Girl's Brunch

Our friend's husband got laid off. Going out for breakfast or brunch was our thing because it worked with her family's schedule. And was an excuse to eat. When she told me about the layoff, she said we couldn't go to breakfast until it was hot outside so we could cook our eggs on the sidewalk. Clearly unacceptable. One, it won't be that hot for a loooong time. This is Chicago after all. Two, I don't eat eggs. Three, sidewalks aren't nonstick. How exactly do you get an egg unstuck from the sidewalk, hmm? I could go on. Clearly, another solution is called for. Brunch. Immediately. At my house.



To start, Quiche Lorraine, her favorite. The various recipes I found on the internet called for ham or bacon. I couldn't decide which to use, so I used both.


Here's the whole deal - prosecco, grapefruit with a red wine orange juice sauce, maple oat scones (Ina Garten), smoked paprika potatoes with dill sour cream (eh), and the quiche.

He's already had an interview and a call back. Let's hope we're having a celebration brunch soon!

Menu follow up and Sat. lunch

Here was last week's menu:

• Sloppy Joes - already had these for lunch yesterday with chips
• Rigatoni alla Toto from 150 Best American Recipes, rigatoni, Italian sausage and a cream sauce
  
• Fish tacos with the Alice Waters cole slaw (150 Best Am. Recipes - I think)
• Tuscan steaks with bread salad - Complete Meat Cookbook and the new vegetarian cookbook I got - on the grill today if it isn't pouring rain when it's time to eat
  
• something with chicken thighs
• Roast chicken with slow roasted tomatoes from Food Network Magazine
• Black bean cakes with nachos and salsa - Great Food Fast

I made everything except something with chicken thighs and the black bean cakes. I did roast a chicken, but did not do the slow roasted tomato recipe.

The cole slaw was ok. I would make it again when if I didn't want a mayo based slaw. But it's not better than my favorite slaw. The bread salad is totally addictive. I could eat a whole bowlful myself, stabbing with my fork at anyone who tried to sneak some. Yes, it's that good.

And the Rigatoni alla Toto - Italian sausage, onions, garlic, white wine, 12 oz of heavy cream. Yes, 12 oz. And 1 lb rigatoni. This was a stellar dish. In the recipe notes, it says something like, "the sum is greater than the parts," or "this dish transcends it's simple ingredient list." And you know what? It sure does. I'll make this again and again. Until the scale breaks, anyways. Maybe next time I'll try it with evaporated skim milk.

Here was lunch today. Red onion tarts, some with gruyere, some with mozzarella on a puff pastry base with a spring greens salad.

To Do List

Here's the update of the To Do list:

• LBK's quilt - top done
• Mom's quilt - done
• Tommy's quilt pics - not done
• kitchen valances - not done
• furniture - done

Also done, a box full of charity quilts. They range from 10 inches to 27 inches. The red, beige and blue one is the smallest. The purple circle is the largest.


















Dinner tonight: Amarinds Three Flavor Chicken, and Chicken Massaman curry

More quilts, big and small

More charity quilts.


And a big one for LBK - just the top so far, but the fabric for the back came in and I already have the binding.

Then, the beginnings of the BIG ONE, a Dear Jane.

Menu for the Week

This is likely to change. Even with the best of intentions, I usually only get to around half of the meals on my list. But the school schedule is easing up and I neeeed to cook and destress. A few weeks ago I think I ate out or ordered in every night in a week! That never happens. So here's the menu for the week, in no particular order.

• Sloppy Joes - already had these for lunch yesterday with chips
• Rigatoni alla Toto from 150 Best American Recipes, rigatoni, Italian sausage and a cream sauce
  
• Fish tacos with the Alice Waters cole slaw (150 Best Am. Recipes - I think)
• Tuscan steaks with bread salad - Complete Meat Cookbook and the new vegetarian cookbook I got - on the gril today if it isn't pouring rain when it's time to eat
  
• something with chicken thighs
• Roast chicken with slow roasted tomatoes from Food Network Magazine
• Black bean cakes with nachos and salsa - Great Food Fast

Everything is new to me except the sloppy joes and the steak.

Beet Feta Tart

While checking out some other food blogs, I found a beet and feta tart over at Orangette. We love both beets and feta, so this sounded right up our alley. In traditional Chinese medicine, beets are considered a warming food. I roasted some smallish beets earlier in the week while baking something else and stuck them in the fridge. Today, I took them out, slid their skins off, and sliced them up for this tart. Mix two eggs with some milk and crumbled feta, pour the mixture over the beets which have been layered in a par baked tart shell and bake for about 1 hour. We really could have used a green salad with this, something peppery like arugula with a light vinaigrette maybe. It was good enough for lunch all by itself.