Water dogs and Cat food...

So, how was your weekend?  Mine was delightful, except it ended with a leaky kitchen sink drain, after which it re-ended with a leaky roof.  I did not get a lot of sleep last night, and then did not get the sink fixed before my authors' meeting with Cat, which wouldn't ordinarily cause much problem, but this was a week I promised to feed her lunch.  I actually could have fixed the drain before she arrived, but I had to choose between that and my morning meditation/prayer time.  I chose perspective over plumbing.  Trust me, it's a better day for all concerned, that way.

Monterey Quiche:  Dice 1 medium onion and saute in butter over low heat, while you...Make a basic pie crust with 1 c. flour, 1/4 c. cold butter, quick mixed to crumbs, then combined with a tablespoon or so of water.  Roll dough thin and line quiche pan.  Grate 1/2 pound Jack cheese and put on top of crust.  Top cheese with the onions and two little cans of mild whole green chilies, chopped coarse (better texture than the diced ones).  Mix together 4 eggs, 1 and 1/4 cup milk, a tsp or so of cumin, and about the same of oregano.  Pour the egg mixture over the cheese and chilies.  If you are using a regular pie plate, leave out one egg and 1/4 c. milk.  Bake at 375 degrees for 45-60 minutes.

Luckily, I had just finished washing the dishes and polishing up the kitchen, last night, when I smacked the compost bucket a little too hard into the chrome covered piece of rust once known as the drain pipe.  Unluckily, the local hardware store had closed ten minutes earlier.

Luckily, there is a powder room with a teeny-tiny sink just off of the kitchen.  Luckily I had only planned a simple quiche and cold fruit soup.  Unluckily, this meant chopping onions with no running water handy, and then because the oniony cutting board wouldn't really fit in the bathroom sink, alternative dealings with super-juicy honeydew melon, and worse...the dreaded mangoes.  John DeMers once said that the only proper place to eat a mango is in the bathtub.  Below a waterfall, on a surfboard, or at the end of a diving board must not have occurred to him, though perhaps he considered those improper.

Because the fruit was beautifully ripe, I was able to halve it and scoop it from it's shells, rather than my usual slicing-then-peeling, while chasing the juice back from the edges of the cutting surface.  It worked pretty well, except for the scraping-the-bits-from-the-mango-pit part of the operation, but that was to be expected, and the floor wasn't unbearably sticky. 

While the quiche baked and the soup chilled, Cat and I went over the progress on 365 Being, the magazine we're debuting September 1st.  We figured out our next steps, agreed on website colors, got to discussing recipes, and remembered the quiche in the nick of time!  I had been making the soup when Cat arrived, and caught up in greetings, I forgot the mint, but it grows just outside the back gate, so I grabbed two sprigs, shredded the bottom leaves, and stuffed it in the glasses, then got the quiche to the table before it got too cold (though cold is fine, when it comes to quiche) 

Mango-melon soup:  In a blender, puree 1 quart of strawberries, two peeled and seeded mangoes, and one medium honeydew melon, also peeled and seeded   Do it in batches, pouring into a large pitcheror serving bowl.  With the last batch of fruit, toss in a handful of mint leaves, about 2 tsp cinnamon, a teaspoon of nutmeg, and a splash of sherry.  If you have a frozen red juice on hand, like apple-cranberry, or raspberry, toss in a scoop of that.  Stir well to combine everything in the pitcher, and chill. 

• Serve in tall glasses as smoothies, with a mint sprig garnish...
• Or in soup bowls as a first course, with a dollop of really good vanilla yogurt and fresh mint leaves strewn on top...
• or from a punchbowl with the mint floating in it, in the little punch cups that no one uses for any real drink.  The flavor of this is best with super-ripe fruit, and a few hours to chill.

Cat loved the fruit soup and the quiche. She was especially impressed by the caramelized onions in the quiche. Want to know my secret? Put the onions on to saute, while making the crust. Turn them low, then get sidetracked by the telephone, after which you wander through the living room and pick up a few stray bits of paper, which fortunately need to go in the recycling bin, which will bring you back to the kitchen, just in time to rescue the onions. Doesn't work every time, but when it does...heaven.

We ate, we talked, and Cat asked me about the rest of my day.  "Oh the usual, (Artgirl) Faithie's class, find a roofer, fix the kitchen drain, whip up a blog with the qui...uh-oh."
 
As I sat with both hands over my mouth, eyes wide, Cat asked in alarm "What?"
"The quiche is the blog post." slipped between my fingers.
"Aaand?"
"I forgot to take a picture."

So, as usual, I missed the money shot.  Though I will not be sought out by gourmet publications for my food photography, I think I covered for the missing slices passably well, if a bit unfocused.  Probably won't be sought out for my simple food, either, though I do cook well enough that the recipes are sought out by my friends.  Okay, so it's not nearly as pretty as it was, all puffed and golden, fresh from the oven, WHOLE, but it's super easy, and really good.  I hope you'll try it, and the soup/smoothie. 

And by the way, basic plumbing is also dead easy, and doing your own will save you serious bucks, so try that, too.  Six dollars at the hardware store, ten minutes under the sink, and you're ready for mango-cheese clean-up.  Ah, the fun you can have with the money you save...or the shingles.  Sigh.  Wishing you a dry week.

I'll be woodgraining doors this week, if the weather will cooperate, so check back here Thursday night to see this elegant upgrade to metal garage doors.  Also working on some art and bits for the magazine, and we'll start sharing peeks soon!

If you have questions or comments, leave them below, or email me at dawnmariedelara@gmail.com

You can also check out my portfolio of paint possibilities at theartofthehome.com.