My Two Lives

There are some days that never seem to settle in. I have vivid dreams. I always have had them. I sometimes remember them intact, but often just remember portions of them. In my dreams, I don’t remember my waking life, so why should I expect it to work the other way around? This morning, when Peter woke me as he was getting dressed for work, I was deep in my dream life and wanted to stay there. It involved travel, a beach town, an auditorium full of people, and a difficult extrication of my summer “stuff” from the group that filled it. Some young guy that I was helping with his daily commute took it upon himself to move my truck as I was loading my EXTENSIVE vinyl record collection back on it (I don’t have a record collection in my waking life), and I was angry. I wanted to finish the job, but I never did. I woke up to another rainy Pennsylvania day, with no plans until milking time this evening. Not a bad deal, as it turns out. I had a world of vegetables to deal with, and I think I did well with them. After I unloaded a bag full on my neighbor, I concocted this recipe. You tell me! Does dinner look good? Apart from the flour used in the crust, every bit of this meal is either home grown or locally procured, down to the fertile eggs, bacon, cheese and whole, raw milk in the quiche. The recipe follows; I’ll call it Organic Garden Garbage Quiche. It ROCKS! Rachel Ray, et al: give me credit if you use it! The side is simply 1/4 head of cabbage sautéed in the juice from the tomatoes with two cobs of fresh corn kernels. Salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and a little chopped habanera (use your own judgment on the heat!) Ingredients (as local and organic as possible): 1/2 cup Pesto 1/3 pound Bacon Pie Dough 1 large or two small tomatoes ½ medium zucchini Onion greens from three onions (or two bunches of scallions) 2 eggs 1 cup whole milk Whatever shredded cheese you have on hand. Or an Italian mix, approx. ¾ cup. Salt and pepper (most of the seasoning will be in the pesto.) Instructions: Sauté bacon until crispy. Remove from pan and drain on a towel. Reserve fat. Chop tomatoes and onion greens. Add tomatoes (with skin intact, thank you!) to the fat and sauté until just tender. Strain tomatoes and place in a bowl. Reserve the liquid they produced, and set aside for the side dish. Add chopped onion greens, sliced zucchini and pesto to the bowl with the drained tomatoes. Mix well. Taste, then adjust with salt and pepper. Set aside. Beat two eggs into a cup of whole milk. Roll out your crust (I make mine, and freeze them ahead, but store-bought is fine, or any recipe you like) and lay it in a pie pan. Add vegetable mixture to the pan. Put the shredded cheese on top of the vegetables, then pour the egg mixture the cheese. Don’t fill the pan to the top unless you LIKE burnt custard in your oven. Bake at 350 degrees until brown and firm. Remove from oven and let set for at least 30 minutes, preferably more.