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Sunday, August 18, 2019

CALICO QUICHE

I have several "go to" quiche recipes that I've collected over the years, but I'm always up for adding new options to my collection.  Those that I have are more breakfast type, while I would consider this one more of a lunch or dinner option based on the main protein being chicken.
 There is a bit of prep, but it wasn't too over the top....and in the end, the house smelled wonderful, and it was very tasty!

INGREDIENTS:

1  (9 inch ) pie shell, homemade or frozen 
¼ cup red bell pepper, chopped
½ cup green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup swiss cheese, grated
1 cup cooked chicken, cubed
¼ cup butter (½ stick)
½ cup onion, coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp. all purpose flour
½ cup half and half
½ cup sour cream
4 eggs, beaten
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
1 Tbsp. parsley, chopped
*salt & pepper/garlic

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line baking sheet with aluminum foil (in the event of drippage)

Place the shell on the baking sheet.  In the bottom of the pie shell, add the chicken pieces, layer in the peppers and cheeses.

In a saute' pan, melt butter and saute' the onions until soft.  Whisk in flour thoroughly.  Stir in half and half and simmer until thickened, about 3-5 minutes.  Let cool.

In a bowl, combine sour cream, eggs, nutmeg and parsley.  Stir into the onion mixture. 

Pour filling into the pie crust.  ***Bake 35-40 minutes  or until set.   Let cool slightly prior to slicing.


NOTES:  

  • ***The center was still runny, and the top was pale at the 40 minute mark....it took my quiche closer to 55 minutes to fully cook and the top was a beautiful golden brown as well.  
  • I used the Marie Callendar's deep dish pie shell, there's a lot of ingredients in the recipe, so make sure you have room for everything!
  • *The recipe didn't call for any seasoning, but I would suggest adding at least some salt & pepper into the egg mixture (possibly a little garlic powder)
Enjoy!


recipe c/o:  Portland's Palate cookbook

Saturday, August 3, 2019

FOAM FLOWERS

I'm hooked!  I just learned how to make foam flowers and I just can't stop making them.  They're so fun.  I've made hairpieces for a number of brides over the years, so being able to add another variety for my clients was my goal.  I loved how realistic these looked, and I've been working on my technique ever since I found the first YouTube video on them.
I'm pleased with what I've done so far, but I know as with anything in life, I'll only improve with additional practice!  The foamiran foam currently is a little difficult to find.  This seems to be very prevalent in Europe, but not so much here in the U.S.   Shipping costs from Europe are crazy expensive, so I was thrilled when I found a source here in the U.S.

I ordered the white foam and have been practicing/learning on it.  I also purchased some oil pastels and have been playing around with "dyeing" the petals versus purchasing lots of different colors of foam.  
In the beginning, I made my own patterns (after all, I'm a professional patternmaker!), which also meant handcutting each of the flowers with my small scissors.  Some of the flowers take 6 layers, so it took a bunch of time and as expected, each layer was not exactly the same size/shape as the other.  It didn't affect the overall look of the finished product, but it meant more time for me to make adjustments along the way.  I've still been using some of my handmade patterns, but I also invested in a die cutting machine and purchased two basic dies.  What a time saver!  I can run four layers of foam through the machine and have absolutely perfect "cookie cutter" shapes in a matter of seconds.

Again, I'm finding plenty of supplies (dies, stamens, inks, etc.) in the U.K. , but the shipping is more than one die!  So, I haven't broken down and purchased them overseas yet.  I've been making due with what I can source here locally and so far so good.  Maybe in time, I'll take the leap.

I'm also playing around with options for my clients, like combs, alligator clips, and u pins.  I'm also  making sure my finishing techniques on each of these varieties is professional.   There's lots to learn, that's for sure!  I'm tending toward the plastic variety of combs since there are lots of teeth and they're really long versus the metal combs.  I absolutely want these to be secure when they're in place!
So that's my foam flower journey so far!  I love learning new things....it's good for the mind and  the soul!  I'm hopeful that these will sell both on my shop and with my local clients.  In the meantime, I'll keep making more, I really find that I get lost in the creative process and before you know it hours have gone by and I'm still at it!