I wish the picture with this recipe had printed. So light and fluffy and can be made a day ahead, which I did.It was such a mouthwatering one. Anyhow, I had some friends for brunch today and this dish got rave reviews and requests from all, for the recipe. I served it with steamed asparagus, Sushipup's greek salad, Jasdips rolls and AnnT's raspberry scones. Almost a total CF meal. YUM YUM! jude Best of Breakfast: A Taste of Connecticut's Starbuck Inn (Recipe: Lydia's Baked Eggs & Cheese Casserole) Flavorful enough to holds its own amongst servings of fruit, bacon, sausage, potatoes, pancakes and more, this recipe can be easily adapted to spice up your day. Consider adding a small can of diced green chiles, a few pinches of crushed red pepper, or a handful of roasted veggies and you've got the makings of an entree that is sure to fulfill your stomach's desire. Originally serving 12, I cut the recipe back to create a casserole perfect for serving 6-8. Next time you're looking for a basic egg casserole, I hope you'll consider this one. Dressed up or paired down, it's sure to please the palates of family and friends alike. Lydia's Baked Eggs & Cheese Casserole A "Best of" Inn Cuisine, recipe adapted from the Starbuck Inn Bed & Breakfast of Kent, Connecticut •5 large eggs •1/2 cup milk •1 teaspoon granulated sugar •8 ounces (2 cups) Monterey Jack or Muenster cheese •2 ounces cream cheese, cubed •8 ounces small curd, low-fat cottage cheese •2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small cubes •1/4 cup all-purpose flour •1/2 teaspoon baking powder •pinch of fresh chives •salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste •optional - 1 small can of diced green chiles, a dash of crushed red pepper, or a handful of your favorite roasted veggies Thoroughly spray a 1.5-quart casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and sugar. Add the 3 cheeses and the butter, whisking well. Add the flour, baking powder, chives, salt, pepper and optional ingredients (if desired) and whisk or stir gently to combine. Pour mixture in the greased 1.5-quart casserole dish and place in a 325 degree F oven for approximately 45 minutes (begin checking at about 40 minutes and cook until center is set and knife inserted in center comes out clean). Note: This casserole may be assembled ahead of time (up to 1 day in advance if covered tightly with wrap) and refrigerated until baking. Remove wrap, allow casserole dish to warm at room temperature for about 15 minutes, then bake in a preheated 325 degree F oven for approximately 60 minutes if casserole goes into the oven pre-chilled. Yield: serves 6-8

Great photos everyone....Lou your chicken, Ann's birthday dinner for Moe, Kathleen's blueberry tart...and that clematis is beautiful! Coconut's cabbage casserole and Malna's asparagus....all delicious. Oh and your deer and bunnies Malna...I would melt if I found one of those in my garden! I've been too busy to post the past few days, but we had a roast turkey breast ages ago, which ended up as turkey curry. But yesterday was a great adventure, as I drove up the volcano with friends and we met up with the Warner Bros. film crew as they were filming the new version of Clash of the Titans. Ohmigosh...do those people ever need a lot of trucks, vans, trailers, equipment and people!!!! They have taken over one lane of the road at the top of the volcano with their stuff and the little govenment hotel at the top is now the centre of a sea of white trailers and cabins. I will try and post some pics I took of that over on Conversations. My friends took me to a lovely little restaurant....in the highest village of all Spain! Yes the air was clear and we sat under a grape arbour....couldn't have been more picturesque. And up there are seas of pink rock roses in bloom, white and yellow broom, fields of giant buttercups, California poppies, yellow roses, masses of geraniums hanging over walls. It was a beautiful trip and the sky was such an intense blue up at the top! They ate goat and rabbit and I ate chicken. Wolfram decided not to come with us as it's such a long, hot drive and he prefers to stay home where it's quiet and cool. Here are some pics of where and what we ate: 1. Entering the small patio restaurant 2. The view under the grape arbour where we sat. 3. Salad, bread and wine arrives. 4. A dish of stewed goat (not mine). 5. The amazing red tajinaste flower, endemic only to the top of this volcano is now in bloom. I'm posting a slideshow of my photos taken there over on Conversations, including the Warner Bros. crew filming a scene up there on the mountain. See you there. SharonCb

I made the pecan tart on Ann's blog. I sent it to the grandparent's house yesterday while still warm. Alice took it with her when she went for a visit yesterday. The recipe as given: Double Chocolate Pecan Pie ========================== For the filling: 3 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces ¾ cup packed dark brown sugar ½ tsp. salt 2 large eggs ½ cup corn syrup (I used half maple syrup, half corn syrup) 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped into small pieces 3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped 3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped Butter-Lard Pastry ================== Edited: May/20092 cups all purpose flour 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup butter 1/3 cup lard (or shortening- Crisco) 5 to 6 tablespoons of ice water For sweet pies add 1 to 2 teaspoons white sugar. Mix flour with salt, and cut in butter and lard. An easy way to cut in the fat is to use a food Processor. Cut the butter and lard into cubes add to the flour and pulse. Butter/lard should be the size of peas. Pour mixture into a bowl and add the icewater, mixing quickly with a fork, just until the dough come stogether. Turn out on to floured board and form into a ball. Cut into two pieces, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for an hour. Another way to cut into the butter is to use a box grater. Makes the perfect size pieces of butter. Just make sure that the butter is very cold. NOTE: This crust is also perfect made with all butter. On a lightly-floured work surface, roll the pie dough out into a 12-inch round. Transfer the round to a 9-inch pie plate by rolling the dough around the rolling pin and unrolling it over the pie pan. Trim the edges as necessary and create a fluted pattern using a finger to make the indentations. Freeze the dough-lined pie plate until firm and very cold, about 30 minutes. Adjust an oven rack to lower middle position and heat the oven to 375° F. Remove the dough-lined plate from the freezer, press a sheet of foil inside the pie shell and fill with ceramic baking beads. Bake about 30 minutes, until the dough looks dry and light in color. Carefully remove the foil and weights. Continue baking the crust 5-6 minutes more, until light golden brown. While the pie crust is baking, make the filling. Melt the butter in a medium heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Remove the bowl from the double boiler but maintain the simmering water. Stir in the sugar and salt with a wooden spoon until the butter is absorbed. Beat in the eggs, corn syrup and vanilla. Return the bowl to the double boiler and heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture is shiny and hot to the touch, about 130° F on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from the heat and stir in the pecans. As soon as the pie shell comes out of the oven, lower the oven temperature to 275° F. Pour the filling into the pie shell. Scatter the chopped chocolate pieces over the filling and press into the filling with the back of a spoon. Bake on the middle rack of the oven about 50-60 minutes, until the pie looks set but slightly soft, like gelatin, when gently pressed with the back of a spoon. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool for at least 4 hours. _________________________________________________________ With apologies to Ann, I got lazy! I also wanted all pecan, no chocolate. I omitted the chocolate and added another cup of pecans. I left the pecans as whole halves, I didn't chop, nor did I toast. I also didn't prebake the crust. I put the two cups of pecans in the chilled crust in the tart pan and poured the egg/sugar/butter/maple syrup mix (which I heated in the double boiler until the sugar was dissolved) over the pecans. I baked it at 350 until it was set and the crust was golden brown. About 45 minutes. The report from all who had a piece was that it was absolutely wonderful. Thank you Ann! Here is a link that might be useful: Pecan Tart

Bean...I guess I should have made it clearer, yes that it was Epiphany day which here in Spain is like Christmas Day as far as gift giving. The children wake up to find their gifts, brought by the Three Kings during the night. So the day is one of family reunions, dressing up and holiday dining in or out. Annie I would love a taste of those baked beans! I can just imagine how good they were. I must also see if I can incorporate more of them into our diet, if I'm allowed, as I could live on beans and lentils quite happily. Wolf also says he'd like less meat and more fish and lentils. Today I harvested some of my basil, but only cutting off the tops and using it together half and half with some I purchased and made a really good pesto. We had it with whole wheat spaghetti and a salad of dark ruby lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and red onion. It was a favourite combination. Took photos of both dishes....then I went brain dead and accidentally wiped out instead of downloading the pics of the spaghetti. Darn...it looked so nice too! But the pesto recipe I took from TV is a winner, so here is a photo I made another time when I made it over wide noodles, along with today's salad platter. Rainy and cold here today. Only went outdoors long enough to feed the birds and our ferral cat. Pesto - from Italian TV Cook Program 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 cups basil leaves 1/2 cup olive oil 1/2 teasp salt 1/2 teasp f.g. pepper 1/2 cup parmesan grated 1/2 cup pine nuts teasp water Process all except oil in food processor, drizzling in oil slowly last. SharonCb