Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Boogers, Bottles, and Breakfast

Just a random photo of Reiss looking at the camera when the lens shot. He's a tough nut to crack. Sometimes he loves getting the camera out and taking pictures. Other times it's like pulling teeth to get him to look at the camera for a photo.


The above was the scene of the following conversation between Reiss and myself:
Reiss: Is that a burger?
Me: I don't know. Is what a booger?
Reiss: (pointing at the wall where this photo was taken) That!
Me: (Sigh) Yes, Reiss. That's a booger.

I still don't know who the guilty party was. I'm pretty certain it wasn't my husband because the booger was (eeeuuuwww) fresh when I wiped it off the wall and James had been at work for a few hours. I know for certain I didn't do it so that only leaves two monkeys as the possibilities. And since Reiss was the one asking, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it was Milla.

At any rate, yuck! But oh, the joys of parenting. Somehow, these were not the kinds of things I envisioned B.C. (before children) whenever I sat daydreaming of being a mommy and chasing around a houseful of toddlers.


No, this is not the result of a drinking binge and a late night craving for...onions and potatoes??? No, this is what happens when one has a cordless phone that is a piece of c!@& and the battery constantly goes dead, regardless of how much you leave the handset on the charger.

The phone rang this morning and I had to pick up the call on the kitchen phone attached to the wall (yes, they still make those - believe it or not!) because the cordless phone's battery had gone dead earlier in the morning from a previous call. As I was on the phone giving out my insurance information and everything but my blood type to a compounding pharmacy that receives way too much business from us, Milla decided to empty out the cabinet where I keep the potatoes, onions, and garlic bulbs.....and well, a bunch of liquor bottles.

Honestly, I don't know why that stuff is even still in there. I can't tell you how old it is or how long ago anyone dispensed anything from a single bottle in there. My husband and I are way past our wild years. The strongest thing my husband ever drinks is orange juice and....just orange juice. He has never been one to indulge in "spirits." The strongest thing I drink anymore is a beer now and then - and only one beer.

Okay, maybe I go in phases where every day is what constitutes "now and then" but really, it's only one beer and I do only drink it for the taste. Years ago, I lived in Germany and now consider myself somewhat of a beer connoisseur. I like to try different brands and types of beer. They are almost always dark and they are always bottled. The thought of canned beer conjures up visions of bare-bellied Nascar fans hooting and hollering away their afternoon in the in-field at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and frankly, makes my stomach turn just thinking about it.

I am currently in one of those every day "now and then" phases but that will come to a halt in about a week and half when the fridge is empty of all bottles. I love my dark beer but it loves me too much and is preventing me from losing weight more quickly.


Anyhoo, here is the guilty party to the pantry raiding incident. She doesn't do a very good, "Who? ME? Are you kidding???" look. Sorry, Milla....you're GUILTY, as charged!


This has been my breakfast the last two mornings in a row. It's three eggs scrambled with cut up sun-dried tomatoes and baby spinach leaves.

Several years ago, I worked at a small mom~n~pop restaurant that was actually a friend~n~friend business. It was a small cafe called The Lonesome Pine Cafe and was owned by two ladies a few years my senior. It was probably one of the worst-paying jobs I ever had but what I got out of it was so much more valuable than money. I worked with and for people who became good friends. I gained experience in cooking some darn good soups and other recipes, and although I did quit partially because I got burned out on it, I can honestly say it was one of the best jobs I ever had.

It was at The Lonesome Pine Cafe, which was named such because of its somewhat out of place and rather large single pine tree growing in front of the building housing the cafe which was located on a busy city street, that I learned to make quiche. My friends, the owners, used a very basic recipe as a basis for different types of quiche. It's a very simple combination of ingredients and I have it memorized to this day (more about that in a minute). One type of quiche we used to serve was Spinach and Sun-dried Tomato. This was my favorite and I've been craving it quite a lot lately. I contemplated getting all the ingredients for it but doing so would be breaking rules for our gluten-free, casein-free way of eating these days.

Instead of breaking any GFCF rules and for the sake of keeping my own weight-loss plan intact, I decided to opt for just the main flavors I had been craving and went with the spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. Below you will find the recipe for the real deal of what we served to customers.

Spinach Sun-Dried Tomato Quiche
5 eggs
1 2/3 cup half~n~half
sun-dried tomatoes
baby spinach leaves
swiss cheese shreds
1 pie shell

Combine the eggs and half~n~half, whisking until well blended. By eye-measurements alone, add in the tomatoes, spinach, and swiss cheese. Whisk and pour into the pie shell and bake at 350 until just set.



The eggs and the half~n~half are the same measurements we used for all the different combinations of quiches served at The Lonesome Pine Cafe. It is very versatile and I've never used this recipe with any type of ingredients that didn't work well in it. If you have a grandma who can make your pie shells by hand, like we did at the cafe (this was the sole restaurant-related task one of the owners' mothers), all the better. If you want to try this recipe and are eating a low-carb diet, just eliminate the pie shell - the filling is just as good on its own.

By the way, I am not sharing proprietary recipe secrets here - I would never have given out this recipe years ago. Unfortunately, The Lonesome Pine Cafe - to the dismay of a good size following of customers - went out of business about three years ago. Sadly, the owners could not keep up with the competition and keep their prices competitive unless they switched to a much lesser quality line of ingredients. Guess people just preferred going elsewhere and eating frozen pre-made stuff sold at nearby franchises, rather than eat "from scratch" dishes made with excellent quality fresh ingredients, a grandmother's touch, and a lot of love.

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