Thanks, Uncle Donnie!

So, it finally happened for me the other day. I've been waiting for it to happen. I've heard other people swear that it happened for them. I thought it had happened for me once or twice before this, but I wasn't really sure. But it finally happened for me and I am sure of it. I finally cooked something really incredible without a recipe. And, after almost ten years in the kitchen, I finally feel like I really know how to cook on my own.

Here's how it happened exactly. I had some left over creamed spinach, but who wants to heat up left over creamed spinach? I don't care how much you love creamed spinach, it's not something you eat reheated. Blah.

So, I thought to myself, "What can I do with this? Is there anything I can do with this?" And, it just came to me. Just like that! All the years of experience paid off in that one moment. I decided to mix it into a quiche. Somehow I just knew it would work perfectly.

And, upon studying quiche recipes on Google, it turns out that what is in a batch of creamed spinach is just about the same thing that you find in a quiche (minus the eggs and just a little more milk and whatever other ingredients, like bacon and cheese and tomatoes, that you may or may not want in a quiche to suit your taste).

But anyway, I added some eggs and some milk (little by little) and then some feta cheese (cause that goes with garlic and spinach and onions in Greek food all the time) and I poured the mixture into a premade pie crust (after I defrosted it and put it in a glass pie pan, of course) and I baked it till a knife in the middle came out clean and Viola! I made one of the best quiches that I've ever even tasted! And, I did it without a recipe!!!

So, I am happy to tell you that if you ever have some left over creamed spinach, you can add it to a quiche the next day and have yourself a beautiful meal.

Here's the recipe. (I made it up myself.)

Approx. 1 1/2 cup leftover creamed spinach
Approx. 1/2 cup milk
4 eggs
Approx. 1 cup feta cheese

Mix all this together and then pour this into a premade pie crust. (The kind of pie crust that you find in the grocery store where they also sell the premade biscuits. You have to follow the directions on the box, but basically you just thaw it out, unroll it and then press it into a pie pan.) Bake this at 425 degrees for about thirty minutes or until a butter knife inserted in the center comes out clear.

Serve it with fruit for breakfast or salad for lunch. Yum!

Disclaimer: I can't remember where I got this idea, otherwise I would credit the source... But, Norah and I have started a "The best part of today..." book.


When I found this idea online somewhere (like I said, I can't remember where I found it), I also saw some samples of these little books made with gorgeous craft paper and ribbons and stickers and stamps, etc. But, we are just using a little, blank diary my sister, Aunt Loretta, bought Norah years ago.


The plan is to write one sentence, just one... that expresses the best part of Norah's day, something Norah is most thankful for right then, etc. And, my vow is to let Norah pick what she writes, no matter how absurd, juvenile, silly or insignificant it seems to be to me. That way, in almost every way (besides the fact that I helped her spell the words) this book will belong to her.


Note: I may or may not share some of Norah's future entries in this book with you guys on here. I guess it depends on how sacred this little book becomes to her.

Can I just tell you that I bought this dress for $1?! That's right. $1! I am in love with thrift stores... so in love that I may never even go to Old Navy again. Seven dollars for one size 2T dress is outrageous anyway! Outrageous, I say!

You know that world where people used to live, the one that you read about in books where people were sensible about things and thought it was as crazy as it really is to spend a lot of money on stuff that doesn't really matter... I feel like I have finally found that world and it's the world of thrift!

Clothes really don't matter, after all. So why should they ever account for more than a fraction of the money I spend? I mean, look at this little girl. There is no label on the inside of her dress that you would recognize, but she is arrayed as beautifully as the lilies of the field and I didn't strive or worry for her dress one bit.

"Do not worry about your life: what you will eat, what you will drink, what you will wear..."

My six year old daughter didn't go to school today, but she:

Slept late. It was a peaceful, foggy, rainy morning.

Let her baby sister crawl into bed with her, snuggle, giggle and play for almost half an hour.

Had a homemade breakfast of hot, old-fashioned oatmeal and a cold clementine.

Painted a platter of salt dough she mixed, shaped and baked the day before.


Discovered that if she mixes red and blue she gets purple.

Cleaned up after herself.

Took three weeks worth of spelling tests.


Read silently for over an hour on the couch while her sister took an early nap. The house was totally quiet except for the rain hitting the roof.

The books I saw her reading were,

Archeologists Dig For Clues

Snakes

Aladdin and Other Tales from the Arabian Nights

Twister on Tuesday

Tornadoes

There were other books that I didn't see.

Poured her own cranberry juice and drank it.

Took this math test and did pretty well.


Cleared off the table and wiped it off after lunch.

Cleaned off her little sister's hands and face after lunch and then helped her down out of the high chair with more kisses and giggles.

Helped me fold and put away clean clothes.

...And that's just what she did by 1pm.

Another one of Avril's recent fascinations: zippers. But, she is better at getting them unzipped than getting them zipped back up.