Veggie Tart

Recently, we joined a local CSA farm to get most of our veggies. Needless to say, it has improved our eating habits. We are definitely eating more fruits & vegetables than ever before. However, it has become a fun challenge to come up with recipes to accommodate eating all these veggies.
Our latest effort is a quiche/veggie tart kind of thing. We figure that you can put in a wide variety of stuff and it'll be yummy (with all the fat we put in to it, we probably more than balance any good nutrients, oh well). We've had success using broccoli and shredded cheddar, but here's the latest version:

Ingredients:
-1 Pillsbury 9" pre-rolled pie dough (because I'd rather drink a cup of Clorox than make my own - of course, if you are the kind of sadistic bastard that enjoys rolling out pie crusts, be my guest)

-1 zucchini/courgette quartered lengthwise & then chopped in 1/4"-1/2" slices horizontally
-3 Spring onions thinly sliced across (1/4" or so). Also, include stems - chopped slightly thicker (maybe 1/2")
-1 or 1 1/2 cups of mushrooms (depending on how much you like that flavour) slice 1/4"-1/2"
-1-2 tablespoons of butter or olive oil
-1 1/2 tablespoons of dry seasoning (I use a mix of dried fennel seeds, lavender flowers & thyme)

-1 small package of goat cheese (I think around 4 oz)
-2/3 cup shredded swiss cheese
-1 minced clove of fresh garlic
-1 1/2 tablespoons of coarsely chopped, fresh basil

-1/2 cup heavy cream
-3 large eggs

-paprika
-salt
-pepper

Preheat the oven as per directions on box for pre-baking a single crust. Unroll one crust and press it into a 9" tart pan with a removable bottom and cut off/discard any excess dough (or you could just use a pie plate). Prebake crust, pull from the oven and allow to cool.
Turn the heat in the oven to 375-400 degrees (lower heat=longer cooking time, but it ensures all the cheese is fully melted). Fill a large Pyrex dish with water and place on lower rack (the moisture seems to keep this thing from burning)
Heat your oil or butter on a medium-high heat in a large fry pan. Add in the dried seasoning and vegetables. Cook them until they are well-browned on all sides, put them aside in a bowl.
Mix together the cheeses and garlic. Spread this evenly across the face of the cooled crust. Sprinkle the fresh basil over the cheese mixture.
Then, spoon in the vegetables and try to spread them out somewhat evenly.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk cream until frothy and then add the eggs. Continue beating until eggs are fully incorporated and pour over the vegetables until it comes to the edge of the crust (or if you are using a pie plate and have a higher crust - until the vegetables are mostly covered).
Sprinkle paprika, salt and pepper to taste evenly over the top.
Place on rack above the now hot dish of water in the oven and check in half an hour.
It should get nicely browned on the top and puff out a little when it is done.
So it doesn't implode, I just turn off the heat and open the oven door when it seems done. Then, after letting it cool there for about five minutes I transfer it over to a cooling rack for 45 minutes before slipping it out of the pan and onto a serving platter.
Seems like a lot of steps, but really pretty simple.

Lego art

Who says Lego's are just for kids? Nathan Sawaya is doing some really cool sculptures with them. He's been successful enough, that I understand he's been able to quit that pesky day job as a lawyer. My favourites are the "Rebirth of New Orleans" and the "Iwo Jima Replica."

Feline fiend, Uh, I mean friend

So, it continues. A couple of days ago I found Midian settling down to a gourmet delicacy of baby bunny brains. You should have seen the look on his face - Hannibal Lecter has nothing on our cat!
Now then, I would be more impressed if he started wolfing down the canada geese, but I guess that we'd probably need something more along the size of a bob cat for that. Hmnnn. Then my own brains (small though they be) might be in peril too! What to do?

Celebrate doing nothing

Finally, a trendy product that really makes a statement! Get one today...

Flashback

I think that Curt finds my nostalgic moments somewhat ridiculous.
None-the-less, today I have the Dire Straits song 'So Far Away From Me' firmly embedded in the old noggin.
It is fun to remember back to a 4th of July in Vermont when we would all go inner-tubing & hang out with friends at Doug's church-turned-home. There was one year where I think all we had to listen to was Dire Straits and the Cars tapes. We must have heard this song tens of times over that week.

Those were the formative years & our vacations to the old church firmly instilled in me a love for mini-golf, inner-tubing, plastic snakes and glasses where the pinup girls on the sides would lose their coverings when provided with the correct temp. liquid.
Wow, it really makes me long for a set of plastic lawn flamingos.

Getting a bit out of control

So, earlier in the year I was rather proud of my little ginger-haired friend for showing off his hunting capabilities. However, Midian's enthusiasm for killing things has apparently reached across the line from birds and mice to human hands and feet...most notably, mine!

The other day I was laying in the lawn innocently reading a book. Midian came and lay down for a snooze next to me. All was peaceful for about half an hour and then he got up & shook off. I thought that he had just gotten warm and would re-position himself for further nappage a little ways off. The next thing, I felt a little mouth clamp onto my heel!
Ticked off, I shouted at him to, well, stop.
He seemed to accept this and went back to napping.

Some time later, I found a cat firmly attached to my hand. He dug all claws in and began biting in earnest. Not too bright. He ended up about 10 feet out in the little lake out back.

After our battle royal, I went in to cover my wounds in neosporin & he struck out for a remote part of the yard in which to lick clean his muddy coat. Ever since, we've had an uneasy truce. He just uses me for food & the occasional pat. I keep out of his way.

Well, in what is clearly a further provocation, I found half a vole staring up at me this morning from the carport floor. It was on end so it's little head and front paws were up in the air. Now he's just taunting me!

Part of me is pleased to have him violate the huge community of nasty rodents that have an underground network all over our lawn & that find the tubers of my hosta and campanula a delicacy.

On the other hand, leaving carcasses is clearly showing off how he is the mighty provider and just hangs around with us losers because he pities us. Obviously, we cannot help being such inferior creatures.

If this continues, I might have to demoralize him by putting on a new collar with bells. Yes, I see it now, a sporting pink thing with little rhinestones embedded. If he still continues, perhaps I will get him pink claw covers to match!

Oooh, as I write this, he is laying right outside the window sunning himself on his back. Whatever happened to the timid, aging cat that moved down here with us?

Cringe readings

Okay, so messing about online, I came across this group out of Brooklyn called Cringe. Basically, they dug up their old teenage diaries and read them out loud for laughs. Pretty good. Maybe they'll start making reality TV shows on them & 'earn' pots of money. Guess I should have kept all those weepy pages.