Cooking Adventures

How’s this for a cooking mistake? And a good fix. When I make quiche or spinach pie (or apple pie) I make my standard pie crust recipe from Joy of Cooking which makes two one crust pies or one two crust pie. I made quiche a month or two ago and my favorite spinach quiche recipe makes two one crust quiches. Yesterday I was making spanikopita. Instead of making little individual Filo dough pocket pies or turnovers, I just make one pie and usually use my pie crust, not Filo. I cooked the spinach, made the pie crust, rolled out the pie crust, & put it in two pie plates. I filled the pies and thought to myself, they look a little skimpy. About half way through the cooking, I checked the pies and thought, damn, they look really skimpy and the filling looks like it is going to dry out. I closed the oven door, started to walk away and then the light bulb came on over my head. I was supposed to make one two crust pie, not two one crust pies!

I thought about it a minute then took both pies out of the oven, scooped the filling out of one and into the other, then I cut the bottom crust away from the sides & slid it on top of the now full spinach pie. It came out just fine with a slightly sloppy looking crust. And it tasted great.

Not as memorable as the time I dropping the custard dish into the Kitchen Aid when it was on, but another one for the books.

It has been about 3 months since my last blog. During those 3 months I had bilateral knee replacements with the additional new wrinkle of new kneecaps. I have lived without kneecaps for over 30 years. When I went to my surgeon (who did the original surgery on my knees) and told him it was time for new knees, he looked at my file and said, ok, you need both, we’ll do both at the same time. And he told me that there was a new innovation in TKR, they would give me new knee caps too. This is such a new aspect of TKR that rehabilitates & doctors at the rehab (where I spent a week after a week in the hospital) had not seen it.

Enough about knees, suffice it to say I am still doing my exercises at home and getting around better, now mostly just using a cane. And I have been knitting.

To keep myself busy in the hospital and in rehab, I brought easy crossword puzzle books, a book on tape and an easy sock project, using two circular needles. Now I am a big fan of using 4 bamboo needles, its just so much fun and looks so cool, but as I also drop needles on the floor with great regularity, I decided the two circular needles was the way to go, as the only way to go as it would be pretty impossible to lose a needle. I bought some lovely purple yarn (contributed by my sister) before my surgery and I started a simple seaweed pattern sock. I got about halfway done the first sock when I came home and I promptly pulled it out and started a heart sock, which is one of my favorite patterns and I could concentrate by the time I got home. You can see that there are hearts & diamonds along the top. Finished the heart socks. Started a second pair called Aran Braid Sock with a double cable down the leg which transfers to a single cable down the foot. It is great fun to make as I love knitting cables and is a very classy looking sock when completed.

I will post my other two projects in a day or two. That’s all for now.