Pillow decorating and happiness over the simple things in life

A good Thursday to all of you.  I hope all is well out in the blogging world.  My spirits are returning and I am getting back into enjoying the every day things in life again.  My decision to disconnect from social media like Facebook for a while was the right decision.  With the way of the world right now, there was just too much negative attention on all that is wrong with the world.  I want to concentrate on all that is right in the world instead...  And there are so many things that are right in the world.  

I have been playing with the flower pattern that Lucy at Attic 24 designed.  She designed it for a wall hanging but I have been playing with it to instead turn it into motifs for my pillow that will go on my bed.  I will be making them all different sizes and lengths and kind of random as far as colors go from the scrap basket.  Originally I didn't think I would do this and wanted to hold off until some of the books I ordered recently from Amazon.com came, but I am too impatient and decided to play with her design and instead of using it as a wall hanging, turn it into a motif.  I am picturing this with various size flowers and maybe some crocheted butterflies or something to turn it into a fun and festive garden pillow.  

The weather here has been dreadful and the nice warm blast we had a week or two ago with sunshine has gone into hiding.  This is perfect weather for completing such projects.

I have decided to think about things that make me happy!  I was out front with my kitty cat and watching him guard his post on the front steps.  His head moved like clockwork from side to side like watching a tennis match.  This really made me chuckle... He was so intense with his stare.  He is a great guard and takes his job so seriously.

Of course all that guarding of the property makes for a very tired and lazy afternoon nap.  I just want to curl up and sleep next to him.  It is really hard to resist going back to bed when you see a cute and adorable kitty cat all snuggled up.

My new salt mill on the right that I got for Easter from a dear friend, to match the pepper mill on the left that she purchased for Christmas for me makes me giddy.  Are they not the cutest salt and pepper mills you ever did see?  Every time I cook I think of her now.  I have them filled with whole fresh pepper corns and big grains of sea salts.  It really does making cooking a lot of fun.  I will think of Lora every time I cook.  We go way back in our friendship.  She is the friend that we were together and joined at the hip during our teen years.  Can you believe that even as dramatic drama filled teenage girls, we never once had a fight!  I can't ever remember not getting along with her ever..  A friend like that is a rare gem and a rare find.  I am very blessed not only for these salt and pepper mills but more for what they symbolize.  Life is good!

With all the cold rainy weather, hot soup has been on the menu.  I really enjoyed curling up and hooking on my pillow after enjoying a nice big bowl of French onion soup au gratin.  It is such a simple thing but oh so good and oh so comforting.  Yesterday was absolutely stormy in the morning and I already have a giant pot of clam chowder on the menu to make soon.  I purchased all the ingredients at Costco yesterday for that.  

An apple pie goes a long ways in brightening the mood around here.  There is nothing like a hot slice of pie with some tea.  I wanted to tell you all that when you roll out your pie dough and there are little bits of scraps left not to waste them!  Instead roll them out, and use a cookie cutter to make decorative shapes to place on top.  If there is enough flour on the cutting board when you roll it out, then you will be able to "glue" your shapes to the pie and decorate it.  Simply just dip your finger in some ice water and dab on the back of the shape before placing on the pie.  I then brush the pie with some melted butter and sprinkle with some sugar to give it a golden color, which makes the shapes stand out that much more.   A pretty pie makes me very happy.  

All in all, life is good.  I hope these images helped to lift your spirits as much as they have mine.  Sometimes it is just those little simple things in life that keeps me happy.  I don't wish to live in a cave and block out the world completely.  I do like to know world events and what is going on and I am actually very active with the process of democracy, but a little of that goes a long way.  I can only take so much of it and it does not serve me well to sit all day and see reminders of it and concentrate on "we are doomed, the world is one messed up place".   I like to get my news for the day and then move on.  I think one can drive themselves insane by sitting and watching the news all day long with the doom and gloom.  Well, that was what was happening to me with reading Facebook because link after link of news stories and strong opinions on world events.  It was just too much doom and gloom collectively and I was facing burn out.  I am enjoying my vacation time away from it and once again settled into the happy little things in life.  

Life is great if you can just look around you and enjoy the bounty and be grateful for what you have no matter how simple it is.  They say, a person is not grateful because they are happy, but happy because they are grateful.  I find this to be very true!  

So stop what you are doing, look around and pick 5 things you are grateful for right now, no matter how simple it is... it goes a long way in feeling inner peace and happiness.  It works for me :) 

Until next time... xxxxxxxxx

Worlds Easiest Spinach Pie Tutorial & Recipe

This is the worlds easiest spinach pie!  I came up with this originally because I purchase big bags of spinach at Costco on a regular basis.  We love spinach at our house.  I needed to use some of it up one day and came up with this.

Make your favorite pie crust recipe.  I find the one on the back of the Crisco container to be a good one.  In this case I measured 1 cup of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/3 cup of shortening into the food processor and gave it a few quick pulses.  Then add about 1/4 cup of ice cold water and give a few more pulses until it comes together.  Do not whir it in the processor until the dough forms a ball.  It will still be crumbly but moist, and it will form a ball when you take it out of the food processor.  You don't want to overwork the dough but mix it just enough to come together.  If you over work the dough, it will be tough.  You want tender dough.  

Roll out your dough and place into your pie dish.  Go ahead and prick the bottom with a fork.  This prevents air bubbles from forming under the dough while it bakes.

Set the pie crust to one side.  Now here comes the really easy part for the filling.  

I use fresh spinach so I steam the washed spinach in a pot.  Just rinse the spinach and drain it, dump it in a pot with a lid and steam until all wilted and cooked.  There is no need to add additional water to the pot as there is enough water clinging to the leaves to do the job.   Then dump it into a big strainer and let cool some.  You will then need to squeeze out the extra moisture with your clean hands until it forms a ball like the one pictured here.  If you use frozen spinach, just let it thaw and then squeeze into a ball to get the extra moisture out.  I like to use about a pound of spinach per pie to give it flavor.

Now here comes the super easy and super flexible part of this entire recipe!  

 Since a pie holds 4 cups of fillings, I came up with the recipe in this manner.  Take a 4 cup measuring cup and we will be filling it with ingredients.  This means there is no need to measure individual ingredients.  Take your spinach and plop in the bottom of the measuring cup.  Then crack open 3 eggs and place in the measuring cup.  From there the sky is the limit.  I put in a big hunk of onion, some feta cheese and some big hunks of cheddar cheese.  I was out of milk this time so I put some sour cream to give it creamy richness.  Add whatever seasonings you want (if any, the cheese in this case adds enough salt) and then fill the cup to the 4 cup mark with milk.  In this case I added water in addition to the sour cream.  If you are unsure that the pie will set up, go ahead and add 1/8 cup or so of flour to the cup as well. 

Dump the whole lot into your food processor that you made the pie crust in.  I don't even bother to wash between stages.  It does not matter with this recipe.  Go ahead and just use it.  The little bit of flour left in the food processor from making the pie dough will not hurt the filling. 

Then just pulse the whole thing until it is finely chopped up.  Do not puree it!  You want it to have a little bit of texture.  See, wasn't that easy?  You don't have to grate cheese or onions or get all fussy about it.  It all mixes together and is chopped up perfectly.

Next just pour the entire thing into your pie crust.  Assuming that you did everything correctly, it should just fill the pie crust perfectly with no waste at all.   I measured slightly over 4 cups here but it all fit into the pie just fine.  Then I sliced some tomato and places a bit of feta cheese on top before placing into the oven.  

Preheat the oven to 400 and bake for 15 minutes and then turn down the oven without peeking at the pie, to 375 and bake another 45 minutes.  Depending on which ingredients you used, it might need a little more time.  Go ahead and take it out of the oven when a knife inserted in the center comes out clean and not coated with egg. 

This is best if you let it rest a bit before slicing and serving as it will firm up some.  If you try serving too soon, it might still be a little loose.  

I like this served with some fruit on the side.  It makes for a super simple dinner or brunch.  We add a variety of ingredients to this and this makes a great clean out the fridge type pie.  It really isn't a quiche but is kind of based on one.  Just let your imagination go wild with what you want to add.  The only rule is that you must use at least 3-4 eggs per pie, and you need something creamy added to it for texture.  I was thinking a Reuben pie might be good, by adding Swiss cheese, kraut and corned beef... I might have to give it a try and see.  It only takes minutes to make this with the food processor and you have no waste by using the 4 cup measuring cup to know you have just the right amount of ingredients to fill a pie.  

Sometimes when I make this people ask for the recipe.  There is no recipe, with the exception to the general rules I just highlighted.  When I try to explain I get the deer in the headlights look staring back at me sometimes.  I thought if I made a pictorial that it might help with some of the confusion.   It is really simple, and really tasty.  Now go forth and make yourself a simple spinach pie!  I know you can! xxxxxxxx