Frittata

The number one thing I love about frittatas is that they aren't quiche.  A frittata takes one look at watery quiche in a bland crust and thinks, "I'm the man!"  Because it totally is.  It has all the things that make a quiche great (eggs and savory vegetable combinations) and none of the gelatinous ooze.  Tonight, as I was cooking slightly more ambitious food to eat for lunches and dinner this week, I whipped up a 20 minute frittata out of half a leftover onion, a couple of big cremini mushrooms pilfered from another recipe, and a red pepper.  Most of my actual time was spent roasting the pepper in the toaster oven!

I sauted the mushrooms and onions on about medium heat until the onions were brown and the mushrooms were soft, then added the chopped up roasted pepper.  I mixed it around a little in the frying pan, then poured six eggs beaten with a little salt and pepper over the top.  I made sure everything was spread out evenly, then let the mixture cook in the pan for about three minutes, then I popped it in the oven and broiled it for about five more minutes.  Right now, I'm eating a slice of frittata with a slice of buttered and toasted focaccia, as I browse other people's food blogs for inspiration.  Yum.

Cooking Day!

The morning started with a fluffy focaccia baked in the brand new stainless steel pan my mom gave me for Christmas.  She searched everywhere for a pan that wasn't coated in non-stick coating (which, when you abuse your pans as much as I do, tends to start flaking pretty quickly, and also killing you with its non-stick toxins).  Apparently, only super high-end cooking stores are carrying this type of pan these days, and they cost a mint.  I was particularly pleased with my mom's find because I found out that she found it on sale at T.J. Maxx for ten bucks!  Anyway, it conducts heat so much better than my old pan (purchased as part of a "going off to college" set a million years ago) and makes the fluffiest focaccia out there!  Plus, the bread doesn't stick to it at all and I don't have as many petrochemicals in my breakfast.  I win!

After that I slacked off for a while, but next up I'm going to be trying out some recipes from Smitten Kitchen to last me through the work week.  I love Cooking Day.

New Sewing Project

I've been spending my valuable non-work hours working on this fantastic dress for a masquerade party I hosted a few weeks ago.  I learned some valuable lessons for when I (n)ever attempt a project like this again.  1) Boning is for tension in the garment, it mostly doesn't need to hold you up on its own.  So . . . you don't need ridiculously rigid material for it.  I actually read somewhere that twist ties will work.  In this dress, I used commercial featherweight boning, and it was still to rigid.  After wearing (and dancing in) the dress for 6 hours, I had bruises and abrasions where the ends of the boning rubbed into my sides.  2) Don't cut corners with the nice fabric.  My pattern said that I could use cheap lining for the underskirt where it didn't show, but I found that the underskirt showed at surprising times, even when I was walking vigorously.  3) Do cut corners with extra frills and braid.  That crap is only useful for hiding mistakes.  In an over-the-top dress like this, you don't need extra frills.




Here are a few more photos from the amazing night: