A recipe for frittata

For those of you who are asking, here's the Simple Frittata recipe from "Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home" that I love to use:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil or butter (or a combination)
1 medium potato, cut into quarters and thinly sliced (I like to use a sweet potato)
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
some vegetables (optional) sorry I don't have a proportion, but I just use however much I feel like, or however much I have! Veggies that work well include bell peppers, spinach, kale, mushrooms, tomatoes
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh herbs (basil, chives, oregono, tarragon, pretty much whatever you like! and i probably use more than 1 1/2 teaspoons)
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed (optional)
4 or 5 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup grated cheese (optional)
salt and ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Saute the potatoes and onions covered, stirring frequently. After about 4 minutes, add the optional vegetables (add them a little later if you're using something that cooks up quickly, like spinach, kale or tomatoes), and continue stirring for about 8 minutes until the potatoes and onions are tender and golden. Stir in the herb and optional garlic. Pour the beaten eggs over the sauteed vegetables, tilting the pan to distribute them evenly. Sprinkle on the cheese, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover the pan and cook on low heat for 10 minutes, until the eggs are set and golden on the bottom.

To brown the top of the frittata: If your skillet is flameproof, simply place the frittat under a preheated broiler for about 2 minutes. Otherwise, carefully slide the frittata onto a plate and then flip it over, back into the skillet, to brown the other side. To serve, cut the frittata in half.

Serves 2.

Penny pinching evening

We've had a bit of a rough week or so. Matt is now what he jokingly calls a "statistic" of the recession and is no longer working for General Motors. Fortunately, we're doing pretty well and are by no means in the breadline ... however, I'm not opposed to using my "free bread" coupons at the local gourmet grocery store and we're certainly watching what we spend a little more carefully.

So tonight I served up what's probably going to become a regular in our quick-and-easy, budget meal lineup - fritatta. We definitely got our full serving of vegetables - half a bunch of kale each, along with red pepper, onion and sweet potato, a good amount of protein, and it only took me about 15-20 minutes start to finish.

After dinner I said "I wish I could have an ice cream cone!" Matt acknowledged that I've been doing such a good job with all of this unexpected change, and said he'd get me one, and that it could be a good way to use up our change.

I thought he meant our quarters. But no, he meant our pennies in the change dish. He asked me to count them out and I looked at them, fumed a little, started counting a few, and then said something to the effect of "ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

I'm really glad I stood my ground, because Matt relented pretty quickly, counted the pennies and took me to get my cone. Even better, he didn't make me hand the man behind the counter all the pennies. I can't imagine what the cashier was thinking, and I couldn't see his face because I was trying to hide behind Matt the whole time.

So it was a penny pinching evening indeed ... and pretty fun, too!

I did it!

I safely made banana bread! No knife accidents, or any other kind of accident for that matter, involved.

I did hesitate a little before preheating the oven and committing to the deed, because this Saturday feels strangely similar to the Saturday last summer when Matt was gone backpacking. A cloudless sky, perfect temps, an open day spread out before me with hardly any responsibilities, excitement for Matt's approaching return, and satisfied feeling of accomplishment for making it through the whole 8 days without him.

So why tempt fate? Because this banana bread with cinnamon crumble topping is just SO good.

A fun trip and kitchen safety

I just returned from a fantastic few days in Annapolis and Charlottesville. Of course no trip to Charlottesville would be complete without some time with Tucker, who now eagerly refers to me as "Yiz!" whenever he wants my attention. We had a lot of fun tromping around at the park, playing with trucks, reading, and listening to numerous renditions of "The Wheels on the Bus."

I came home to a house FULL of notes from Matt, who is backpacking in the Sierra Nevadas this week. Everywhere I turn, every cabinet or door I open, there's a note! Definitely a wonderful surprise.

However, I felt suddenly reprimanded when, barefoot, I opened the knife drawer to find a knife to slice some bread, and was reminded by a note from Matt to "wear foot protection."

It's not that Matt's some kitchen safety czar. He's simply reminding me of what happened last summer when he was backpacking - I dropped a knife on my foot while trying to make him banana bread. This little accident put me into surgery and onto crutches for about two months. Not fun.

So, I immediately put on my Merrells and am vowing to have them on at all times while handling knives this weekend! And, incidentally, I have loads of frozen bananas that are just begging to become banana bread. Dare I give it another try?