Hopeful

I've been busy the last couple of weeks! I've been concentrating on getting business moving again and it's surely keeping me busy. I've been doing very good at keeping myself away from the negative news, for the most part. Of course, this morning I turned on the national news for about 5 minutes and it got my wheels turning (wheels turning might not be exactly what it did, but we'll go with that). On the good side, it looks like the shuttle launch might actually happen. There's something about the space program that brings out the patriotism in most of us. Then, that news was followed by our President talking about unemployment ticking up again. There are so many hard working people out there hurting right now, wondering how they will be able to put food in their pantries and have a roof over their heads. Americans aren't worried about the luxuries right now. So many are resolved to just have the basics. Our President is effective in relaying the feelings of so many Americans in his speeches, and I really think he cares. But talking about the millions of unemployed construction workers and how to best put them back to work really gets me going. He is proposing putting them back to work on infrastructure. In other words, more government payroll. Aren't we broke? Wouldn't it be better to address the millions of illegals working in the construction industry taking jobs from Americans? Wouldn't addressing the housing problem lead to more private sector construction? I don't have the answers, but continuing to go in this direction has not lead us out of the biggest downturn most of us have experienced in our lifetime. I know we all have different political views, and that's what makes our nation so great, but continuing to stay quiet just to be politically correct isn't working for any of us. I'm hoping that some very smart men and women are having a brain storming session right now, throwing out ideas, thinking outside the box, about how best to address this economy.
Ok, I'm off my soapbox now, whatever a soapbox is. I started back on radiation on Tuesday after 12 days off. I starting feeling much better last Friday and had a great holiday weekend. We went to Big Bear Lake and stayed with our friends Steve and Cindy in their new vacation home. We had a great time, thank you VW's! Well, except for the ride up and the ride back. We took the hybrid to save on gas and that meant 3 boys in the back seat. They were in rare (irritating) form and the 50 year old boy in the front thought it was too much fun and joined in. I'm hitching a ride from someone else next time!
My new friend Cassandra asked for my quiche recipe and I really never had one. I like to color outside the lines and following an exact recipe is VERY hard for me. That's probably why I would never be a good master baker ;-) Ok, here it is:

Hopeful Quiche
Ingredients 2 Frozen Deep Dish Pie Crust
1 lb Bacon cut into small pieces
7 Large Eggs
2 Cups Half and Half
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (regular is fine if that's what you have)
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper (black is fine too)
Pinch crushed red pepper
1 1/2 cup grated Gruyere (or whatever kind of cheese you like)
1/2 large onion diced in small pieces
2 big handfuls of fresh spinach cut in small pieces (frozen is fine)


Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Slit the bottom of the pie crusts with a knife (4-5 times) and bake for about 10 minutes till lightly brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

In a medium skillet, cook the bacon until crisp and the fat is rendered. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

In a skillet with a little olive oil, cook the onions on medium heat until tender. Add the spinach and cook for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Arrange the bacon evenly over the bottom of the baked crust.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and half and half. Add the remaining ingredients, including cooled onion, spinach, and cheese and whisk to combine. Pour into the prepared crust and bake until the custard is golden, puffed, and set yet still slightly wiggly in the center, 30 to 35 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before serving. (I don't know why I put this here...we never wait).
EAT!