My Turn
Potluck
Rebecca Thatcher Murcia
These days, recipe writers seem to want time-pressed cooks to cut corners. They also seem to assume that nobody knows how to make their own dough anymore. My standards are pretty low but when a recipe calls for dough from a cardboard can I just turn the page. Dr. Marty’s interview reminds us of the importance of slowing down and taking time. It makes me think of a very old and very popular recipe for spinach tomato quiche. It takes about an hour to make and then you have to bake it for 90 minutes. It’s not difficult, but there are several steps to follow. It’s worth it—especially if you do it as a family.
I used to make this spinach tomato quiche recipe for potlucks held by my preschool mothers’ play group in Austin, Texas. One of the mothers loved the quiche so much that she asked me to bring two of them to her daughter’s birthday party as the main dish. Flattered, I agreed, and then promptly forgot.
The morning of the lunch-time party, my husband took our only car to a meeting, leaving me at home with our sons, who were two and four. My friend called to confirm the plans for the party and I realized I was in a pickle. I had not bought the ingredients and the grocery store was almost two miles away. “Of course I’m still making the quiches,” I said, suppressing the urge to panic.
As soon as I hung up the phone, the race–literally–was on. I threw both the children into the double-wide running stroller and took off as fast as I could. I grabbed the quiche ingredients at the grocery store and ran all the way home, panting, as I told my happy passengers that it was all hands on deck as soon as we arrived at the kitchen. Surprisingly, considering their youth, both the boys seemed to understand the urgency. The two-year-old washed spinach as fast as he could while the four-year-old grated cheese and broke eggs like a professional. I whipped up the pie dough, rolled it out, pierced it to prevent bubbles and baked it for ten minutes. Then I fried the onions, garlic and spinach, added the spices to the milk mixture and sliced the tomatoes. In record time I was turning the oven back on and the boys were putting the grated cheese–after a taste to make sure it was good–into the pre-baked crusts and I was layering the spinach mixture on top.
My friend’s husband arrived to take us to the party just as I was taking the lovely-looking pies out of the oven. “Thank you so much for doing that,” he said. “Were there any problems?”
“Oh no,” I answered, smiling. “It was no problem at all.”
So the next time you are expecting company, you can double this recipe and make two quiches. You can also put the pie crust in a big baking pan to make an extra large quiche or add pieces of bacon to make it richer. Let your imagination go, but remember to make a note of all commitments. In Akron, Pennsylvania, I’m Rebecca Thatcher Murcia.
