Gingerbread

This is a NYT recipe, gleaned from thewednesdaychef. Modified for miniloafpans.

256 g cake flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
12 oz dark molasses (not blackstrap, used 'robust')
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350F. Heat water to boiling, add butter. In large bowl, whisk all dry ingredients. Butter and flour mini loaf pans. Add water/butter mixture to dry ingredients. Beat. Beat in beaten eggs. Beat in molasses. Divide among pans. I filled 5. Bake at least 30 minutes, until the fullest one tests done. Let cool. Serve with awesome homemade apple butter. Send to family with said applebutter and cheap honey.

Basic Quiche

My parents re-introduced me to quiche a few months back, after my brother requested quiche for his birthday. We're an odd family. :D They brought my boyfriend and me a housewarming quiche (lucky for me, it had shrimp in it so i got to eat it all!). Anyway, I realized how amazing, filling and fairly cheap quiche is, so I had to steal my dad's recipe.

Its loosely based on this recipe: Country Quiche. We adjust for a deep dish pie shell, generally store bought and frozen.

So basically:

• 1 9" deep dish pie shell, unbaked (prick all over with a fork)
• 6 eggs
• Splash of cream, half and half or milk
• 1 small onion, diced fine
• 1/4 lb bacon, diced
• 2 tbsp flour
• Salt and Pepper, to taste
• 4-6 oz cheese
• 1-2 cups veggies (whatever's on hand, whatever might be about to go bad)
• (optional) 1 4 oz. can green chilies, drained

Preheat the oven to 350F. In a small to medium skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon. If you like, drain off some of the fat (into a small container that you keep in the fridge. bacon grease is heavenly). I generally don't. Add the onion and cook til translucent. Add any vegetable that might benefit from cooking, such as spinach, mushrooms, etc. Some vegetables do better with blanching. If you've got those, blanch away, drain well, and blot dry. Cool bacon combination, and any vegetables you're using.

Combine eggs, milk and flour. Beat well. Season to taste, and add cheese. Add cooled bacon mixture and any vegetables. Stir well. Pour into pricked pie shell and bake for around 45 minutes, until quiche is set and top is lightly brown.

At this point, I cool it to room temperature, and put it in the fridge. I love cold quiche with a salad and cup of soup. So so good.

Today's combination will be:
bacon, onion, spinach, colby jack, chilies and 1/4 of a chopped tomato for a little bit of color.