Good morning.
It’s a rainy morning here. So made me in the mood for baking. So homemade biscuits and why not some sausage gravy!

Biscuits are so easy to make.
The key is cold ingredients!

Dough is sticky so make sure you have extra flour on hand to help work it.

Ingredients-
3 cups of all purpose flour
3 T sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp of cream of tartar
3/4 c cold butter cut in small bits
      (You can freeze your butter and grate it)
1 egg cold
1 c cold whole milk (you can use buttermilk but will need a tad bit more since it is thicker)

Sift you dry ingredients together. Sometimes I just mix them with a whisk to save time of sifting.

Add your butter and cut in with a pastry blender or two forks. You want small bits the size of peas of butter in your flour mixture.

Then add egg and milk and blend together. Don’t over mix your dough. You don’t want the butter to soften up or melt.

Flour your pastry board or counter and flip out your dough onto it. Work the dough aka knead a bit like 10-12 kneads. Roll or use your hands to press out dough to 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thickness. Cut out your biscuits with a biscuit cutter. If you don’t have one use the rim of a glass.

Place the cut biscuits into a parchment lined or lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees F for 10-12 minutes.

Remove from oven and brush tops with some melted butter if you like.

So tasty and flakey.

They go perfect with gravy but don’t forget jelly or jam too.

Quiche- fancy word for an omelet in pie form. 😋

Don’t let it intimidate you.
You don’t have to make your crust from scratch. You can buy pre made crust. I just enjoy making mine from scratch.

My basic pie crust recipe is:
1 1/2 c all purpose flour
1 T sugar
1 tsp salt
1 stick (8T) of butter cold
5-7 T of ice cold water

I sift the the dry ingredients together.
Then I cut my butter into cubes and add to flour mixture. I add 1 Tbs of iced water at a time and do what is called cutting in with my pastry blender but you can use two forks. You want to work the mixture until your butter is incorporated and small bits like tiny peas.

I work the dough together into a disc and wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.

I pull it out and lightly flour my board and roll it out to and 1/8 to a 1/4 inch thick. Place in my pie dish and create my edges. If my egg mixture isn’t ready I place the crust in the dish back in fridge. This keeps the butter cold in your crust. When butter melts in the baking process, the steam that is created will help cause a flakey crust! 🙂

When making the egg quiche mixture, I tend to make it with I have on hand. So whatever your heart desires.

I normally use 8 large size eggs and 1/2 c half and half or whole milk. I beat that together.

Now is where you decide what is in your quiche.

Always remember to add a bit of salt and pepper. It will need it.

I like to sauté any veggies that I put in my quiche a bit so they aren’t hard crunchy bits in my quiche.

You can put meat in your quiche but you need to cook and drain it first before mixing into your egg mixture.

Quiche needs cheese! 🧀
I use at least a cup to a cup and a half of cheese in mine then a bit extra to sprinkle on top.

I bake mine at 375 degrees F for 40 minutes.
It is done when top is golden brown and firm and not jiggly.

I let mine sit once removed from the oven for 10 minutes before cutting.

They are great for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I like to serve a mixed greens salad with mine.

Share your quiche pictures below!

Miss me?

Starting next week you will start seeing new posts!

I missed sharing my love of cooking and baking with you.

See you next week!

Dark Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Having changed my way of eating a little over a month ago to Keto/Low Carb, I still have my weakness for all things chocolate. When making changes in life, there is going to be moments where you want to throw in the towel because you either aren’t seeing positive results fast enough or your cravings are over the top and you just cave in. 

NO GUILT HERE!!!

I am here to tell you, that you can indulge with these beauties.

I used Lily’s no sugar added chocolate chips. 

For those that aren’t familiar with these morsels of Heaven, they are vegan, non GMO, stevia sweetened. They melt like regular chips too.

With this recipe, I made a small batch because as I stated above I LOVE Chocolate!

I don’t want to completely throw everything I have worked hard to achieve the weight loss I have had so far. 

So for this complicated recipe...just kidding.

Ingredients

1/2 c Lily Dark Chocolate Chips 

2 Tsp coconut oil 

Strawberries 

Directions

Melt chocolate chips and coconut oil in microwave for 45 seconds

Stir until smooth and then dip strawberries and place on parchment lined baking sheet.

 Place in the refrigerator until chocolate hardens. Then by all means indulge in their tasty goodness.

As you can see my sweet Lea was begging for one but it is a No No for doggies. 

I still love you baby girl.

Rhubarb Custard Pie...Oh my!

Having truly not made a point in being a rhubarb fan, the only time I ever tasted it was in strawberry rhubarb jam. Knowing that my dad enjoys rhubarb, I wanted to make him something special for father's day (early).

I had a great friend, Jerry Carden, share with me his late Swedish Grandmother's Rhubarb Custard pie recipe. I am always game to try making something new. I also thought this was the perfect opportunity to actually try tasting something out of my comfort zone.

Much to my surprise, it was actually tasty. The recipe is definitely a keeper in my book. I also heard this morning that my dad decided to have a late night snack last night. You guessed it...a piece of rhubarb custard pie!

Rhubarb Custard Pie

 Ingredients-
4 c rhubarb, cut up (I diced mine up)
1 c white sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
4 T flour
Pinch of salt
10 inch pie shell
2 eggs slightly beaten
1 1/4 c cream or milk (I used half n half)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
 Butter (to dollop on top)

Directions-
Place rhubarb in pie shell. Cream eggs, flour and sugar. Add cream or milk, salt and spices. Dot top with butter. Bake at 350 degrees F.  for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until custard is set. 

Apparently today I found out it is good with ice cream per Jerry's email. Refrigerate any of the pie that isn't devoured. 

I have to confess, I might put a little tweak on this recipe and create a crumble for the top. Hope you take a step into the uncomfortable zone and try this pie even if you don't like rhubarb.

Enjoy.  
 

Garden Vegetable Salad

When I was younger, I had the pleasure of working at the local golf course back home. I started out working in the pro shop as an assistant then I moved into helping out with junior golf instruction. After going off to college and returning home, I enjoyed the golf course atmosphere so much that I decided to keep working there during the Spring, Summer and Fall.

While working there, I had the pleasure of helping out in the restaurant. I learned a lot of delicious recipes and learned a few tips here and there. One recipe that I remember making for banquets was a salad that originally was called Cauliflower salad. I have since switched out some of the ingredients. That isn't to say the original wasn't terrific.

Here is my version of the Cauliflower Salad that is now called...

Garden Vegetable Salad

Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower broken into florets
1 head of broccoli broken into florets
1 yellow bell pepper chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 green bell pepper chopped
1/2 a sweet onion chopped (you can substitute green spring onions approx 6)
1 c of frozen peas
5 strips of bacon cooked and crumbled (optional)
1/2 c of shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
1 1/2 c of light mayo
1/2 c grated parmesan cheese
1/8 c white sugar
dash of pepper
4 T red wine vinegar (I use pomegranate infused red wine vinegar- adds a fruity background flavor)

Directions

In a large bowl (you will need a large bowl trust me)  toss all your veggies and added optional bacon and cheese.

In a medium bowl, mix together mayo, parmesan cheese, sugar and vinegar.

Now toss the dressing mixture in with the veggies and chill for about 30 minutes before serving. As the salad sits, it will marinate even more.

I must confess, I could eat a huge bowl of this tasty goodness. Sure the dressing could probably be modified to something more healthy but I like it.

Back in the day at the restaurant, they used to add chopped lettuce to the mixture as well. I find that if this sits for too long the lettuce gets really mushy.

Ham Salad

Do you have some leftover ham and can't imagine eating another sandwich?

How about whipping up some ham salad!

Ham Salad

Ingredients
3 1/2 c ground ham (fully cooked)
2 hard boiled eggs chopped
3 T finely chopped celery
4 tsp pickle relish (I used dill)
3 tsp finely chopped onion
1 1/4 c mayonnaise
1 T prepared yellow mustard

Directions
Mix all ingredients together and chill.
Enjoy on your favorite cracker or sandwich bread. Oh what the heck grab a spoon!