Author Archives: Nancy

HAM AND CHEESE QUICHE

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Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall

Humpty Dumpty had a great . . .

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big scary ski mask?

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What do you call a mischievous egg?

A practical yolker!

I found these hilarious egg cups on ebay.  I don’t know which is scarier — the ski masks for soft-boiled eggs, or the fact that someone actually made ski masks for soft-boiled eggs.  I’m pretty sure the day my husband comes home and finds me knitting ski caps for eggs is the day I get to start using my maiden name again.

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I can hardly wait to surprise the kids with these at breakfast on Easter morning.  It’ll give them something to share with their therapist some day.

Looking around the interwebs, I was surprised to find a lot of off-color versions of the Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme.  Today, however, all the king’s horses and all the king’s men are going to enjoy Ham and Cheese Quiche, inspired by these weird little eggheads.  This quiche is one of my son’s favorite dishes, and I’ve sent it along with many compassion meals.  Quiche is awesome — it’s breakfast, lunch, dinner, appetizer, a car, whatever you want it to be.  It’s simple as pie to make, and comes out great every time.  There are a gazillion versions of the basic recipe out there, but the proportion of eggs, lowfat milk, and half and half in this one results in a fluffy quiche that we like.  You can make your own crust, if you prefer, but like my friend once told me when I suggested she could make her own baby food, “Yeah, I could wash cloth diapers too, but that’s not gonna happen.”

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HAM AND CHEESE QUICHE
Author: 
Recipe type: Appetizer, Main Course
 
Ingredients
  • 1 refrigerated pie crust, thawed
  • 4 ounces smoked ham, chopped
  • 2 cups (8 ounces) grated Swiss cheese, divided use
  • 6 large eggs
  • ½ cup half and half
  • ½ cup lowfat milk
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon cayenne
  • ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Fit pie crust into a 9" deep dish pie plate. Fold edges under, and crimp decoratively. Bake for 7 minutes, then remove from oven and set aside. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
  2. Sprinkle ham and 1 cup cheese into prepared crust. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, half and half, milk, salt, cayenne, pepper, and nutmeg. Pour mixture into crust and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake until quiche is set, approximately 35 to 40 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

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Off to a great start

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 Ready for the oven

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 Real men DO eat quiche — trust me!

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 Quiche me, quick!

THIN MINT PEPPERMINT ICEBOX PIE

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006 (2)Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  If you ran short of time and didn’t get to make corned beef and cabbage, or soda bread, or stout cake, or any of the other gazillion Irish recipes that have been flooding inboxes for the past week (enough already!), you can still enjoy a little green without any fuss.  How about your very own St. Patrick’s Day parade with green animal crackers:

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Perhaps a green Snoball will bring you a little luck o’ the Irish on this day:

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If you want to make something quick, this Thin Mint Peppermint Icebox Pie fits the bill.  Although it needs to chill for about 2 hours, it comes together in no time.  If you didn’t get any Girl Scout Thin Mints this year, Keebler makes a nearly identical cookie called Grasshopper Fudge Mint Cookies.  Tint the pie as green as you’d like.

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THIN MINT PEPPERMINT ICEBOX PIE
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert
 
Ingredients
  • For the crust:
  • ¾ cup crushed Thin Mint cookies (approximately 1-1/2 sleeves)
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoon butter, melted
  • For the filling:
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
  • Green food coloring
  • 8-ounce carton frozen whipped topping, thawed, plus another ½ carton for spreading on top
Instructions
  1. To make the crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together crushed cookies and sugar in a medium bowl. Add melted butter and stir until thoroughly combined. Press mixture evenly into a deep dish pie plate. Bake for 8 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
  2. To make the filling: Place cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl, and using an electric mixer, beat until light and fluffy. Add peppermint extract and green food coloring and beat until thoroughly combined. Fold in 8-ounce carton whipped topping. Spoon the filling into the cooled crust. Top with additional ½ carton of whipped topping. If desired, decorate with halved or crushed Thin Mint cookies, sprigs of mint, and/or green sprinkles. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

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 Thin Mint cookie crust — the highest and best use of Girl Scout Thin Mints

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 Green enough?

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 Eat me, I’m Irish

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 Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!