Kitchen News

You know how they say that the kitchen is the best loved room in a house, the place everyone gathers, a great spot for talking and enjoying each others' company?  That's certainly true in our home.  For a long while though, something in my kitchen has been driving me a little nuts... namely the way my kids have been pushing our table around all the time.  So, I came up with a solution and it involved this ledge:

A few hundred dollars, one nice handyman, and a couple of hours of labor later, I now have an immovable kitchen table.  It gives me more surface space than what I had before and it matches our other kitchen counters. I am really happy with how it turned out.  I just have to make a trip to IKEA now to get some chairs, hopefully this weekend.

Have you ever craved a food to the point of salivating just thinking about it?  I wanted tabbouleh for weeks in that way and finally made it for myself.  I used quinoa instead of bulgur because it has more protein and is more nutritious.  Ah, so delicious when this long desired dish finally hit my mouth.

Tomorrow at Rex's school, parents are holding an end of school year lunch for the therapists.  I volunteered to bring a meatless main dish because at least one of the therapists is a vegetarian.  I thought a long time about what to make and finally settled on a quiche.  Kind of cliche, I know, but I thought it would not be too heavy in warmer weather and could be enjoyed cold or reheated in the microwave.  Then I set out to find a better quiche recipe than what I had on hand and discovered a real winner.  I made two test quiches last week, one with onions and spinach, the other with ham and mushrooms.  They were really good with a nice texture that held up over a few days in the fridge and great flavor.  Craig told me it was the best quiche he'd ever had.  Trust me, he would let me know me if it were otherwise, too.  Here's the recipe.  The key is to pre-bake your crust for 7-10 minutes and to pre-fry ingredients like onions, mushrooms and ham.

And that's a wrap for news from the Martini kitchen.