers' Almanac…

November 12-14 - North Taurids Meteor Shower peak, with the best viewing, is from 12 – 2 a.m. local time; and good news, the sky will be nice and dark due to the tiny waning crescent Moon. 

The Taurids are actually two annual meteor showers created by the dust left behind from the comet Encke. They are named for constellation Taurus, where they are seen to come from in the sky (near the Pleiades). But they can be spotted anywhere - simply look up!

November 15 - First Quarter Moon, 9:54 a.m. In this phase, the Moon looks like a half-Moon in the sky. One-half of the Moon is illuminated by direct sunlight while the illuminated part is increasing, on its way to full.

Look to the south in the evening to see the First Quarter Moon paired up with Mars.

November 17-18 - The Leonids Meteor Showers peak. Best viewing time is between midnight and 5:30 a.m. local time. This meteor shower, named for the constellation Leo, is typically one of the more exciting showers of the year, producing an average of 20-30 meteors per hour. 
The radiant for the Leonids is near Algieba, one of the stars of the “sickle” or “backward question mark” within Leo. This shower may be hindered by the glow of the bright waxing gibbous Moon.

Anna Sultana’s Halloween Barmbrack, The Orionid Meteor Shower & The Full Hunter’s Moon

Can you believe it? 

October is more than halfway gone.

That means it’s almost time for Halloween!

The holidays, especially the ones late in the year, were a hectic time for Ma.

Not only did she have a ton of Maltese recipes to prepare, but she also had to include recipes that we had learned from our neighbours and her co-workers, as well as those recipes that had become a part of Maltese traditions by way of Napoleon and the British navy.

Yes, Napoleon. 

Recipes used every way they could to find their way into Ma’s recipe files.

One such recipe, along with its Halloween traditions, is Barmbrack, an Irish tea bread filled with raisins and dried fruits.

It was a popular item to enjoy at 4 o’clock in Malta, where it was served as toasted slices with butter, along with a nice hot cup or two of tea.

Barmbrack also has a Halloween tradition attached - the loaf is baked with small items mixed into the batter, and they are supposed to foretell a person’s future:

• a bit of cloth meant bad luck or you would be poor
• the coin meant you would enjoy good fortune or be rich
• the ring meant you would marry within the year
• the pea meant you would not marry that year
• the stick meant you would have an unhappy marriage or be in disputes
• the medal, usually of the Virgin Mary, meant you would be going into the priesthood or convent (The medal isn’t usually included any more.)

Hopefully each person’s slice would have one of the items.

Of course there was always the risk that a nice thick slice could hold a weird combination - such as both the pea and the ring - or nothing at all.

Well, cooking and holiday customs are not exact sciences!

Hints:

You can use just raisins (your choice as to kind) or a mixture of raisins, currants, cherries and citrus peel. 

This is a great recipe for using up bits left over from baking a fruitcake. 

The dried fruit should marinate for 8 hours or longer.

You can prepare the fruit the day before and bake the next afternoon for your tea time.

Some dried fruits absorb more liquid than others so you might need to add more tea. 

To be ready, have some extra cold tea on hand.

It also works fine replacing the egg with a tablespoon of applesauce.

Barmrack is best served fresh and warm but will last for up to five days.

I remember noticing that the grownups would often brush their slices with a syrup that wasn’t offered to us kiddies.

Our parents would also add a drop or two of the syrup to their tea.

Well, they needed some fortification for the upcoming holidays!

         Whiskey Syrup

Place in a saucepan

1/4 Cup water

3/4 Cup granulated sugar

Juice from 1/2 lemon (about 2 Tablespoons)

Heat over a medium burner. Do not stir. 

Swirling the pot occasionally, boil the mixture until it’s a dark golden brown. 

When the mixture is dark, remove from heat and add 

1/2 cup cold water 

2 Tablespoons whiskey

Bring the mixture back to a boil. 

Cook for 1-2 minutes, until everything is combined. 

Lightly brush slices of bread with the syrup and add a nice spread of good butter.

It's also delicious in a cup of tea or coffee.

If there was time, Ma made this special butter for us kiddies.

         Honey Butter

Place in a small bowl 

3 Tablespoons salted butter at room temperature

1 Tablespoon liquid honey

Mash together until well combined.         

                                   Barmbrack

Place in a bowl

1 1/3 Cups dried fruit 

1 1/4 Cups cold strong black tea

Place the bowl in the fridge and let the raisins soak 8 hours or overnight.

After a few hours you could check to see if they need more liquid.

Grease well an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan

Preheat the oven to 350° F

Combine in a large bowl 

2 Cups flour

3/4 Cup brown sugar 

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 teaspoons baking powder

the cloth, coin, ring, pea, stick and medal (optional) 

Stir in

the marinated fruit

Add

the tea left from marinating the fruit

1 egg

Stir together. If the batter looks too dry add a bit more cold tea.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake at 350º F for 1 hour. 

If the top is browning too quickly, place tin foil lightly over the top. 

It is ready when it’s golden brown on top and sounds hollow when tapped.

Serve warm with butter and/or jam.

Don’t forget to make a pot of your favourite tea or coffee.

About the sky, thanks to the folks at The Farmers' Almanac…

October 21 & 22 - The Orionid Meteor shower peaks! This shower is the cosmic dust from the most famous comet, Halley’s comet. The meteors appear to emanate from a point near the Orion-Gemini border in Orion’s upraised club, hence the name. View overhead from 1 to 2 a.m. local daylight time until dawn; you may see 20-25 meteors per hour. 

But the waxing gibbous Moon may interfere with viewing.

October 24 - The Hunter’s Moon will be astronomically full at 12:45 p.m. In this phase, the entire disc of the Moon is fully illuminated by direct sunlight. Though the Moon is only technically in this phase for a few seconds, it is considered “full” for the entire day of the event and appears full for three days so you can get out and enjoy it! Learn more about how this Moon got its name in our short video.

October 31 - The second of two Last Quarter Moon phases this month, at 12:40 p.m. In this phase, the Moon looks like a half-Moon in the sky. One-half of the Moon is illuminated by direct sunlight while the illuminated part is decreasing, on its way to the New Moon (invisible) phase.

The Last Quarter Moon is at perigee (twice in one month!) at 4:22 p.m., meaning it’s at its closest point to Earth in its orbit. The reason we’re seeing the second Moon at perigee is that the lunar calendar is 29.5 days long, which is shorter than our Gregorian calendar.

Anna Sultana’s Buttermilk Pie (Old-Fashioned, Quick & Impossible)

A couple of weeks ago I posted the recipe for ma’s Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake.

I sure hope it helps you get through the stress of preparing for the back-to-school and holiday season.

A reader emailed and said she wanted to make a dairy dessert but she didn’t want to buy ricotta.

She wanted to know if a pie can be made from buttermilk, the way the quiche was made from cream and milk.

Of course it can.

Buttermilk Pie, like all really great recipes, has been around a long time and has become a favourite everywhere it’s been made.

As far as anyone knows, it was originally made in the United Kingdom, and it is now a considered a traditional pie of the southern United States. 

I’m not surprised at its popularity - it is a comforting custard pie with a slightly caramelized topping.

it’s easy to make and the ingredients are usually found in anyone’s kitchen.

Hints:

About the Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Pie…

You can double the vanilla and the ground nutmeg for a slightly stronger flavour.

It can also baked at 350ºF for 40 to 60 minutes, which is handy to know if you’re also baking a casserole. 

A knife inserted in the centre comes out clean before removing from the oven.

For a lemony flavour leave the nutmeg out and add

1 Tablespoon lemon zest or 1 teaspoon lemon extract

3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

If you want to make this pie but don’t want to buy buttermilk, just combine in a measuring cup

1 Tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice

enough fresh milk to make 1 cup

Stir and let it sit 5 minutes before using the mixture in the recipe.

The Quick Pie recipe just needs a 1/2 Cup buttermilk, so either halve this recipe or make two pies.

This mixture will make a fine substitute for a baking recipe, but it won't taste like regular buttermilk if you want a drink.

Well, nothing's perfect.

Cover leftovers with plastic wrap and refrigerate for two to three days.

                                Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Pie

Heat oven to 400°F

Melt 

1/2 Cup butter

Set aside to cool.

Place in large mixer bowl

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

Beat until smooth.

Add

the cooled melted butter

3 Tablespoons flour

1 Cup buttermilk

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon of salt

Beat together until smooth.

Pour into 

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust

Bake at 400 for 10 minutes.

Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown and knife inserted in the centre comes out clean. 

The centre might jiggle a tiny bit. That’s fine. Don’t over bake - it could burn.

Place pie on a wire rack.

Cool 1 to 2 hours at room temperature.

Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkling of nutmeg… or not

                                Quick Buttermilk Pie

Heat oven to 350°F

Place in large mixer bowl

1 1/2 Cups sugar

1/4 Cup margarine

Cream until light and fluffy.

Add

3 beaten eggs

3 Tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 Cup buttermilk

Turn mixture into unbaked pie shell.

Bake 35 - 40 minutes. 

It should be golden brown and a knife inserted in the centre will come out clean. 

Cool 5 minutes before serving.

If you saw the post for Anna Sultana’s Coconut Cream Pie and enjoyed the Bisquick™ Impossible Pie you might also like this pie:

                                                

                                Impossible Buttermilk Pie

Heat oven to 350°F

Grease 9-inch pie plate

Melt 

1/3 Cup butter or margarine

Set aside to cool.

Place in medium bowl

1 1/2 Cups sugar

1/2 Cup Original Bisquick™ mix

1 Cup buttermilk

the melted butter or margarine

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 eggs

Beat all ingredients until smooth - 30 seconds in a blender on high or 1 minute with a hand beater. It can also be beaten with a fork.

Pour into the greased pie plate.

Bake 30 minutes. 

It should be golden brown and a knife inserted in the centre will come out clean.

Cool 5 minutes.

Serve with mixed fresh fruit if desired.

Anna Sultana’s Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake (Old-Fashioned & Light), the Full Sturgeon Moon and Orion

In less than two weeks it will be September.

September… Autumn… heavier meals, holiday dinners, family get-togethers.

And then there’s getting ready for the mother of all holidays - Christmas.

Yes, it feels like it was Christmas a month ago.

Time may fly when you’re having fun, but when you’re past 60, both fun and misery whiz by at warp speed.

Just the thought of the upcoming ‘festivities’ is making me nervous.

Time to follow The Golden Girls’ example and have a slice of cheesecake.

About a week ago I posted the recipe for Ma’s Quiche Lorraine.

Not a cheesecake, but a nice dairy dish.

It’s been a few months since I posted Ma’s Ricotta Cheesecake recipe.

That was back in April, and I posted it to get us through preparing our taxes.

I know, tax season feels like it was just a couple of days ago.

At this rate we’ll be doing taxes again next month.

I digress. Back to the cheesecake…

Ricotta cheesecakes give you that comforting texture with a bit less fat and calories.

For more ways to use ricotta check this post.

For us seniors time has speeded up, while our metabolism has slowed down, so we have to keep an eye on what we eat.

No problem… some of the lighter calorie foods, like ricotta, have charms of their own.

Ricotta makes a lovely cheesecake, with or without the lemon.

Be good to yourself and bake a cheesecake.

And remember to stop at one serving.

Hints:

If you’d like to make this recipe a little healthier, use 6 ounces oil instead of 1 Cup butter - or 3 ounces oil and 1/2 Cup butter - in the cake layer.

Don’t have grated lemon rind? A teaspoon of lemon extract is just as good.

                                   Old-Fashioned Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake

Serves 16 to 20 

Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan

Cake Layer

Combine in a medium bowl

2 Cups flour

1/2 Cup confectioners’ sugar

Cut in

1 Cup butter

Pat the mixture into the greased baking pan.

Place the oven rack in the middle of the oven.

Preheat the oven to 350º F

Place in a large bowl 

3 eggs, lightly beaten

30 ounces ricotta cheese

3/4 Cup sugar

2 teaspoons grated lemon rind

Beat until well blended.

Spoon the ricotta mixture on top of the cake layer.

Bake for 60 minutes, or until lightly browned and a knife inserted 2 inches

from the centre should come out clean.

LEAVE THE CHEESECAKE IN THE OVEN.

Turn off the oven and leave the door open a crack - prop it with a spoon.

Cool the cake for 30 minutes in the oven.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for one hour. 

Refrigerate overnight. 

Before serving dust with 

confectioners’ sugar

Cut into squares. 

The leftover squares can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator.

                                   Light Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake

Serves 10 to 12

Combine in a medium bowl

1 cup graham cracker crumbs 

3 Tablespoons melted butter
Press into bottom of 9-inch springform pan and chill. 

Place the oven rack in the middle of the oven.

Preheat the oven to 325º F

Place in a medium bowl 

15 ounces light ricotta cheese 

1/2 Cup light sour cream 

1/2 Cup sugar 

3 large egg yolks

2 Tablespoons flour 

1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon rind 

Beat until well blended.

Place in a large mixer bowl 

3 large egg whites

Beat egg whites until stiff.

Using a spatula, push the beaten whites to one side.

Pour the cheese mixture into the empty space next to the beaten whites.

Fold in the beaten whites just enough to combine. DO NOT OVERMIX.

Pour into prepared springform pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes.

A knife inserted between edge and middle should come out clean, while the middle will quiver a tiny bit.

Remove from oven and run a knife all around the inside edge of the pan. 

Place pan on a rack and let cool to room temperature. 

Cover and refrigerate 6 hours or overnight.

Serve garnished with, or without, fresh fruit

The leftover cheesecake can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator.

Here are a few more cheesecake recipes:

Carmela Soprano's La Pastiera

Carmela Soprano's Cassata / Iced Sponge Cake with Ricotta Filling

Carmela Soprano's La Pastiera - Easter Ricotta Pie, Italian Style

Carmela Soprano's New Jersey Cheesecake recipe / Graham Wafer Crust

Carmela Soprano's Pasticiotti / Tartlets with Vanilla Cream Filling

Carmela Soprano's Pizza Rustica recipe / Pizza Gaina 

Carmela Soprano's Ricotta Cheesecake / Uses for Ricotta

Carmela Soprano's Ricotta - Pineapple Pie (Cheesecake)

The 1960s Co-Op Refrigerator Cheesecake

Lindy's Cheesecake with Red Cherry Glaze, New York Style Cheesecake

Sweetened Condensed Milk Cheesecake, with and without fruit 

Anna Sultana's Qassatat ta I-Irkotta (Small ricotta pie, Maltese Style)

About the sky, thanks to the folks at The Farmers' Almanac…

August 23 – The Moon is at apogee at 7:11 a.m., meaning it’s farthest away from Earth in its orbit. An easy way to remember: Apogee “A” = Away

August 24 – Set your alarms for 90 minutes before sunrise to see an unobstructed view of Mercury along the horizon.

August 26 – August’s full Sturgeon Moon at 7:56 a.m.  In this phase the visible Moon is fully illuminated by direct sunlight. Although the Moon is only technically in this phase for a few seconds, it is considered full for the entire day of the event and appears full for three days.

August 27 & 28 – The Moon is now in a waning gibbous phase following a full Moon, so a daytime view is visible after sunrise the 27th in the eastern sky, and in the western sky on the 28th.

August 29 – Orion the Hunter rises before dawn and can be seen by the three stars that make up Orion’s belt. See if you can also spot the brightest star in the sky, Sirius, a.k.a., the Dog Star.

Anna Sultana’s Quiche Lorraine & Pat-in Pie Crust / Mercury Goes Direct

In a couple of days Mercury will go direct.

For those who know about these things, that’s a good thing. 

Well, there may be something to that idea.

I mean, I don’t think that even planets find it easy to go backwards.

Some people just love to look back and to talk about the “good old days”.

Well, sometimes the stuff we did in the past was downright dumb.

It’s hard to believe, but in 1982 there was a book named Real Men Don't Eat Quiche by American author, Bruce Feirstein.

On the New York Times Best Seller list for 55 weeks, it sold over 1.6 million copies.

Real Men was meant to be a humorous book, focusing on the worries of middle class men who just didn’t know how they were supposed to act when feminists were becoming more a part of the mainstream.

Yeah, I know, men confused by feminists’ wanting to be treated fairly… Big yucks…

So much for the 80s being a great time.

With a name like quiche many people thought it was a French recipe, something really fancy, not for simple, meat-and-potatoes type of folks.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The English - the creators of meat-and-potatoes dishes - have been eating eggs and cream in pastry at least as early as the 14th century, while the Italians have been making dishes like this as far back as the 13th century.

As you might expect, a recipe that’s been around for a few hundred years has seen a lot of variations. In addition to the eggs and cream and / or milk, it can include cheese, vegetables, meat or seafood.

It's a handy way to make use of bits and leftovers one usually finds in any kitchen.

As you can see, there's nothing fancy about this recipe at all.

A few of the most popular combinations are:

quiche au fromage (quiche with cheese) 

quiche aux champignons (quiche with mushrooms)

quiche florentine (quiche with spinach) 

quiche provençale (quiche with tomatoes)

But it’s definitely not limited to those mixtures.

My Ma often made a Greek Spinach Cheese Quiche, using Feta cheese.

She made a Mushroom and Ham Quiche when she had ham leftover from the holidays.

Quiche Lorraine, named after the Lorraine region of France, originally was an open pie with eggs, cream and lardons (fatty bacon or pork fat). 

Modern recipes can also include mature cheeses, such as Cheddar cheese, and vegetables, while the lardons have been replaced by regular bacon.

Hints:

Quiches are perfect for brunches or light suppers, as well as for when a friend or two have popped in for a casual visit that's lasted until mealtime.

Quiches can be made in advance and frozen. Ma kept a few in the freezer so she'd have something easy for when the relatives hadn't notice how late they had stayed.

Quiche Lorraine is a recipe that is very accommodating.

Instead of the Swiss cheese you can use Gruyère or Cheddar. 

You can also add sautéed onion, leeks or shallots to the filling.

Or you can add whatever else is beginning to look a bit sad in your crisper.

Have chives in your garden? 

Finely chop enough fresh chives to make 4 teaspoons to replace the onion powder.

Want to avoid the eggs and dairy?

Make a vegan quiche with spinach, onions or green onions, and green herbs like dill, parsley or celery, olive oil and a little wheat flour. Top off with leeks, chard and / or sorrel, then bake until the top vegetables are a bit crisp. 

You can also use tofu instead of the cheese, or your favourite pastry recipe or a frozen pie shell instead of the pat-in crust.

About the pat-in pie crust recipe below:

If baking an empty shell: prick and bake 15 minutes at 425º F. 

If baking it with a filling: use the filling's instructions

If you’re using the pat-in pie crust to make a dessert pie that’s being baked with a filling you could use this crumb topping:

1/4 Cup brown sugar

1/2 Cup flour

1/4 Cup margarine

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix together and sprinkle over the filling in the pastry-lined pie pan and bake.

You can also double or quadruple the ingredients and store what’s left in a covered container in the refrigerator for topping other pies.

                                                Pat-in Pie Crust

Place in a 9-inch pie pan 

1 1/2 Cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar         

3/4 teaspoon salt

Mix together.

Place in a measuring cup 

1/2 cup oil

3 tablespoons cold milk

Beat together until creamy.

Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and blend well.

Spread the mixture in the pan and pat in to line the pan.

Set aside.

                                                Quiche Lorraine

Cook 4 slices bacon.

Cool slightly and chop the cooked bacon.

Shred enough Swiss cheese to make 1 Cup.

Place the oven rack in the centre of the oven. 

Preheat oven to 325°F

Place in a medium bowl

4 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 Tablespoon onion powder, more or less

3/4 Cup 18% light cream

1/4 Cup milk

Beat together. 

Sprinkle the prepared bacon and cheese over the pie crust.

Pour the egg mixture over the bacon and cheese. 

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes (the filling is set but still jiggles slightly in the centre) 

Remove from oven, place on a wire rack and let stand for 15 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature. 

If you’d like to make it more of a meal, serve it with a salad.

About the sky, thanks to the folks at The Farmers' Almanac…

August 18—First Quarter Moon at 3:48 a.m. In this phase, the Moon looks like a half-Moon — one-half of the Moon is illuminated by direct sunlight while the illuminated part is increasing, on its way to full.

August 19—Mercury is no longer in retrograde, instead goes direct at 12:25 a.m.

August 20—As darkness falls, look for Saturn well to the lower left of a 75% illuminated gibbous Moon. Saturn can be easily located by going out in late twilight and looking south-southeast at the beginning of August, or due south around month’s end. Saturn is the bright “star” roughly a third of the way up in the sky; the farther south you are the higher it will be. Later in the evening, Saturn swings low to the southwest. Below Saturn is the Teapot in Sagittarius. The pot starts August upright during twilight, then gradually tilts as if pouring in the following hours and weeks.

August 22—A wide gibbous Moon can be found sailing far above Mars, which dominates the sky east of Saturn. Fresh from last month’s opposition and close approach to Earth, Mars is still very bright and fiery. But it fades noticeably during August.