Sunday, September 28, 2008

A Well Read Book

A well read book

I'm proud of my kids' love of reading, and of course, they have their favorites. This one has span both kids, and it's a shame it won't quite make it to the third kid. I'll probably tape it up and make it last a little longer, but there are pages that are torn too, so maybe it should go into well deserved retirement. In the meantime though, Sara will soldier on with the copy she has, and continue to read about aunt Annie's alligator, Silly Sammy Slick, and Young Yolanda Yorgenson a little longer.

Read on we shall!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Leftover Frittata

Maybe because I've seen it on a lot of food blogs lately, but I have been really wanting to make a frittata. It's relatively easy to make, the kids love eggs, and as I started to notice looking at various recipes, you basically just throw a bunch of stuff together and use the eggs as a binder to hold it together. It's like a casserole without the Midwestern church potluck vibe. So when I came home from work tonight to complaints of hungry kids, I decided to raid the fridge and make something up.

Leftover Frittata

As you can see, it's a bunch of stuff thrown together. There's leftover pasta from last night's dinner, cut up smoked bratwurst purchased for a BBQ a few weeks back, diced onion that's been sitting around for a week, the eggs of course, and a potpourri of cheeses that I found in the fridge.

(incidentally, how can you tell if a cheese has gone back if it was all green and veiny in the first place? Well, that's in there too so if my next post is from the hospital, you'll know)

Anyway, cooking eggs is always a good test of how seasoned your cast iron pan is, and I admit I was a little nervous (even though I've had this pan for years and have probably cooked an equivalent of two pigs on the thing). So just in case, I fried a few strips of bacon for some extra lubrication and chopped up the bacon to line the bottom of the pan. I had grand plans of flipping over the finished product, showing the crumbled bacon covering the dish, but have you tried flipping a cast iron pan over to a plate? You have to be an Olympic weight lifter to pull that off without wiping the floor with the frittata. So you throw in your mixture of stuff, pour the egg and cheese mixture over it all (plan for about 2 large eggs per person), and cook over medium high heat until the sides set. Then you put it in the oven at 375ish and cook until the middle sets, about 20-25 minutes. The middle can still be a little runny, but take it out to cool and the heat in the pan should finish the egg off to perfection. Slice into wedges and serve. A nice salad would go great with it. I added a dollop of sour cream on top, but I think salsa or even marinara would be ok (there is pasta in the thing, after all). That's about it. I don't even know if it's still technically a frittata, but I can tell you it was filling and delicious. There are also Spanish tortillas which are like frittatas with potatoes, and I think I will try that too. I think I just planned weekend brunch!

Leftover Frittata Wedges