Quiche

In anticipation of pigging out over the next few days, I made a quiche and a salad for a light dinner. I used the recipe from Rich Donnis. He was a very good friend of ours from our old stomping grounds, Granite Bay, CA. His father was a chef and he grew up making wonderful food and he and his wife Mary were wonderful hosts. We went on a trip to Tahoe together and they made this wonderful quiche and generously provided the recipe for us.

Quiche

9" pastry shell
8 slices bacon, diced
1/2 lb swiss cheese, shredded
1 TBL flour
1/2 tsp salt
dash nutmeg
3 eggs beaten
1 3/4 cup milk

I tend to use shortcuts when available, so here is what I did. I bought a frozen pie shell. Use one and save the other for a future date. Bake for 7 minutes in a 350 oven. I use pie weights that I place on a bit of foil to keep them clean and so they don't sink into the crust. When removing the pie shell lower the heat to 325.

While the crust is cooking I microwave some pre-cooked bacon. I cook as many pieces as will crowd their way onto a plate ( 10 or 12, they're thin) and then turn them out onto a paper towel. Blot. Then whisk the other ingredients except the cheese and the nutmeg. It tends to fall to the bottom of the bowl.

Using the paper towel, crush the bacon and dump...I mean place, it in the empty pie shell. Save the paper towel to wipe the plate used for cooking. It can then be placed in the dishwasher. Add a 6 oz package of shredded swiss. Sure, you can buy a block and then shred it, but I am talking easy here.



Add the egg mixture and then using a microplane, grate a bit of nutmeg over the top. OK. Here is when I am inconsistent. I like the fresh stuff better and I have a microplane, so that is what I do. You can sprinkle it from the spice container. I doubt it will make a difference.



Bake at 325 for 35 to 40 minutes. You can slide a knife in the center and if it comes out clean, but damp, you are ready. Let stand for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting.

Major Wood

Two things happened to get Lee and me in the woods, today. First, it is getting colder and Lee has been looking into something to keep the shop a bit warmer in the winter. Not warm, just not freezing. Last year he got a heater that attached to the propane tank we use for the grill and it was not enough. Now he is considering a wood burning stove. After all we have wood to burn up in the woods...get it???

So, last night found us driving to Vinton after dark to look at a stove we found on Craig's List. It wasn't until we were partway there that Lee said that he hoped we weren't heading to our doom. (Cue scary music) Perhaps we were being lured there to be murdered and robbed as has been done in the past. The house was old and had narrow hallways and the stove we came to look at was in the basement. The dark, scary, under lit basement. The dank ...OK, you get the idea.

Suffice it to say, the stove was too small for our needs and we left, all in one piece. In fact the owner was the youth pastor at his church. I called Tara on the way home and we decided I would clue her in next time we go on a "dangerous" excursion. What if we were killed and there was no one to feed the animals? And when did things get reversed and we have to check in with our kids? I thought that was WAY down the road!

The second thing that happened was the loss of some big trees. I mean really big. Oak tree from Daniel Boone days big. (OK. I am a child of TV in the 60's. I have no other reference point for way back when in some vague place close to here.) It seems to be the neighbor's tree, but it has fallen into our "yard". When you have around 60 acres, yard is not the right word, but work with me on this. We have about 10 to 15 acres of woods up to the ridge line and the neighbor behind us has about the same down the back side our the hill behind our house. He runs cows and sometimes a tree will fall and take out the barbed wire between our two properties. Then we get bovine visitors. RJ LOOOVES bovine visitors. Or maybe the right word is hates them. At any rate he runs and barks at them. If they run home, this is very fun. If they stand there staring at him he has no clue what to do. Except more running and barking. All of these things are fun for RJ.


So now a HUGE tree is blocking our trail to the top of the ridge and it has knocked down the barbed wire. We don't have cows here, yet, so maybe he has sold them or moved them to another pasture. Or maybe it is just a matter of time, but we have to do something about it.

Lee and I went up to cut enough to at least allow us up the trail. This is no small undertaking...remember that whole big tree thing? Lee used the chain saw and I used the loppers and the machete to get the smaller branches off. These we moved to the side of the trail to be dealt with another time. The trail is maybe 5 feet wide and we cleared it and loaded the wood worth burning into the truck. The plan was to cut them into lengths at a future date. We loaded until we were too tired to heave the logs up any higher. We barely made a dent in the tree.




Enter Roy Gross. On my last visit to the library, Jackie told me that Roy had cut up a tree for her. She didn't have to deal with a dead tree and Roy got some free wood for his fireplace. So now I have placed a call to Super Roy. (Faster than a speeding delivery truck more powerful than our too small chainsaw.) He will be coming in a few days to see what he can do. I hope he has a big chain saw and then we can cut the tree into lengths that the tractor can pull down the hill. We don't want to chew up the road or have the trunk slide down the hill and take the tractor (and Lee) with it!


It might not be possible, but I want to try and use part of the trunk to make a bench. I have seen them where a wedge, one quarter of the circumference is removed and then legs or saved portions of branches are used to fashion a bench. I don't know if I'm capable of fashioning one that is comfortable or at least usable, but I think it would be fun to try. I have some wood carving tools I would like to use and surely there is enough wood to sand out any errors, or chainsaw any errors, and try again! I'll let you know.


After 4 years of living here, I have finally worn out my leather gloves. I thought I could keep using them, but the middle finger is worn through and every time I threw a log on the truck it scraped my finger. So out with the old and in with the new. As for the title of this piece, I will have you know that that is the comment Lee made when he saw how much work this little project was going to be. So all of you shaking your heads and commenting on my lack of decorum, shame on you :-)!

Mug Rugs

Even though I no longer work at the library, I don't want to lose the friends I have made there. Doris is a crafter and former co-worker and we both wanted to take a class at the Trinity School House Quilt Shop. They were not offering quilt classes until next year, so last Saturday we took a wool felt applique class to make mug rugs. I have done some applique, but it sounded like fun and I'm glad I went.

Now what, you might ask, is a mug rug. Well, it seems that they are something along the lines of a coaster for hot drinks, you know, those in mugs. The pattern book we purchased for the class had a lot of rustic type patterns for different seasons and themes, but our kits for the class were for the snowman. It had these little fingers all around the out side of the circle and then we were to cut out rounds of red felt to attach to the fingers. It makes for a rather unwieldy mug rug, but that was the pattern.

I learned some tricks to make applique go faster and easier. If you trace the pattern onto freezer paper, you can iron it to the felt and it will stay in place while you cut out the pattern. You can even peel it off and reuse it a few times. We also learned about Steam A Seam (SAS). You trace and cut out the pattern on the SAS and then remove the backing and steam it onto the fabric. After cutting out the pattern, you remove the remaining paper and it leaves a thin layer of glue that doesn't become permanent until you steam in onto the fabric. You don't have to pin it to the fabric and then stitch it in place. It goes a lot faster and doesn't move around and is very cool. Because of the rustic nature of the pattern, I didn't have to worry about perfect even stitches and that was very freeing and made the project go a lot faster.

After a morning of camaraderie and lots of tracing and cutting we all came away with a partially completed snowman and an extra kit to make another at home. I wasn't fond of the fingers all around so I left them off and had extra red and black felt. Enough to make two more rugs. I didn't quite have enough cream colored felt for another face, so I covered the gap with a red scarf. Then I had to do some hats in red and I changed the stick nose for a carrot and added a pipe. I was thinking about adding a black hatband, but I ran out of oomph.




Plus, once the rugs are in use, you can't see the face anyway. I could just cut up black felt and be done with it. Of course, where's the fun in that!

So I put them all together and they are kind of cute. If I was a better artist or had some cute patterns, I might make some more. That is, if I heard from various children that they were dying to have a mug rug of their very own. And they told me the theme they wanted. I DO want to try making a tea cozy.




Here's the thing about black felt, though. People with white cats should not use it. For any reason. And that's all I'll say about that.

Nashville Night in Buchanan

One of the really cool things about living in or near a small town is the community spirit. Most weeks there is a fund raiser of some sort. We've gone to meals to fund missions and bake and yard sales to help out families with medical problems. Last night it was a fund raiser to help the Food Pantry. There are a lot of people in Botetourt that live paycheck to paycheck and an unexpected expense that can mean a little belt tightening to us may mean no food on the table for them. The Food Pantry fills a real need here and helps a lot of families.

So when our neighbor, Rose called and told us about a fundraiser we thought it was a good idea. We love the historic Buchanan Theater and there was to be a concert there called Nashville Night in Buchanan. Now I love country music and thought it might be a pleasant evening with friends for a good cause. It turned out to be so much more than that.

There were four young men up on the small stage with guitars and stools. (Well, one man complained of being 35 and creaky. Seriously? Suck it up buddy. You are in the prime and it goes downhill from here!) It was not a polished performance with light shows and pyrotechnics. It was four hot young songwriters from Nashville that had come here with a friend from Buchanan, Matt Ramsey. (Hometown boy makes good and comes back to help the local Food Pantry.) They were relaxed and easy to listen to and when they forgot a lyric they laughed and hummed and kept on going. Matt Ramsey pointed out that if you remember all the words to all the songs you wrote, you weren't writing enough songs! They had all collaborated in different combinations with each other on songs and went down the line picking a favorite they had written. They told funny or touching or just plain interesting stories on the songs and what they were thinking when they were written. Quite a few of them were currently being produced with top performers and it was fun to get a sneak peak of some wonderful new songs. It was so good.

The four young men were Matt Ramsey, Trevor Rosen, Matt Jenkins and Josh Osborne. Remember those names. I am the type of listener that likes to read the liner notes on an album. OK. THAT ages me. Are they still called albums? Nonetheless, I like to see who wrote the song or who played what instrument. Now I will have some more names to look for.

After hearing of their writing retreats and some of the collaboration that goes on in the Nashville music scene, I think that following these young men would be a better reality show than that of the Kardashians. Let's hear about some talented people making good decisions for a change. Could a show about the positive work? I don't know, but I sure would like to see someone try that. Wish I knew Ryan Seacrest.

Apple Butter

Our daughter Trista was supposed to come for a visit. She lives in England and we rarely see her so we had a fun-filled month of activities jam-packed into three days. We were going to go apple picking at a local apple farm and then make stuff with the fresh picked apples. I had enough plans for many people over many days, but we would manage to fit it all in to 3 days!!!

So of course, Trista got sick and had to cancel her flight. In the meantime, her sister Tara had traded days with a co-worker and had plans to come and enjoy the visit with Trista. So Lee, Tara and I had all the fun ourselves in a frenzy of enjoyment and gluttony.

After a morning spent picking apples in a mostly picked over orchard, we came home and tried to peel and core them with my handy dandy machine that I got in California and had used many times for pies and cakes and mostly for peeled apple slices for the day care kids I watched. When I pulled it out, one of the three prongs that hold the apples in place was broken and when I tried to use it with just the two and a half left, one more broke off. How did the metal get weaker over time? Perhaps one broke in our move and then the other two were unable to stand the strain. At any rate Tara and I had to peel and slice the apples by hand. Not a terrible ordeal, but it took longer than I had anticipated.

I used two or three recipes on crock pot apple butter and here is what we used.

Crock Pot Apple Butter

10 cups finely chopped apples
2 1/2 cups sugar I used a mix of granulated and brown
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

I mixed everything in the crock pot and turned to high for one hour and then low for the rest of the night. In the morning I tried to whisk it smooth, but then had to use the food mill to make it smooth enough.



We then canned the apple butter and it made 4 cups.
I absolutely couldn't let Tara leave with out trying my latest favorite appetizer.






White Chocolate, Brie and Marmalade Phyllo Cups.

It's easy peasy and so delicious.




First you can buy the phyllo cups and then chop up a bit of brie. Place 5 or 6 white chocolate chips in the bottom of the cups. Then a small portion of brie. Top it with a bit of orange marmalade and bake it in a 350 oven for 7 or 8 minutes.




Eating it is a timing issue. You want it warm enough to have the brie all melty and gooey and yet not so hot as to burn the roof of your mouth. The crispness of the phyllo adds just the right bite. I may have to try them with brie and caramelized onions and maybe some sweet hot mustard! I hate being on a low carb diet!

The Glebe, Rena and Genealogy

Rena is a co-worker of mine at the Fincastle Library. She loves, loves, loves genealogy. I think she likes dead people because they can no longer disappoint you. She helps people from all over the United States find members of their family from long ago. She also helps people trying to get into the DAR even though she thinks it's silly to brag about something over which you have no control or responsibility.

That being said, she also loves to go to various groups and teach them how to do the research they need to flesh out (or leaf out) their family trees! For the last month or so she has been going to our local senior living gem, The Glebe. It is a large complex similar to the San Clemente Villas where my mother is living. They have libraries, restaurants and a multitude of activities for the residents. Rena has been giving classes in genealogy research to a group and the culmination was a visit to the Genealogy Room in the Fincastle Library.

Now, I don't know how Rena does this. She has several groups a year in to tour and use our resources. She always manages to have a nice buffet table of delicious food and a modicum of decor to match. One thing you have to know about Rena is that she does not cook. Not ever. Except microwave coffee...blecch. It is something about which she is most vocal. So while Rena sits in her blue throne at the front desk of the library she has her minions do the work. And by minions, I include Paige who is the HEAD LIBRARIAN. Paige and I bake, Doris and Cathy organize and decorate and Rena gets the kudos. (Insert surprised and amazed face here!)

So The Glebe crowd loved the food and thanked Rena as they all filtered out.




As I was the scone baker, I was very pleased to hear the conversation between a husband and wife as they left the library. She was either much younger or just in better shape than he was. I got stuck behind him in our hallway as he stopped many times to breathe heavily and rest. She kept urging him on because the bus from The Glebe had come to pick them up. As he walking slowly out the door, I heard him complain, "But I want another scone." I wish I had thought fast enough to grab one and take it to him. Next time we should include doggie bags.

I spent the last week in California to visit my mother. It was great to go back and see her, but I can't say I miss California any more. I tried all the restaurants that aren't in Virginia and that I miss. The food was great, but not as great as I had built it up in my mind. The traffic was crazy right from the get go. I got in around 11 AM on a Thursday and already all lanes (6?) were busy. Not packed and at a standstill like they would be later in the day, but still busy. There was concrete everywhere you looked and all night I could hear people talking and laughing outside the window. What a great relief to return to our beautiful green valley and the peace and quiet of our hilltop home.

I stayed with my friend Marcy in Laguna Niguel. She has hosted me so many times and won't take any money for it, so I try to do something nice for her each visit. This time she was working at the Orange International Food Fair in the city of Orange. It is a big event with around 450,000 people over the three days and she needed help. Instead she got me!

We demonstrated the hair clips that she sells and sold quite a few. Women are thrilled to find a non-plastic hair clip that is pretty, strong and easy, so that part was fun. You can check out her website at lillarose.biz\marcy The non-fun parts involved the heat, the intense noise from the various bands, although they had a lot of good bands and the port-a-potties we were expected to use. Portable potties in the sun after 10 hours of people drinking beer? Oh, I think not. We took turns buying food we didn't have time to eat just to go into a restaurant and use their bathrooms! We met one lady who was with the Elks Lodge nearby and she kindly let us use their bathrooms. GO ELKS!

It seems their is an unspoken law of street vendors. They give a discount to other street vendors. So we were able to get some fabulous olive oils and balsamic vinegars at a nice price. When my bags went through security at John Wayne airport they must have been concerned with the amount of liquids I had in my suitcase as they opened them after X-rays! I got them home safe and they will make some nice meals for us. I will have to go back to the store in Irvine when I next visit my mother. The store is 41 Olive or www.41olive.com They have a lot of wonderful oils and vinegars. I bought loved all I tasted and ended up with the Tuscan Herb Olive Oil and Persian Lime Olive Oil with the 18 year old Balsamic Vinegar. You can really taste the herbs and the lime and the vinegar is dark and sweet and wonderful. It was the centerpiece of my first dinner back and we may have more like this soon!





Mom is happy at the Villas and it was fun to see her again. One of the reasons I am quitting the library is to have more time to go see her. I don't know how many more years she will have and I want to see her as much as I can. I can't convince her to move here, so I have to step up the visits there.

I hope I can convince Marcy to visit here. I may have to find a festival of some sort to get her to come. I am not sure she will want or need my help, but I may go along just for the backstage look into the life of a street vendor!