Snowy Saturday

Woke up Saturday morning at 7:00 AM. Posted the Friday Blog first, and then made some coffee. I tweaked my shopping list a bit and decided to make breakfast.

Now, I've made scrambled eggs with chives all my life and I always make them the same way: scramble some eggs and some snipped chives (I use a pair of scissors) together and then cook them in butter. But, today I'm experimenting and so I add the chives directly to the melting butter. I let that cook a bit while I scramble the eggs and then add them to the pan. I buttered two pieces of toast and did my taste test.

Was there a difference? It was slight, but yes! In my original method, you ate what tasted like ordinary scrambled eggs, with the occasional "burst" of chive flavor whenever you bit into a piece. In this method, there's less of that chive "burst" but every bite of eggs has the chive flavor infused in it.

Enough fooling around! I shaved and showered, and then got dressed. It's damn cold and supposed to snow or rain later this morning but I trudge on and go to all the places on my list:

- the library (the book I had on hold came in)
- GFS (to pick up a stock pot)
- the Feed Store (birdseed and suet cakes)
- Westland (produce and small bottles of wine I use for cooking)
- Linen's & Things (a set of pans I need that are � off!)
- Meijer's (normal grocery shopping)
- Petco (for kitty litter - it's cheaper here than at Meijers)

About half way through my trip, a rain/snow mix started. I got home just before 1:00 PM. I unloaded the car and put everything away (well, I did run the pot, pans and lids through the dishwasher first). Jake and Carla are coming over to play cards around 4:00 PM, so I need to do some tidying up and make some snacks.

I got the living room, kitchen and both bathrooms cleaned up. Just after 3:00 PM, I started making my "mini-quiches" when I saw a phrase I'd missed before: "mini muffin pans" (Well, duh, sure, of course, but I don't have any!) So, I hopped in the car and went back to Linens & Things, bought two of them and raced back home.

I fried up six slices of bacon, chopped and a diced onion. When they were about half done, I added some chopped button mushrooms to the pan. When the bacon was just starting to crisp, I pulled the pan off the heat and let it cool. Meanwhile, I scrambled three eggs, stirred in � cup of baking mix and then folded in two cups of shredded mild cheddar cheese. I had just added the cooled bacon, onion, mushroom mix when the doorbell rang.

It was Jake and Carla and they, too, brought snacks, an assortment of cheeses and some hard salami Jake had left to marinade in wine.

While we talked, I spooned the quiche mixture into the greased mini muffin pans and got them baking (350 degrees F. for 10-15 minutes or until the topps are lightly browned). Next I made the mini ham and cheese rolls (I got a theme going on here, lol!) I took two 12-packs of dinner rolls and cut them in half with my electric knife to turn them into, like, mini hamburger buns. BTW, I should have pulled each apart then cut it. I cut each of the whole twelve at once, so some were perfect, some had too much on the bottom and some too much on the top.

I spread Dijon mustard on the bottom, added a slice of deli ham I folded in half, then in half again. I topped that with a slice of Lorraine Swiss cheese, cut to size. If you have never had Lorraine Swiss cheese, I must tell you it's an acquired taste. It looks like baby Swiss, but has a sharp, almost unpleasant flavor. These went on cookie sheets, awaiting the topping.

I mixed two tablespoons each of poppy seeds and dried minced onions with � cup of melted butter and brushed it on top each roll. When the mini quiches came out of the oven, the ham and cheese went in. While the quiche cooled, I took a break and tried the salami and the cheeses.

You wouldn't think something as dense and fatty as salami (this was the small variety, maybe 2 inch circles) would allow wine to penetrate, but it did. It was a subtle taste, but definitely there. Of the cheeses, I loved the Roquefort the best, but I am a blue cheese kind of guy.

The ham and cheese rolls came out and were left to cool and we started playing cards.

Between too many mini quiches and the cheeses and cracker, I was too full to sample the ham and cheese rolls at that point. Carla did, though, and said the topping wasn't that great, but if you scrapped it off they weren't bad. I suspect the topping was supposed to imitate, say, a Kaiser roll, but it didn't work!

I didn't notice the time they left (I think it was around 8:00 PM). I debated (but not long, LOL) about cleaning up the mess I'd made or leaving it until the morning. Laziness won out!

I grabbed my book and two mini ham and cheese rolls and headed for my recliner. I took a bit of the little sandwich. Yuck! Carla was right, the topping sucked. And, I barely tasted the ham, as the Lorraine cheese overpowered it. If there's a next time, I'll add at least one, maybe two more pieces of ham, use regular Swiss cheese and skip the topping altogether.

Also, I noticed (belatedly) I had Tostitos, some salsa and salsa in cheese for an additional snack but never put them out!

I finally switched from the recliner to the bed, still reading, until I fell asleep. Woke up around 2:00 AM, put my book away, found my glasses and put them on the nightstand, turned off the light and went to bed.