Swiss & Spinach Quiche

I made this quiche for the first time this morning to share with a visiting friend and it was fab!!!!

Swiss & Spinach Quiche

1 refrigerated pie crust, softened as directed on the box
2 tsp. honey mustard
1 T. butter
1/4 C. chopped green onions
1 C. frozen chopped spinach, thawed & well drained
1/2 C. finely chopped cooked ham
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/4 C. flour
dash of pepper
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 C. whipping cream
3 eggs
1 C. shredded Swiss cheese

Place pie crust in 9" glass pie pan as directed on box for One-Crust Filled Pie.  Brush mustard over bottom of crust.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt butter in pan over medium heat.  Add onions; cook and stir until tender.  Stir in spinach, ham & thyme.  Reduce heat to low and cook til spinach is thoroughly heated.  Spread spinach mixture over mustard in bottom of crust.

In small bowl - beat flour, nutmeg, pepper, whipping cream & eggs with a wire whisk until well blended.  Pour egg mixture over spinach layer.  Then, sprinkle with Swiss Cheese.

Bake at 35-40 munutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Watch the crust from burning - if you don't have a crust protector then cover with strips of aluminum foil part way thru baking.  Cool at least 5 minutes prior to serving.

This is a keeper!!

Watch out if you leave any boxes out!!!  Lucy likes to make herself right at home in them!!!

I am linking to Somewhat Simple's Blog Link Party.  Check out all the cool ideas here.

Mad Hatter Tea Party

Towards the end of June my daughter hosts her annual tea.  June 2010 had a theme of "Mad Hatter Tea" and everyone was to wear a crazy hat.  I am coordinating this post with one of my favorite blogs A Fanciful Twist as she is having her annual Mad Tea Party with all these wonderful bloggers linking up.  We had a real live Mad Hatter Tea Party last June and I hope that you enjoy it!!!!

The fabulous hostess -- The Mad Hatter --

Look at the place settings - miniature 'Drink Me' bottles, magnifying glasses, name cards with a key, & darling bracelets that were gifts from the Mad Hatter -

Colorful Mad Hatter Tablescapes --

Mad Hatter Tea Cups decos --

Mad Hatter refreshments included Eat Me cupcakes and teapot cookies in Mad Hatter colors -

Notice the Mad Hatter's keys hanging on the stand -



This was just a sampling of the food.  We also had scones with clotted cream, cucumber sandwiches, little spears with cheese & meat, etc. and much more.

Here I am with the Mad Hatter --

This is my YaYa group - we get together often - you may have read about some of our adventures here on this blog --

Our group photo -- the Mad Hatter & Her Friends --

You can't see this too well - Mad Hatter Tea banner --

This year's tea will be the day after A Fanciful Twist's Mad Tea Party so I might always be a year behind in sharing the tea!!!!  But, to give you a hint of what it is --


















It's a Color Me Orange Tea!!!!  Everyone is to wear something orange and I hear that the hostess has a hat that is to die for!!!!!!!

Oh, Lucy!!!!  She was so hoping to catch a glimpse of the Mad Hatter and I think she napped and missed it!!!!  She is a little sad - or is that a pouty look????

Here is a link to A Fanciful Twist's Mad Tea Party - you can click here to go to her tea party links.  Enjoy!!

Raspberry Muffins

Great Raspberry Muffins must begin with these, right??

Raspberry Muffins

2 C. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 C. butter, softened
1 1/4 C. sugar
2 eggs
8 oz. sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 C. fresh or frozen raspberries, thawed & drained (I just used a 6 oz. container of Driscoll's brand raspberries that I rinsed and drained)
2 T. sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Line muffin tins with paper liners and set aside.  (This will make between 17-20 depending on how much you fill them.)

In a medium mixing bowl - stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl - beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Add the 1 1/4 cups of sugar and beat on medium speed til combined.  Beat in eggs, sour cream & vanilla til combined.

With a spoon - stir in the dry ingredients into the beaten mixture til just moistened.  Fold in the raspberries.  Spoon into the muffin liners til about 3/4 full.

For topping -- Stir together in a small bowl the 2 T. sugar and cinnamon & nutmeg.  Sprinkle over batter in muffin cups.  Bake in 350-400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or til the muffins are golden.  Good served warm or cold.


Here is the batter -

After the raspberries have been added -

In the muffin cups -

With the topping sprinkled on top -

Fresh from the oven -

Yum!!!

Lucy always looks so comfy when sleeping -

I am linking to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.  You can see more recipes by clicking here.

Putting New Life in Outdoor Furniture!!

This was my first attempt at spray painting any type of furniture.  I read a few posts from other bloggers that gave me the confidence to do this -

These chairs and table were my parents.  So, they are from the 60's probably.  One was red and the other was green and they had black handles.  The table was green with white legs.   I also did some other plant holders to match these. 

I started with these first -

I washed and cleaned them.  I then put them on my garage floor (with the doors open, of course!) and proceeded to prime them.  Since I was painting these a dark color -- I used a brown primer -

Next, I used Krylon Brown Leather Gloss for these pieces.  I can't remember if I ended up using 3 or 4 cans of the paint.  I originally bought 2 cans -- I don't know what I was thinking???  I painted them on one side then waited at least an hour and then painted the other side.  Sometimes I waited overnight.  But, I did each side twice -

Here they are - all finished and on the deck -

Now, it was time to do the rest -- I think I procrastinated for a few days!!!  I don't have any before pics, but here they are with some white primer -

Next it was Krylon Almond Gloss that I used.  Again, I can't remember how many cans but it might have been 4-5 cans.  I needed more of the Almond to cover these dark colors -

Much better with more coats -

I don't think they came out too bad for my first attempt.  My deck looks so different with the brown and almond colors -

Love the furniture now!!!  But, Lucy says "what about me?"  She is ready for her close-up --

I am linking to Somewhat Simple's Link Party.  You can see other ideas/projects here.