The 1950s Housewife Lingers…and Quiche!

Hi everyone. I am very excited because I have a new logo which is on my blog home page. My friend Lauren Kaiser, a truly gifted graphic designer, designed my Take Back the Kitchen logo AND the CD cover for my non-profit organization, Parents Who Rock’s CD , www.myspace.com/parentswhorock. She is awesome and if you have graphic design needs, her email is laurenmkaiser@aol.com. She is also the seafood stew lady from yesterday’s blog post!

In my logo, I am dressed in a 1950s get-up, inspired by my sister, Katy’s, personal cookbook compilation. She had superimposed her face on many 1950’s women’s bodies throughout the book-very tongue and cheek . When I started this business, I thought about how the 1950s stereotypical housewife image has lingered and affected many women, mostly in negative ways, but in some positive ways. I needed to spruce up and modernize the image with my motorcycle boots!

We have certainly moved on from the 1950s idea that a women’s ONLY place is in the kitchen, but it seems we have thrown the baby out with the bath water. We have, in a sense, been driven out of the kitchen by society and the food industry, and also chosen to remove ourselves. We need to take back the kitchen as our own, so that we may enjoy the benefits of providing ourselves and our family and friends with nutritious and lovingly made meals. Even if we do not enjoy cooking, we have to cook to sustain ourselves. Why not make it as simple and creative a process as possible?

Enough of my chitter chatter! Here is one of my sister’s easy recipes for a quiche, the best kept dinner secret if you ask me! So easy to prepare and there are vegetables in it. Enjoy!:

Quiche

Crust:
1 1/4 cups flour
1 3oz. package of cream cheese
6 TBS unsalted butter at room temperature

Filling:
4 eggs (or egg beaters)
2 Cups whole milk
1/2 lb of favorite grated cheese like swiss or Jarlsberg (or low fat cheese but it won’t taste as good!)
1 finely chopped onion
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of basil
pinch of black pepper
a handful of sauteed spinach or cooked chopped brocolli, sauteed in a little butter or olive oil.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
1. Make crust: Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse unil dough starts to ball up. Mush everything together with your hands in a pie pan. Press dough evenly in pan. Place shredded cheese on the bottom of the crust. Set aside.

2. Make the filling: Beat the eggs. Add the rest of the ingredients. Add salt and pepper and pour filling over the cheese in the pie pan.

3. Bake until set, knife stuck in should come out clean, for about 50 minutes. Keep cooking until knife does come out clean. If the top seems like it is getting too brown and might burn, put a piece of aluminum foil over the top. This way the inside will get a chance to cook but the top won’t burn. Good luck!