Anna Sultana’s Frittata / Flowers for Mother's Day

 

The weather hasn’t been at all Spring-like in Manitoba.
The past three weekends we had heavy snowfalls, thanks to three Colorado Lows.
The snow finally melted during the past week.
Our rhubarbs and chives appeared within minutes after the last snowflake melted. 

On Monday it was -3º C.
Today we reached 23º C.
Yesterday and today we were raking thatch from our lawn.
Nobody in Manitoba wastes a minute to be out and about when warm weather finally arrives.

Spring-like weather or not, Mother’s Day is on Sunday.

Thanks to Covid-19 most of us are out of practice when it comes to hosting gatherings and cooking elaborate dishes.
Don’t stress about tomorrow.
A nice simple frittata served with a few loaves of crusty bread will be just fine for breakfast, brunch or lunch.
It doesn’t need a crust, so it’s easier to make than a quiche is.

After the past two years simple can be all anyone can face.
If anyone gives you any funny looks I’m sure you know a few sayings that will serve nicely to put an end to any discussion of the menu.
It’s the thought that counts.
Less is more.
Most of these sayings were taught to you by dear, old Mom, who also had to put up with troublesome guests.

Gotta love tradition!


Hints:

Frittata is a very forgiving recipe.
Use any vegetables, leafy greens and cheese you have on hand.
You know what your family likes, and what is in season and on on sale.

If you’re feeding kiddies who like familiar food this would be a good way to introduce them to frittata. Just tell them it’s like macaroni and cheese.

Grease a 9-inch pie plate or an 8x8-inch baking dish

Dice
1 large tomato

Place in a bowl
1 1/2 Cups grated cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon flour
Toss to coat cheese and place in prepared plate or dish.
Sprinkle the diced tomato over the cheese.

Preheat oven to 350° F

Place in a bowl
6 eggs
1/2 Cup milk or half-and-half
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (optional)
1 teaspoon dried basil (optional)
Beat until combined.
Pour beaten eggs evenly over the cheese.
Season with salt and pepper.
Bake for 40 minutes.


                                        Frittata

Grease a 9-inch pie plate or an 8 x 8-inch baking dish

Place in a bowl
9 eggs
1/4 Cup milk
Beat until combined.
Set aside.

Dice
1/2 medium onion

Chop
1/2 to 3/4 Cups vegetables

Preheat oven to 350° F

Place in a skillet
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Warm over medium heat.
Add
diced onion
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Cook for 3 minutes, stirring often.
Add the vegetables and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring often.
Season with salt and pepper.

Place the cooked vegetables in the prepared plate or dish.
Sprinkle on top
1 - 1 1/2 Cups grated, shredded, or crumbled cheese
Pour beaten eggs evenly over all.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Eggs should be set and firm, but not too dry.
Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes before serving with crusty bread.

                                                                   ~~~
This is a story I wrote years ago for my CKUW show ‘2000 & Counting’. I'm hoping it will remind you of a few nice memories and that it gives you a chuckle now.
Stay safe and well, everyone!


     Isn't it great.  Mother Nature has finally realized it's Spring!

     Parents in the wild weren't confused by the crazy weather we've been having.  We live in a cul de sac near farmers' fields in the north end of Winnipeg.  Geese and ducks have been making nests and babies in our local ponds.  We've been watching bush bunnies chase each other like race horses at the track.  Our kitchen has a picture window facing our garage, where we have a grapevine growing up a trellis, then continuing over wires to the window to give us some shade.  
 
     On top of the trellis, under the garage's eaves, two robins recently set up housekeeping.  Rain or shine, they knew it was time to have babies.  And, they did.  While we ate, we watched them take turns keeping the eggs warm.  A few weeks ago we saw the babies' wide open mouths over the edge of the nest.  When I went out to hang laundry, I heard the birds chirping overhead.  
     
     When you live in the 'burbs, it's almost the law to have a garden.  You know it.  Your neighbours know it.  And every store in town knows it.  So, marketing folks, ever eager to make a buck on anything - especially guilt - have hooked Mother's Day to Gardening.  In a way, it's a natural.  

     Everyone can remember proudly giving Mom a bouquet of freshly picked weeds.  Okay.  It's the thought that counts.  And, as a gift, the weeds weren't bad.  Mom could smile, plunk them into anything from a vase to an empty coffee tin, set them anywhere and everybody was happy.  Mom could ignore them until they flopped over.  Nobody cared when Mom tossed them out.  Hey, they were free weeds.
 
     The problem is, kids grow up.  They learn how to read.  They read the flyers.  They get some cash.  They get suckered.

     One large chain, whose buyers have some serious size issues, recently came out with a lawn and garden flyer.  They proudly announced, We make gardening REALLY EASY!  Uh, huh.  By this they meant they'd packed to overflowing huge planters with annuals, about which they said, and I quote, It's like adding another room to your house.

     Yippee!  Picture it.  Lugging around a kitchen chair, then climbing it to hang 'another room' from a hook you can barely see because the darn heavy thing has to be hung high enough so no one will walk into it and knock himself out cold.  Having to unhook 'the room' which is hanging a few feet above your head so you can water it.  Regularly.  Every couple of days.  Hey, what did you expect?  They're honking big flowers.  They're thirstier than sailors on shore leave.  It was your lousy gift, so there you are, hoisting something that weighs as much as a toddler over your head.  Oh, and you had just watered it.  Dirty water is running down your arm.  Happy Mother's Day.   

     Okay.  The kids meant well.  You can't return them - the kids or the flowers.  Let's grab a cold one, sit down and think this through.  

     They're just flowers in a pot.  You buy annuals in a box.  What do you do with the annuals?  Just separate them and plant them where you please.  Hose them down every so often.  No climbing or weight lifting required.

     Alrighty then.  Upend that oversized pot and do likewise to those overpacked petunias.  They'll be grateful for the breathing room.  Hey, would you like to spend a scorching Manitoba summer crammed six to a bed?  Neither do flowers.  

     But, that leaves you with an empty pot.  And even though the kids barely look you in the eye, there's still a chance they'd notice that the pot - their gift - is now empty.  No problem.  Can you say Dollar Store?  Just waltz in and buy any flowers you like.  Think you have to get the same flowers?  Get real.  How much do you notice the uniqueness of each potato in a twenty pound sack?  The kids bought those flowers by the basket, 25 bucks each, two for 40.  They shopped with friends and had a few bucks left for snacks.  All they noticed was that the baskets were heavy.  

     Get whatever you like.  Um... on second thought, try to stay with the season.  I have a friend who loves Christmas.  She packed her pot with flaming red poinsettias.  Even her kids thought there was something odd about their Mom's pot.  She just smiled, hugged them and gave them a cookie.  A store bought cookie.  It worked.  

     While you're at it, get some fake flowers for the yard, especially for those dark, hard to grow areas and window boxes.  I got a lovely assortment of blue, white and orange flowers for our yard.  Mama Robin ignored me as I placed some flowers in a large pot under our chokecherry.  She chirped as I inserted some into my kitchen window's flower box.  

     Then I tried to hook a few onto the trellis under her nest.  Mama Robin flew onto our neighbour's roof, to watch me beautifying her neighbourhood.  Then she started screeching like a banshee.  I glanced up just in time to see her act like a kamikazi pilot, talons aimed straight at me.  I ducked and ran.  The grapevine can stay flowerless until her kids have flown the nest.            

     Ah, the circle of life!  Ah, Nature!  Ah, crap!

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.