Nuns on the Bus

Posted on June 21, 2012 by lmsinca

Yesterday jnc4p mentioned a slight difference between men and women that I found provocative.

It appears that when there is a financial crisis there is a gender divide on what the appropriate resolution is.

The male outlook as represented by Robert Rubin, Hank Paulson, Larry Summers, Alan Greenspan, Tim Geithner and Ben Bernanke seems to favor the make a deal approach as the way to resolve it with the government assisting/backstopping private entities. If a deal goes bad, make a bigger one until confidence is restored. I believe this is part and parcel of having the regulators captured by the mindset of the Wall Street banks they are supervising.

This is contrasted with the female outlook as represented by Sheila Blair and Brooksley Born which is more in line with follow the rules and let the chips fall where they may.

He went on to say how much respect he has for women like Sheila Bair and Brooksley Born.  His comment made me think of another woman who’s doing her part right now, not in the financial world, but in the political arena nonetheless, as a response to the spending cuts in the Ryan Budget, the increase in poverty since the beginning of this recession and in defiance of the Catholic Bishops’ rebuke.  Have you heard of Sister Simone?

(CBS News) JANESVILLE, Wis. – Fourteen Roman Catholic nuns on a nine-state bus tour are in Chicago Wednesday, after several stops in Wisconsin. Officially, they’re protesting cuts in federal programs for the poor. But the “Nuns on the Bus” tour is also an act of defiance against criticism from the Vatican.

Sister Simone Campbell is a Roman Catholic nun and the executive director of Network — a liberal social justice lobby in Washington.

“Nuns on the Bus” website

She’s been under siege, but she’s not fazed.

“Into every life a little rain must come,” she said.

Sister Simone is also a bit of a provocateur.

“Catholic sisters have always been out on the edge,” she said. “And quite frankly we have a long history of kind of annoying the central authority.”

The central authority they’ve recently annoyed is the Vatican itself. In April, sister Simone’s group and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious — representing 80 percent of the nation’s nuns — were attacked by the church hierarchy for focusing too much of their work on poverty and economic justice, while being silent on abortion and same-sex marriage.

Vatican reprimands U.S. nuns over “radical feminist themes”
U.S. Catholic nuns go about work after rebuke

Simone says she pleads guilty to part of that charge: “That I spend too much time working for people in poverty. I wear that as a badge of honor.”

The Vatican has appointed a bishop to correct what the church calls “serious doctrinal problems” in the way the nuns work.

They’ve been called radical feminists.

Simone’s response: “Oh my heavens. I actually have to laugh. We are strong women. We’re educated women. We ask questions. We engage in dialogue. That’s all we do. We stay faithful to the gospel and trying to live it.

From the AP via the Washington Post:

While the nuns say they aren’t opposing any specific Republican candidate, they plan stops at the offices of several closely tied to the budget process, including House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the architect of the House-passed budget. Their first stop Monday was Rep. Steve King’s office in Ames. The tour will end in Washington on July 2.

Social activism at its finest.

Filed under: 2012, Poverty | Tagged: , , , | 5 Comments »

Happy Father’s Day

Posted on June 16, 2012 by lmsinca

Another Father’s Day.  I have a husband and a son who are both fathers and I will be celebrating with both of them tomorrow.  The person missing, and someone I miss every day, is my own father of course.  I’ve been trying to think of the most important lesson I learned from my dad, something I could pass along to the young fathers here.  There are a few of you.

My father and I were estranged for nearly four years from the time I was 20 until I was 24.  He missed the birth of his first grandchild, my college graduation and against the law of averages at the time, me receiving a Masters Degree.  Not to get too sappy but he told me before he died that our time apart was the biggest regret of his life.  What drove us apart is less important than how we repaired our relationship and the deposits he made to my life when I was young.

My sister was a momma’s girl and I was Daddy’s Girl and a tomboy to boot.  My parents never took a vacation without us until we moved out of the house, and most of our vacations were two or three week road trips and camping all across the western United States, Mexico and Canada.  I grew up going to Dodger games and USC football games.  When I was stumped over a math question he guided me through with more patience than I probably deserved.  He taught me to swim when I was four and body surf by the time I was 10 as well as how to survive a rip tide.   It was from him that I learned to love and respect the ocean and the beach.  When I was 13 and wanted to learn to surf, he bought two surf boards, one for him and one for me.  And at 15 we learned to ski together.

From the time I can remember we took walks after dinner and talked.  I learned most of life’s lessons on those evenings.  And so, when it came time to forgive each other and forge a new, adult father/daughter relationship, I was able to look back with love and gratitude to my childhood and remember all the lessons, patience and devotion he’d shown me.

I hope all you fathers and children enjoy your day tomorrow.  I’ll be watching my son and his father interact in their own special way and be missing my own father for the times we spent together as well as the times we were apart.

Happy Father’s Day!

Filed under: 2012 | 13 Comments »

Explanation Letter

Posted on June 14, 2012 by markinaustin

Dear Commerce Team,

This evening, I notified Deputy Secretary Rebecca Blank that I am taking a medical leave of absence in order to focus on resolving my health issues that arose over the weekend.

During this time, I will not perform the functions and duties of Commerce Secretary. Therefore, I am transferring these responsibilities to Dr. Blank who will serve as Acting Secretary, effective immediately.

As you know, Dr. Blank has strengthened our Department in this role before. I have every confidence in her.

I know that all of you will work to make this a seamless transition, and I thank you in advance for your continued work to help America’s businesses drive economic growth and job creation at this crucial moment in our nation’s recovery.

Finally, I want to thank all of you personally for your warm thoughts and support.

Sincerely,

John Bryson

_________________________

Footnote: Like Rick Perry and Barack Obama, John Bryson has argued for the termination of the Cabinet post of SecCommerce.

Filed under: 2012, politics, small government | Tagged: , | 4 Comments »

Bits and Bites: Stir Fry

Posted on May 26, 2012 by Fairlington Blade

My wife and I are fans of Cooks Illustrated. We bought a boxed set of the first ten years of bound volumes after getting back from our honeymoon back in 2003. Since then, we’ve added most of the individual volumes. I’ve always found their approach appealing as it strikes me as the way a scientist would go at a problem. Cooking as chemistry rather than art. It’s a good grounding in cooking. I’ve learned to indulge my creative side too.

One criticism of CI is that the recipes can be ridiculously involved. We have some vegetarian friends and so I make a vegetarian friendly stuffing for Thanksgiving. The vegetarian stock in CI is over the top. Two pounds of veggies and an hour of cooking to produce one quart of stock. REALLY??? I’ve simplified it a bit and double the amount of stock that I get out of it.

One of our favorite books is The Simple Recipe, from the same folks. The idea is to take the ridiculously complicated recipes and simplify them for every day cooking. It still takes time, but works for a weeknight meal. When it comes to throwing together a balanced meal, my most serious failing is in not making a side dish to balance out the meal. It’s too easy to just serve the main course with a starch. One pot meals have a nice way of handling this problem. Veggies included!

This brings me to my recipe of the week: stir fry. Everything is in one pan, so there’s no need to do anything on the side. Get some rice going, chop up some meat and veggies (or use a bag of frozen veggies), and you’re good to go. This does not, however, mean throw everything into a pan. Different veggies take different cooking times. Plus, if you crowd the pan, those veggies are going to throw off enough liquid to drown your meal. What I really like about the Quick Recipe approach is that it’s broken up so that everything has a chance to cook, not too much, and you throw it all together in the end. The meat marinates while you get everything else ready.

Here’s the general approach.

Step 1. Cut up ¾ of a pound of meat (or tofu) into bite sized pieces and combine with 2 teaspoons each of soy sauce and sherry. Not being English, I don’t often have sherry on hand, so I use white wine (if I don’t have it on hand, I’ll run over to Unwined).

Step 2. Combine a tablespoon of minced ginger, another of minced garlic, some chopped green onions (white parts), and a couple teaspoons of oil. Peanut oil is really good for stir fries as it has a high smoke point. Safflower and sunflower oils are a good alternative.

Step 3. Chop up 1 ½ pounds of veggies. They’ll need to be separated by how they cook. Spinach is going to get added in at the last moment. Carrots and onions go in early.

Step 4. Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a 12” nonstick skillet (another thing I love about this method—no wok) until smoking. Add the marinated protein and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned. It’ll probably take 2 – 3 minutes. Less for shrimp (unless you’re a fan of chewing polyurethane). Transfer to a clean bowl.

Step 5. Cook the veggies. Add a bit more oil to the pan and heat until shimmering (not smoking!). Add the slower cooking veggies to the pan and cook until nearly done (tender, but a bit crisp). Move the veggies to the side, add a bit more oil, and add the quick cooking veggies.

Step 6. Clear out the center of the pan and toss in the garlic/ginger mixture. Cook for about a minute, mashing a bit, and then stir all the veggies together. Add the protein back in and stir to combine. Toss in ½ cup of sauce and serve over rice.

It’s time for me to add a note regarding sauces. This should be step 2.5. But hey, there’s some decent sauces that you can buy in the supermarket. This is, after all, supposed to be a weeknight meal. Their sauces are pretty easy to put together. One common theme is cornstarch as a thickener. In case you’re obsessive like me, here’s a few of my favorites.

Garlic Sauce

3 T. dry sherry

3 T. chicken broth

2 T. soy sauce

½ t. sesame oil

1.5 t. minced garlic

1 t. cornstarch

½ t. sugar

Hot and Sour Sauce

3 T. rice wine vinegar*

2 T. chicken broth

2 T. dry sherry

1 T. soy sauce

1 T. chili paste

1 t. sesame oil

1 t. sugar

1 t. cornstarch

*You can sub other vinegars, but cut it back as the rice wine vinegar is pretty low in acidity

Lemon Sauce

Zest and juice from one large lemon

2 T. chicken broth

2 T. dry sherry

1 T. soy sauce

2 t. sugar

1 t. cornstarch

½ t. black pepper

I’ll throw in a couple of my favorites. The basic template is adaptable to whatever you’ve got in the crisper. Okie and I chatted recently. She had a few ingredients available, but was lacking in inspiration. That had me going stir fry!

One of my favorites is beef and broccoli. I didn’t realize until well into my 40s that broccoli stalks were something you should enjoy. I figured you cut off the florets and discarded the rest. Here’s a recipe that I hope might convince you likewise.

Beef & Broccoli in Garlic Sauce

¾ pound thinly sliced flank steak

1 ½ pounds broccoli—florets broken into bite sized pieces; stalks peeled and cut into ¼” thick pieces

¼ cup of coarsely chopped walnuts

Garlic sauce (see above)

All the other stuff I mentioned above

1. Combine the beef with soy and sherry

2. Combine garlic, ginger, scallinos and oil (see above)

3. Toast the walnuts in that same 12” skillet you’ll be using. Set aside.

4. Add 2 t. oil to the skillet, heat until smoking, and toss in the beef. Cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned and transfer to a clean bowl.

5. Add another 2 t. of oil to the skillet and heat until shimmering. Add the broccoli, ½ cup of water, and cover. Cook until the broccoli turns bright green , 1 – 2 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring, until the water evaporates and the broccoli is ready, About another 2 – 4  minutes.

6. Clear the center of the pan, add the garlic/ginger mixture and cook for about a minute. Stir it all together, add the beef and combine with the sauce. Toss the walnuts on top and dig in!

Shrimp and Peppers in Garlic Sauce

You may notice a theme, as I love the Garlic Sauce

1 pound of large shrimp

2 med. red bell peppers, diced

1 cup of scallion whites, coarsely diced

1 ½ cups of scallion greens, chopped

Garlic sauce

Other stuff as noted above

Note: If you don’t feel like spending awhile chopping scallions, use a medium white or yellow onion for the whites and some spinach for the greens.

Pretty much, you follow the same protocol. Marinate the shrimp and prep the other stuff. Cook the shrimp in smoking oil until browned. I’d say shrimp require a bit more attention Don’t worry if they’re undercooked, because they’ll continue to cook while set aside and go back on heat later. Cook the onions/white parts, toss in the bell peppers, and then add the green parts (or greens). Make some space, cook the ginger/garlic mix, throw everything together and eat!

May you all have a Memorable weekend. I’m taking my sons to visit their great aunt’s grave in Arlington National Cemetery and then we’re going to watch Rolling Thunder going over the Memorial Bridge.

BB

Filed under: 2012, Bites and Pieces, recipes | 18 Comments »

Life in Desolation Canyon

Posted on May 9, 2012 by lmsinca

Haaaaaahaaaaaa, did I catch you with the title?  Since it’s a bit of a slow news day, except for the fact that Obama finally evolved, and I’m not particularly interested in controversy right this second, I’ll just go ahead and put up a boring post.

I’m not sure if any of you will be interested in this or not but I thought I’d mention that our youngest daughter is off to Desolation Canyon again to finish her research in fluvial geology (her mountain pictured above).   She’s working on her Master’s at the Colorado School of Mines and will be finished with her thesis by the end of Sept. or early Oct. and has a job with an oil company in Denver beginning on Nov. 1st.   This will be her last opportunity to get all the information she needs to complete her research.

I thought some of you might be curious about life on the river.

Apparently, her research area is somewhat unique, even for a geologist, in that it is so remote and lacking in amenities, so to speak.  She is one of only two students on campus allowed to requisition the satellite phone and also takes a gps locator device she uses to send a message every day with their location mapped out.  There are three possible messages which are pre-recorded, “all’s well”, “send help soon”, and “send help now”.  She will use the satellite phone to get weather updates every five or six days and also of course, if there is an extreme emergency or if the locator doesn’t work for some reason.

This will be her third trip.  The first was about this time last year and it was a group consisting of her academic adviser, her industry adviser, a PhD student, two river guides and herself.  They spent 10 days on the river in two different locations and she was able to see the lay of the land, and begin measurements and analysis of “her mountain”, which apparently is a fantastic out crop with lots of useful information for the oil industry.  She’s taken a real right turn since being a water consultant.

The weather was dicey this time last year and still very cold at night and they had several thunder storms and plenty of hail.  During the first big down pour most of the tents were flooded at their primary camp and they had to dry everything out, not easy in cool weather and then set up new sleeping quarters on higher ground and dig moats around the tents for drainage.   She and her advisers spent a lot of time on the mountain investigating the most useful areas and setting up a strategy to acquire all the information she was going to need to finish her research in two additional trips.  There is a very narrow window of opportunity to get to the site because of weather and river conditions.

The second trip was at the end of August last year and she and Chelsea, her river guide for all three of her trips, spent 21 days in the baking sun (average temp of 100).   The raft above is packed for two people for 21 days. Her site is only accessible by rafting down the Green River for three days and then another full day rafting out.  They spent some time directly across the river photographing the outcrop with a gigapan system and visiting a natural spring where they were able to acquire fresh water to bring back to camp for purification.   They set up a secondary camp near the old McPherson Ranch and spent a couple of nights there.  The rest of the time they spent hiking up “her mountain” and while Chelsea found a shady spot to read, our daughter “worked the channels”.  Chelsea was there just in case of accident or injury as the site itself is several miles from camp across a large meadow and then up.  Even with really good walkie-talkies it would still take someone a couple hours to get from camp to the research site so Chelsea was her shadow in the field.

After the first couple of days and a little experience with heat exhaustion, they began heading out in the pre-dawn hours of the morning using their head lamps to begin the hike.  This way she was able to begin her work as the sun came up and get off the mountain before the most intense heat of the day did them in.  Back at camp, after cooling down in the river, and with a gas powered generator she would upload her photos from the day and work on her notes for several hours.  Chelsea would cook and maintain the camp.  This was followed by dinner and a quick game or two of rummy and then lights out.

By day 14 or 15 they were out of ice and perishables were either gone or inedible.  They kept water and beer (yep) cool by floating them in the river.  The toilet (above) was full of flying bugs, which was a little nerve wracking, and their clothes, hair and bodies looked and smelled as if they were never going to be clean again.  The Green River is not exactly the clearest water in the world for bathing or doing laundry.  She’s a very accomplished outdoor person and has spent quite a bit of time in the middle of nowhere for days on end but this trip really tested her.  Of course afterward a sense of accomplishment and the benefit of some great stories and useful research information erase most of the worst memories of the trip, and there were more than a few.  She’s actually looking forward to the next trip.

She leaves Saturday for her third trip.  This one will be four weeks (28 days) and she’s taking along another geologist as well as her trusted side kick and new best friend Chelsea, the river guide.  Our daughter is 6’ tall and no shrinking violet but she needs help this time because there are a few areas on the mountain she needs to scale down in order to get the last batch of measurements she’d really like to get.  They’re also going to work on a project that will depict scale as it’s critical to her project.  Her search for a research assistant lasted all year and finally she found Neil, who is apparently excited to experience all the mountain has to offer.  He’s also really smart and will be a good brain storming partner to help solve the remaining challenges.   She’s hoping of course that they’ll still be friends once it’s over.   We’ll be looking for the “all’s well” signal everyday and waiting for that phone call once they get off the raft in the little town of Green River on June 9th.

Filed under: 2012 | Tagged: | 16 Comments »

Bites and Pieces, Irish Style

Posted on May 5, 2012 by okiegirl

In honor of the Irish backdrop to Suite Harmonic (thanks, Emily!), here is a colcannon recipe that came to me as an authentic County Mayo recipe.  This has long been one of my favorite comfort foods.

Ingredients

1 pound cabbage [can substitute kale in whole or part]

1 pound potatoes

2 leeks

1 cup milk

salt and pepper to taste

1 pinch ground mace or 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 cup butter, melted

 Directions

In a large saucepan, boil cabbage or kale until tender; remove and chop or blend well. Set aside and keep warm. Boil potatoes until tender. Remove from heat and drain.

Chop leeks, green parts as well as white, and simmer them in just enough milk to cover, until they are soft.

Season and mash potatoes well. Stir in cooked leeks and milk. Blend in the kale or cabbage and heat until the whole is a pale green fluff. Make a well in the center and pour in the melted butter. Mix well.  OR spoon colcannon into bowls and make a well in the center of each and pour in the melted butter.

Anybody else have a good Irish recipe?  Or maybe a recipe in honor of Cinco de Mayo?

GO THUNDER!

okie

**************************************************************************************************************

Cinco de Mayo fresh tomatillo salsa [Mark]

1 lb. tomatillos, husked
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 C red onion, finely chopped
1/2 C fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
2 dried chipotle chiles
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt

With foil covered baking sheet 6 inches from flame, broil the tomatillos for 15 min.
turning at 5 min and 10 min. Tomatillos will darken in spots.
Remove from the broiler, cool [I stick in freezer for 5 min when I am in a hurry]. Then chop.

Warm the olive oil in a skillet. Add the onion and sauté until softened.
In a bowl, combine the onion and tomatillos. Stir in all remaining ingredients.
Refrigerate and serve cold.    2 C

Filed under: 2012, Bites and Pieces, recipes | 15 Comments »

Discussion of Suite Harmonic by Emily Meier

Posted on May 4, 2012 by lmsinca

There’s something about the words below that resonate with me and remind me, again, how truly awful war is.  This is toward the end of John Given’s enlistment in the Union Army and he’s quite close to returning home to Harmony, a greatly changed man, in a greatly changed nation.

……it struck him even more how blasted Decatur was.  It was very easy to get tired of looking at nothing except a soldier’s face and, without women, there was singular lack of beauty.  And color was missing.  Clothes were the sea of uniforms, faded to a vague blue, which the men, in the heat, shed as often as they could.  In a place where a normal year would have meant a host of summer flowers everywhere, the ground was unplanted-chewed up and battered by the boots of so many men.  There were no blossoms of any color.  There was no foliage.  There was only the wasted, treeless town and the mud and wood of the fort.

Emily will be checking in periodically so if you want to leave a question for her I’m sure she’ll be more than happy to respond.  It’s impossible to pin everyone down to a specific discussion time so just come in and out as time allows over the weekend.

***

Mark adds:

Suite Harmonic is a lovingly crafted narrative of war and family woven from personal written histories, especially from the letters of John Given and his sister Kate.  It is essentially a novel of manners interspersed with battle scenes.  For those of us who love Civil War stories, as I do, it is satisfying.  The main characters, John and Kate, become known to us as they become assimilated, as their Irish Catholicism fades, as they mature, and as they internalize the issues of their time.

That John survives Shiloh is amazing, that he learns that he will keep his head in combat is what gives him resiliency throughout the War.  Kate, back home in Indiana, is an interesting study in both duty and stepping out of her “place” as an Irish maid to wealthy Protestants.  Both siblings are smart and literate, which is how so much of their material survived.

The eventual love stories, after the War, especially Kate and Harry’s, are truly sweet.

The tragedies of 19th C. health care follow the characters into peace time.

A picky critic might find two anachronisms of speech, but I was not picky and did not catalog them.  My own disappointment with the novel was limited to my high expectations for it – I love historical novels.  I have been through all of Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin novels twice.  Suite Harmonic has no plot.  Think of a lifetime series of interconnected events as told through the eyes of two siblings, in which there is no struggle between good and evil, no climax, no anti-climax, and no denouement.  John and Kate were surely so likable and admirable as presented by ABC, and the incidents themselves so fascinating in detail and social (or combat) observation, as to allow Suite Harmonic to stand without a plot.  I think it does actually present a harmonic suite of the interplay of lives shaped by the Civil War, and by the integration of immigrants into society, and by the daily struggles of people we can still recognize, although their hardships were of a different time.  I am sure it does what Emily intended it to do, and that my expectations were irrelevant.

Filed under: 2012, Book Review, Suite Harmonic | Tagged: | 61 Comments »

Cradle to Grave

Posted on May 3, 2012 by novahockey

From the Obama campaign: Life of Julia

I’ll be honest. This makes my stomach churn. Every one of life’s moments, made possible by the benevolence of President Obama.

Poor Julia. Obama wants her dependent on him her entire life.

Update: Apparently this has taken off. Here’s the WSJ and The Atlantic

Filed under: 2012, big government | 66 Comments »

We Finally Met our First Hoarder

Posted on April 29, 2012 by lmsinca

There are very few things that shock me but when my husband came home Friday from the lockout of our tenant by the sheriff’s department he began preparing me for the shock I was about to experience.

Some of you may remember we’ve been involved in an eviction process on our rental property (the bulk of our retirement income) since January and even hired some legally challenged lawyers to represent us in the misadventure.  I call it a misadventure because it feels like a miracle to us that we finally got our home back.

The lockout would have occurred a month earlier but the city recently decided that our street was one of the ones that needed a new street sign.  A problem arose when the sheriffs attempted to post the final eviction notice about six weeks ago and the spelling on the street sign didn’t match the spelling on our legal documents.  The city had changed an “e” to an “o” and so we had to wait two weeks for a new sign and another two weeks for the city workers to install it.  Cha-ching, another $1600 down the drain.  Of course our lawyers thought it would have been better to change all the paperwork to the incorrect spelling………………………idiots.

Anyway, my husband met the officer and the locksmith at the house Friday morning and originally told our tenant she could have 1/2 hour to vacate.  The sheriff informed him that we had to store whatever was left at the house for 15 days, either at the house or a storage facility, charging her reasonable rates, and then could either sell it or trash it.  Then my husband went inside.  Needless to say, when she said her boyfriend was on the way with a big truck to move some stuff, he gave her the rest of the day to vacate.

Every room, save one, looks exactly like the pictures below, and that one room is pristine…………………….bizarre.

All of this was left after two big truckloads had already carted away some of her belongings.  So now our house is a storage facility for another 12 days and we’re hoping they’re coming back for more although they already cancelled the appointment to meet my husband over there today.

I feel sorry for anyone who is for some reason compelled to live like this, but right now I feel more sorry for us, because we’re going to be stuck with the cleanup………………………………….yuck.

Filed under: 2012 | Tagged: | 23 Comments »

Bites & Pieces OR Do Alpha Males Eat Quiche?

Posted on April 29, 2012 by lmsinca

I have a basic quiche recipe that can be adapted for all sorts of dietary restrictions and preferences.  I’m trying to gradually add a few pounds back on that I misplaced this year and I can make this once a week and add a few calories to my diet.  On the other hand, it can be made with lower fat/calorie ingredients and still be delicious.

Basic Ingredients:

3 whole eggs, you can substitute egg whites for part of them or all, two egg whites equals one whole egg

1 can evaporated milk, you can use low fat or non fat and honestly you won’t be able to tell the difference

2 1/2 TBS of flour

Salt, pepper and other spices depending on the rest of your ingredients.  I use thyme, parsley, basil and herbs de provence  pretty frequently, but please experiment.

Additional Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cheese, again low fat versions are fine and I frequently use a combination of mozzarella, parmesan and feta.  Of course you can use cheddar, swiss or really any kind of cheese.

5 to 6 diced green onions

2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 to 2  cups of veggies.  I generally use a combination of broccoli/cauliflower or a variety of summer squash.  Experiment.

1 cup of  meat (cooked).  If you use meat, cut back on the veggies.  For a breakfast quiche the obvious meats are ham, bacon or sausage.  For dinner, chicken would probably work fine.

Directions:

Beat the eggs, milk, flour and spices until well blended.  Sir in the other ingredients, adding the cheeses last and pour into greased 9″X9″ baking dish and bake for about 45 minutes at 350 or until center is set.

By the way, my husband loves this recipe.

****************************************************************

And from okiegirl, who is still finding gorgeous asparagus at an even more gorgeous price, a couple of faves.

Asparagus with Curry Butter

Ingredients

2 teaspoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 shallot, finely diced

1 bunch asparagus, (about 1 pound), trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

Preparation

Combine butter, curry powder, lemon juice and salt in a small bowl.  Omit salt if your curry powder has salt in it already.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add shallot and cook, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add asparagus and cook, stirring, until just tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir the curry butter into the asparagus; toss to coat.

Yummy with grilled salmon!

Spring Pizza

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

3 cloves garlic, minced (or to taste — this is a lot of garlic)

2 medium tomatoes, sliced

1 bunch asparagus (about 1 pound)

1/2 cup snipped fresh chives, divided

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 pound whole-wheat pizza dough

1 cup shredded fontina or mozzarella cheese

Preparation

Position rack in lower third of oven, place a pizza stone or large pizza pan on the rack and preheat oven to 450°F for at least 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine 2 tablespoons oil and garlic in a small bowl; set aside. Trim asparagus spears to about 6 inches long; slice any thicker stalks in half lengthwise. Toss in a bowl with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, 1/4 cup chives, salt and pepper.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to about a 14-inch circle.  (I cheat and buy ready made pizza crust.)

Carefully remove the pizza stone or pan from the oven and set on a heatproof surface, such as your stovetop. Place the dough on the stone or pan and brush with the reserved garlic-oil mixture. Cover with a layer of tomato slices.  Arrange the asparagus in a circular pattern on the dough with the tips facing out (like spokes). Top with cheese and the remaining chives.

Carefully return the stone or pan to the oven and bake the pizza on the lower rack until crispy and golden and the cheese is melted, about 15 minutes.

This makes a lovely spring supper, but also is a nice (if unusual) side dish.

Filed under: 2012, Bites and Pieces, cooking, diet, food, recipes | Tagged: | 16 Comments »

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