Caps And Cooking

During my extended stay here in the midwest, I did find minutes here and there to knit. For me that's a soothing activity when things get crazy. And things here did get crazy. There is a wonderful yarn shop just minutes away from Mommy's house, and I found friends there to visit with when I could slip away for a bit. It was nice to be so far from home and walk into this shop and be greeted with the words, "How's the baby?"  That made me feel not so far from home.

I knitted caps for Baby Girl and caps for Jessica's friends and co-workers. It was a chance to try lots of different yarns and needle sizes and to try a new ribbed hat pattern. My favorite yarn for these little caps was discontinued a couple of years ago. After working with Lorna's Lace Sock, Bamtastic, Spud & Cloe Sock, I think my new favorite is Rowan Wool Cotton. It was nice to have Baby Girl to model these assorted little newborn caps. I love making a cap because it's such a quick knit and new baby things are just cute.

Here is another recipe I made while Mommy was in the hospital. I was looking for fast and easy. It's a recipe from my home economist days. When I made this originally, it was a crustless and cooked in the microwave. I taught many microwave cooking classes when the microwave was a brand new appliance.

Now I make it in a pie shell and bake it in the oven. I am trying to get some of these recipes I like that are only in my head written down here, so that my girls can know how I do things.

For this quiche I used broccoli and onion—because that is what I found in Mommy's refrigerator. But you could use other vegetables. Or, you could do a ham, onion, cheese version. Or, add some crumbled bacon to this broccoli version. Change the cheese to match the other ingredients. Just use your imagination. Or, use up your leftovers! Precooking the vegetables is a good idea, too. Next time, I would saute the chopped onion.

I will be honest. I didn't really measure the vegetable part or the cheese. Just use enough to fill the pie shell. But the milk/egg mix is always the same. That's the part I can always remember—4 eggs and a "tall can of milk." That's what my mother called a 12-oz can of evaporated milk. It's the temperature and cooking time I needed to write down for future use.

EASY QUICHE

You can use meat and vegetable fillings of your choice, but here is roughly what I did. The critical part is the "custard" (the milk & egg part)—that stays the same regardless of the meat and/or vegetables you use.

1 9-inch deep dish frozen pie shell

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 12-oz can evaporated milk

1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

black pepper to taste

Here is what I used this time--the part I didn't measure:

1 crown fresh broccoli, steamed and chopped

1/2 cup chopped onion

1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Add vegetables to the pie shell. Sprinkle cheese over. Whisk together eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour into pie shell over vegetables. 

Place filled pie shell on a cookie sheet and place on center rack in oven. (Put a sheet of foil under pie shell for easy clean up.) 

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until "custard" is set and top is golden brown.

While I doubt that Little Sister would ever say this was her favorite (although at Sunday School yesterday she told the teacher that her favorite food was carrots—NOT!) she did eat it and seemed to enjoy it. I always think that if a three-year-old will eat something, it will usually be liked by most other folks.