Although I think I am a good mom, I have learned over the past couple of weeks that I am not a good “crisis mom.”  I always think of myself as being so strong and confident.  Even my son said to me once when I was wishing Joe would get home because I had a lot on my plate that afternoon, “Mom, you can do ANYTHING… I mean, you were a single mom for EVER.”

That’s true!  I AM strong.  I AM tough.  I can do ANYTHING!

But apparently I CRUMBLE under pressure.  Yes, crumble into a stuttering shell of a human being who just withdraws into myself and loses focus on anything and everything else.

So what do I turn to as a means to relieve my anxiety?  Meds? Booze? Therapy?  No. No. No.

I COOK.

Tasty Thursday came at the perfect time, because I can’t stop thinking about what I want to cook.  When I am in the kitchen with the music turned up, I forget about all of my current external pressures. My worries go down the drain…

Something I have been craving a lot lately is quiche.  I have gone quite quiche crazy.  This is the best quiche out there (because I combined like four of the best recipes I could find to come up with this one).  The kids even loved it.  The recipe makes 2 – 9 inch pie plates.

Ingredients:
Pillsbury pie crust or 2 frozen pie crusts

Filling:
1 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled
3 Tbsp. butter
½ c. chopped onion
6 oz. ham, finely diced
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 tsp. fresh thyme
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 c. chopped fresh baby spinach, packed
2 bags of shredded gruyere/swiss blend (or just swiss if that’s all you have)

Egg mixture:
2 c. heavy cream
9 eggs
1/8 tsp. Nutmeg
1 c. cheese blend

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

I bought the Pillsbury roll out pie crust and put one pie crust in each pie plate.  I shaped them and put them to the side.

Melt 2 Tbsp. of butter in a saute pan over medium heat.  Add the onion and stir until onions are softened and beginning to carmelize.  Add the ham, mushrooms, thyme and garlic to the pan.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring often, until most of the moisture has cooked out, about 8-10 minutes.  Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool 10 minutes before putting in pie crust.

In one pie crust, pack the spinach on the bottom.  Top the spinach with a cup of cheese.  Finally, sprinkle the bacon on top.

In the other pie crust, just pour the mushroom/ham mixture into pie plate and spread evenly on bottom.  Sprinkle ½ c. of the cheese blend on top.

Next, put heavy cream, eggs, nutmeg and ½ c. cheese blend in food processor and blend well.  Divide the egg mix between the two pie crusts.

Sprinkle another ½ c. cheese blend on top of the mushroom mixture pie.  I truly believe you can never have too much cheese or too much bacon… ever.

I have found that you need to cover the quiches with aluminum foil for the first half of the cooking so they don’t burn.  I cook them about 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven, but you may have to toy around with the time and the heat of your oven.   If you pull the quiche out and it is still a little runny but looks brown enough, then recover with the aluminum foil and stick back in for a little while.

These quiches are heavenly and are absolutely perfect for a fall Saturday afternoon in the South.

Pour a screwdriver into your Ol’ Red Fancy Rednecks wine glass, take the big screen in the yard, light a fire in the fire pit and invite your friends over to watch some college football and eat some quiche.  Sounds like a perfect day to me!!!!