the best quiche i never had

Last Sunday, the beau and I decided to take a walk to the neighborhood discount retail store. I came across a really good deal on some porcelain tart pans, but hesistated a moment before deciding to purchase them.

“What would I use them for, really? I mean, it’s not like I’m gonna make a bunch of tarts anytime soon.”

“Ooh! you could make a quiche,” beau replied, then went on to extol the wonders of various quiches he used to make and enjoy.

I for one can’t stomach scrambled egg dishes, but I love a great cookware deal. Plus, when I saw the delighted anticipation on beau’s face, I caved. I’m a sucker for anyone that appreciates my cooking.

That day, I broke in one of the pans with my first quiche ever. I had some fresh spinach, mushrooms and broccoli florets leftover in the fridge from a meal earlier in the week, and 2 or 3 mostly empty bags of shredded cheese. With a few pointers from my handy go-to kitchen bible, “How To Cook Everything“, I turned out what was apparently a very tasty dish (I didn’t taste it myself, but beau raved about it and polished most of the thing off before kickoff that afternoon).

This past weekend, my good friend Regina had her annual holiday ladies’ gathering at her house. This year’s theme was ‘tea and crumpets’, and guests were invited to bring a ‘crumpet’ to share. I’ll give you one guess what I brought.

I made one quiche to share with the ladies and another for beau to eat while he watched the Falcons try to make the playoffs. This time the dish was a double success. Within 20 minutes after setting it on the ‘crumpet’ table, all but one slice was gone. And a few minutes after that, I got the following text message from beau:

this quiche is sooo frickin’ delicious!

If you say so.

Here’s the recipe (some approximations):

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the procrastinator’s christmas gift list

What a shocker! It’s little more than a week ’til Christmas, and I haven’t even begun my shopping. But I’ve at least come up with a list that should help me (and any of you other procrastinators) pick out suitable gifts for my friends and family, based on their own little idiosyncracies.

Everything is under $100, with most being well under $50. Plus, everything can be ordered online. And even if your gifts don’t arrive in time for Christmas, you can always tell ‘em it’s a Kwanzaa gift.

Ready? Here goes:

 
THE MIDDLE EASTERN FOODIE

 

THE HOLIDAY BOOZER

candy cane shot glasses

 

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WMDs – yes virginia, they do exist

I had lunch with a friend a while back, and at the end of our meal we both lamented returning to our respective okiyas.

Me to friend: “You know, I really wish I was at the point where I wasn’t doing any work, but just telling others what to do. I mean, what’s the point of having a Manager title if you still have to do all the work yourself?”

Friend to me: “Yeah, plus at my gig when you’re a manager, you get a Blackberry. You can tell who all the managers are, because they have their Blackberries.”

Scrrreeeech. Pump the brakes.

Nah. Uh-uh. Though I sometimes covet all the perqs that come along with being in ‘upper management’, that Blackberry thing is where I draw the line. If I never get assigned a Blackberry for my entire career, it’d be too soon. By some miracle, I’ve avoided having to carry one of those detestable devices so far, and I’d be willing to sacrifice as many farm animals as needed to the gods of all things electronic to keep the trend going until the day after forever.

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my other favorite dorothy – a song, a film, a book

Everyone who knows me know how much I love Dorothy Dandridge, but not too many know of my love for the other Dorothy.

I suppose it all started with one of my favorite Prince B-sides, The Ballad of Dorothy Parker. I couldn’t have been more than 11 years old when I first heard it, and the song just struck me as even weirder than most of the others on the Sign o’ the Times album. At that time, I didn’t even know what a ballad was (I remember having to look it up in my big dictionary, you know…like we did before the internet), but I loved, loved, loved that song. Everytime I listened to it, I could envision Prince eating fruit cocktail and taking a bath with his pants on, while flirting coyly with some dishwater blond named Dorothy Parker who could throw him and everyone else in the ‘violent room’ off their game with just a few choice words. Oh, how I wanted to be Dorothy Parker.

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my thanksgiving staycation – finale, roll credits

Videodrome – Where Have You Been All My Life?
I’m a little ashamed to admit that I’ve lived in this city for the better part of 13 years, and my first visit to Videodrome was just last week. I’ve driven by the place hundreds of times and always wondered what might lie on the other side of the door. But that big, blue bald-headed figure with the VHS-tape eyes that’s painted on the building always creeped me out a bit. Kinda reminded me of those pale bald guys from the movie Dark City who walked around issuing the ominous command ‘sleeeeep‘. Of course the fact that I know and like the movie Dark City should’ve been motivation enough for me to go in… but hey, what can I say? Real-life creepy is more daunting than the celluloid kind.

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Flip – fresh, hot, small, hip

The concept of Flip is fairly simple – burgers, sides, and shakes – American classics that everyone can identify with. But when the creative consultant behind the concept is local celebrity chef, Richard Blais, you can expect the simple classics to have some very modern updates.

Located on Howell Mill just past Chattahoochee Avenue, Flip Burger Boutique looks and feels like a retro burger joint with Sex and the City flair. From the outside of the building, large windows reveal a dimly lit dining space with patrons swathed in flattering candlelight. The interior aesthetic could be best described as a post-modern Johnny Rocket’s. Stark white predominates, highlighted by flashes of red and chrome. A bar flanks almost the entire length of the room, opposite a few cushy benches set into intimate alcoves. In the center of the space, two rows of adjoining high-top tables create a communal feel, which is ideal, since you’ll invariably be tempted to peek over to see which of Flip’s many gourmet burgers your neighbor settled on. At the rear of the restaurant is the open-air kitchen where you can observe two chefs feverishly churning out the goods.

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my thanksgiving staycation – part 4

Home for the Holidays – Tastes to be Thankful For

A sure sign that I’m getting old? The family entrusted me with the preparation of the turkey this year. Of course I couldn’t disappoint, so I ended up giving that bird more love than it had since it’d been born.

Fresh sage, thyme and rosemary from my little herb garden got finely chopped with some garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper and olive oil. This was rubbed all over the bird and under the skin. Before that, I threw a few charcoal on the grill, let them burn down to low heat and covered with hickory chips to get a good smoke going. The herb-rubbed bird got the smoke treatment for about 20 minutes, just to infuse with some flavor. Then I stuffed the cavity with celery stalks, a quartered onion, and a cut apple and put her in the oven. About halfway through the cooking time, birdy got doused regularly with a basting liquid composed of turkey stock (from a carcass i absconded from a party earlier in the week), more of the herb-garlic mixture, brown sugar, butter, and a touch of grade b maple syrup.

 

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my thanksgiving staycation – part 3

Dialog in the Dark
Later on that weekend, another group of friends and I decided to visit the experiential exhibit – Dialog in the Dark. I’d been hearing ads for the exhibit for weeks that billed Dialog in the Dark as a one-of-a-kind simulation of how it is to live as a visually impaired person in a very visual world. Curiosity finally got the best of me, and I had to check it out.

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