Why does it always happen before vacations?

Our little family is actually taking a summer vacation this year (a rarity in itself). This also marks the first time that we've taken a vacation with just the three of us that didn't revolve around either a work trip or visiting family. After much debate (and several foiled plans of visiting family or tagging along on work trips), we decided to bite the bullet and go visit Puerto Rico for 9 days. Thank you stimulus check! (Would spending our check in Puerto Rico count as boosting the economy? It's a US territory, but I don't know if their economy figures into the overall US economy. Anyone know?)

We're scheduled to depart early Fri. morning, and last Fri. afternoon, the big guy found out he needed to travel this week for work. Mon.-Thurs. night. Shall I repeat that we leave first thing Fri. morning? It's OK. I can deal. We did laundry over the weekend and made detailed packing lists. I can handle this. Then the Tuesday from Hell struck.

First, I go to drop the little guy off at his daycamp around 9:45 so I can make it to work by 10am for a client meeting. We get to camp, and the place is empty. No one is around. I should note that we usually don't get there before 10:30 on most days, so 9:45 really is an early record for us. So, kid comes to work with me and hangs out in my cube while I attend my three meetings that morning before lunchtime. We drive back out to camp around 12:30 and the group is back, so he stays (they went to a movie and left earlier than normal. Thanks for calling Mr. Camp Dude!).

Second, I had already RSVP'd that I'd play in my company league volleyball game Tues. night before I found out Big Guy would be out of town, so I drove back out to get Little Guy and drove all the way back to my office where the games are held. We played; we won, and had a great time. Then I find out that my purse is locked in the car, and of course it contains my keys, wallet, cell phone, extra bottle of water, snack for the boy, yadda yadda. Amazing coworkers let me borrow a phone, where I tried in vain to reach anyone who could possibly swing by my house and get a spare car key. Those same coworkers then took me and the boy out to dinner while we waited for roadside assistance, and stuck around the parking lot while we waited some more. Two hours later I'm back in my vehicle (dude, it took 45 seconds for the roadside assistance guy to break in and pop the lock!!) and finally on my way home. In a huge twist of irony, my mother in law is at my neighbor's house - two of the same people I'd tried in vain to reach. Oh well.

I finally get the boy into bed well after ten. To cap off the evening, I head to the basement to check on the furnace since I can hear a strange noise echoing through the return vent. Open the door to the furnace closet and the floor is covered in standing water. MIL is still at the neighbor's house, so I run back next door and bring her over (we bought the house from her, so she probably knows more about furnaces than I do). Well, after much standing around and looking at the water and condensation covering the ducts, our keen scientific minds decide that it might be the dehumidifier. We empty out everything being stored in the closet, mop the place up, and decide to see what happens tomorrow.

Well, that was yesterday. Today the floor is re-soaked, the condensation has returned, and I've turned off the AC while at a loss of anything else to do.

So here I sit, a bit past midnight and putting off going to bed. This evening was a mad race of getting the boy fed, heading to the library to get vacation reading, cleaning the floors, two loads of laundry, dishes, cleaning out the fridge and labeling leftovers, dealing with the furnace flood (again), oh yeah, and maybe I should pack.

I just want to go to bed and put this awful week behind me. Yet, there's still so much left to do that I can't sleep. Blogging probably isn't the right choice either, but at least I can vent here. Besides, I need to wait for that load of wash to finish.

Swiss Chard Quiche

I mentioned before that I have a bounty of swiss chard in my garden this year. This is the first time I have tried to grow chard, and I am amazed at how well it did. My vegetable garden suffers from not getting enough sun, so production tends to be on the low side. Over the years I've figured out which plants don't do well in my yard and avoid those. Given how well the chard has done, it will definitely be a keeper for future years.

The chard is planted in some in-ground planters we built at the end of the deck. In previous years, I've tried growing dwarf varieties of sunflowers and grape tomatoes in these planters without much success. Usually I throw in some impatiens or begonias and let them be a nice pop of color separating the lawn from the deck. This year I knew I would be short on garden space and wanted to try the chard, so thought these planted would be the perfect spot. The lovely multi-color stems of the 'Bright Lights' chard still give the same pop of color that the ornamentals do, plus I get the added bonus of delicious crops. A third bonus of this spot turned out to be that the slugs generally don't venture up the deck into these planters, so my chard wasn't as bite-ridden as my in-ground spinach.

I've been throwing sautéed chard into everything lately (lasagna, smoothies, stuffed in chicken breasts, and more), but wanted to really showcase the chard's lovely, earthy flavor. For those not familiar with chard, it's similar to spinach, but a bit hardier and without the strong tannins. Any recipe the calls for spinach could easily substitute chard, though it wouldn't 'dissolve' into dips and purées the same way that spinach does. This is my take on a traditional spinach quiche using my home-grown chard and basil. The dish turned out marvelously, and my almost 8yo gave it rave reviews "I didn't think the quiche would be as good as it is, but I took a bite, and wow, it's so good!" So there you have it moms; a way to get vegetables into your child's diet. Disclaimer: Your results may very.


Swiss Chard Quiche with Whole Grain Crust

Crust
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
olive oil
fresh herbs, snipped (optional)

In a food processor, combine dry ingredients, herbs if using, and butter. Pulse until the mixture is blended and forms crumbs. Turn the processor on and slowly drizzle olive oil into the bowl until the mixture forms a ball and the oil is completely incorporated (should be about 2-3 tablespoons). Press into a pie plate using your fingers or the bottom of a glass and dock the crust (poke little holes all over the bottom) with the tines of a fork. Freeze for 20mins.

After the crust is chilled, bake in a 425 oven for 15-20mins until is starts to turn brown. Remove from oven to cool, and reduce the oven temperature to 350.

Filling
1/4 olive oil or butter
1 small onion
4 cloves garlic
1 large bunch swiss chard (approx. 20 leaves)
1 small bunch basil (approx. 1/2 cup roughly chopped)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
5 eggs
1/4 cup cream or milk
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded cheese (cheddar, gouda, jack, etc)

Prep: Dice the onion, mince the garlic, and cut the stems of the chard into 1/2" long pieces. Roughly chop the card into 1"x2" strips. Roughly chop the basil into small strips. Beat the eggs with the milk and the parmesan cheese.

Heat the oil in a pan and sautée the onion for 2 minutes. Add the chard stems and garlic, and continue to sautée until the stems wilt and the garlic begins to take on some color (another 3-5 minutes or more). Add the chard leaves and sautée until they start to go limp. Add the basil and all of the dried spices and mix together.

Toss the vegetable filling with the shredded cheese in the cooled crust and top with the egg mixture. Bake at 350 for around 30mins or until the mixture starts to set up when jiggled. It should move slightly when jiggled, but the center should not be wobbly.

Let the quiche cool for at least 20mins before cutting otherwise the egg may ooze all over the pan.




This post is my first entry into the Grow Your Own event created by Andrea at Andrea's Recipes. Grow your Own is a twice-monthly event that showcases recipes created with ingredients grown or forged by the poster. This month, Grow Your Own is being hosted by Bee and Jai at the blog jugalbandi. It's the season of bounty here on the east coast, so I expect to see a lot of fabulous recipes from local cooks and am interested to see what our international friends are doing with their own local ingredients!

Limited Time Only - Get Your Entertainment NOW!

I had to share this with everyone on the chance that I wasn't the only person living under a rock that had missed it. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Joss Whedon (you know, the guy who did Buffy, Angel, Firefly, etc.) did an online miniseries starring Neil Patrick Harris as a misguided evil sort-of genius. There are only 3 parts, and it's only going to be available until Sun. night 7/20. I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. In fact, I scared the dog laughing so hard. (BTW, my dog is almost 16 and mostly deaf.)

So go. GO! Watch! Laugh! Embrace! And best yet, pass it along to other deserving friends because there is so much crap out there, that we need to make sure the good stuff gets the recognition it deserves.

Anyone Home?

Hello? Bueller? Bueller?

Ok, so it's been over a month since my last post. Where the heck have I been? Well, frankly, nowhere. See, I told you at the party Mama Bird that I wasn't cut out for this blogging schtuff. I have three different posts sitting in draft mode that I'd started a few weeks ago and just couldn't find the motivation to finish.

Honestly though, after spending all day at work either writing documents or proof reading other people's documents, I really don't feel like typing more words. I'd rather spend time in my garden or bake. Yes, I'm lame like that, but those are the things that I really enjoy.

I do have some great recipes that I'd love to share with everyone. However, being the bad blogger that I am, I forgot to take photos of most of them (oops). That just means I'll have to recreate them; this time noting down what I add to the dish and taking photos during all stages of the preparation. Expect to see a few recipes using Swiss Chard - my patch is beyond prolific! I've been adding it to everything I've been making. Thank god I love the stuff! (Blueberry and swiss chard smoothies anyone? Seriously, my son had no idea the veg. was in his drink and loved it.)

There is one item that I want to plug though. My dance studio (as in, the studio I take classes from; I don't actually own a dance studio, though that would be an amazing venture...) is sponsoring a free performance with live music this Fri. evening in Arlington. For all five three of you reading this, I'd highly recommend attending. There are going to be some amazing dancers showcased, and did I mention that it's free? Fri. July 18th, 8pm at Lubber Run Amphitheater on Columbus St. in Arlington. You can view the promotional flyer here.