Just A Note

 

“Follow your soul it knows the way”

Hello!

what’s new?

Well…pull up a chair.

 

It’s Autumn, and there’s magic in the air.

Trees are ablaze

 

 

sunlight glitters like golden coins.

 

 

 

 I sometimes hear cheers from the local high school football stadium and school playing fields.

 

Children (and adults😉) anticipating Halloween with their creative ways of wearing costumes

and the fun transformation come Halloween night.🎃

 

 

Here on the coast it often begins raining right about Halloween time and the tantalizing scent of wood smoke, pumpkin spice, apple crisp is a wonderful welcome.

 

 

 

For me this time of year means that I start experiencing a different kind of living here which includes…

 

 

frequenting a drive into the city to enjoy window displays inspired by the season

then…

 

returning back to the coast

and slowing down to enjoy the coziness of cottage living again.

I’m thinking Autumn just might be my favorite time of the year.

 well at least for now anyway.

🍁What about you?🍁

I recently asked Joe for ideas of what I should prepare this week (Translated to what would he like to eat) 😉and he suggested a Harvest Quiche. great idea!…Thanks Joe! I could write a whole other Blog post on the comedy of errors that went into preparing it. What I will say is just make sure that you have a quiche pan. (I forgot I didn’t bring mine from California and in the middle of prep work had to run out and purchase one)

There are many quiche recipes to choose from and I ended up trying one I found on Culinary Ginger. I followed the recipe exactly except for the comedy of error thing~y mentioned. (which means it took me a little longer than the 1 hr. 15 min. to prepare) 😉 It’s a fabulous recipe and I look forward to making it again. and so does Joe!🍁

 

AUTUMN HARVEST QUICHE

Prep Time 35 min.

Cook Time 40 min.

Total Time 1 hr. 15 min.

Ingredients

For the pastry:

2 cups flour plus 1/4 cup for rolling out pastry

1 cup unsalted butter cubed and kept cold until ready to use

small pinch of salt

1/4 cup cold water

Filling:

3 slices bacon cut into bite-size pieces

1 ounce mushrooms cut into bite-size pieces

1 leek white part only, cleaned and cut into small pieces

1 tablespoon fresh sage chopped

1/2 cup butternut squash cut into small cubes and boiled for 5 minutes

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

4 eggs

1/4 cup whole milk

small pinch nutmeg

1/4 cup cheddar cheese grated

Parmesan cheese freshly grated

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

 

Pastry:

I don’t have a food processor so I just worked everything by hand until fine breadcrumbs and then slowly added water to form a ball. Kneaded a little to make smooth and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

 

Filling:

In a saute pan, cook the bacon over medium heat. Drain & set aside. Keep bacon fat in pan.

 

 

Return the pan over medium heat and add the mushrooms & leek to the bacon fat.

 

 

Cook until softened.

 

 

Stir in the sage, butternut squash to the eggs and mix well. Stir in the cheese. Set aside. Remove the pastry from the refrigerator & roll out onto a floured surface, larger than the quiche pan.

 

 

Roll the pastry over the rolling pin & line into a 9 inch round tart pan pressing the bottom firmly and the sides allowing the pastry to hang over the sides. Do not stretch dough.

 

 

Cover the pastry in parchment paper and fill the center with dried beans or uncooked rice. Bake the crust for 10 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and remove the foil and beans or rice. Remove the excess crust from over the edges to make it look pretty.

 

 

Return the crust back to the oven for 5 more minutes until it starts to brown. Remove from the oven. Allow the crust to cool for a couple of minutes then pour in the egg mixture almost to the top. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

 

 

Bake for 20-25 minutes until set and golden brown.

 

 

🍂I served the quiche with a small salad and added a few grapes.🍁

 

 

Enjoy!