fair-weather frittata

the fair-weather jew that i am opted out of fasting this year.

so i made a frittata.

because i had time {for the first morning in way too long}, because there is nary an egg shortage in my kitchen, and because frittatas are the kind of thing that are just perfect for using up some about-to-go-bad veggies.

oh! and i had never made a frittata.

turns out i am a swell as fuck frittata maker!

the concoction i made this morning is loosely based on alice waters' recipe. kinda. not really.

ingredients:

olive oil

an onion, or two. chopped.

veggies {i used a tomato and a few handfuls of roommate spinach}

8 eggs

salt + pepper

a pinch of cayenne

4 cloves of garlic, chopped.

herbies {i used rosemary and thyme}

marinara, maybe

mustard, maybe

directions:

preheat oven to 350.

heat about two tablespoons of olive oil in an oven-proof pan over medium heat, add onion and cook until onions are soft and transparent. add veggies and cook for a few minutes. remove everything from the pan and set aside.

in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, salt, pepper, cayenne, and garlic.

heat another two tablespoons in the pan over medium heat. add egg mixture. let it firm up a bit on the bottom. lift up the edges to let some of the liquidy part spill under and get some love as well. add the veggies on top and tilt the pan around a little so that the egg gets all up in em. sprinkle the herbies on top.

put her in the oven for 7-10 minutes, until the top firms up.

serve with marinara.

and the mustard is for if you burn yourself terribly like i did... because it's difficult to remember that a panhandle is that hot and because slathering a mustard on a burn really does make it better.

-yeh!

fall failures

when i want to feel like a failure, i make a hole-in-the-middle, then i take pictures of it, and then i let the pictures stare back at me with sad puppy blog-about-me eyes because it's like they know that i can't resist an egg portrait these days. what is the reason for this? what is so attractive about eggs? why do i keep trying to make a hole-in-the-middle even though i know that only mum and sometimes cracker barrel can make them perfectly? overnight me a hole-in-the-middle, mum, please.

why is there suddenly someone in my life who eats one and one half dozens of eggs each day?

-yeh

morning magic

my mornings are typically spent at home: writing articles, studying music, editing photos, testing recipes. it's my little bit of playtime before i head to an office, and lately this has included more oatmeal than even a picky five-year-old could fathom.

but today i called in sick for my own morning. we'll call it an executive decision. i got out my favorite dishes {the egg cups from zaanse schaanse, the cheese board from amsterdam, the plate from *hehe* staten island}, stirred a bit of halva spread into my yogurt, and took the extra bit of time to sprinkle just the right amount of salt and pepper onto my medium boiled egg.

i'd say it was magic. the kind you can't plan. the kind that seems to be happening more and more these days. maybe it's the brooklyn air?

after a second {or third} espresso, i put on my sweater* to be on my way to manhattan, but not before stopping at a little bakery for half of a miche and a chocolate chip shortbread.

-yeh!

*someone gimme a barf bag, i could puke in excitement over this newly arrived sweater weather.

p.s. love this giant 

recipe: the perfect pizza night

ingredients:

one fresh ricotta + caramelized onion + squash pizza {recipe below, kind of}

unlimited amounts of this: one part elderflower syrup + two parts roommate patrick's gin {sorry patrick, i owe you} + one green straw

the new stars album

late night giggles/everlasting secrets

directions:

1. bike over the brooklyn bridge, ad lib emergency peanut butter m & m breaks. 

2. dice up more squash than you think you need, toss it in olive oil + salt + sage, stick it in an oven set to a million degrees and forget about it until further notice.

3. chop up two onions from roommate megan's brother's farm, stick em on the stove to caramelize. pour an elderflower cocktail.

4. make the ricotta: heat a gallon of whole milk {plus heavy cream for bonus points} to 180 degrees, add the juice of two lemons. strain in a cheese cloth. add salt/pepper/herbs/olive oil to taste.

5. discuss something ironic or obscure, try not to wake roommate megan.

6. perhaps by now the squash is done roasting. if yes, skip to step #8; if no, go on to #7.

7. pour another drink, discuss what you would do if you won the lottery, leave the room for 60 seconds and then return so that you can fully enjoy the smells coming out of the kitchen.

8. assemble pizza in this order, from bottom to top: dough -> olive oil -> salt & pepper -> lots of garlic -> onions -> ricotta -> parmesan -> squash

9. bake at 450 degrees for the amount of time that it takes to plan the ultimate theoretical birthday dinner party {approximately 14 minutes}.

10. demolish.

-yeh!