Mom's fabulous quiche

Fabulous quiche number one:

Fabulous quiche number two:

Salad:

Mmmm...

Mmmmmmmmm.

Quiche number one: Artichoke, Mushroom and Swiss. 

This quiche includes artichokes, spinach, green onions, mushrooms and swiss cheese.

Quiche number two: Bacon Quiche with Carmelized Onions. 

This one is full of bacon, roasted red peppers, carmelized onions, and sharp cheddar cheese (or in my father's description, "Bacon. Need I say more?"

Let's be honest, she had us all at bacon.

Salad: 

Mixed greens, red onion, fresh raspberries, steelhead trout, and balsamic vinaigrette.

Wine:

A round, buttery Chardonnay (those are the words of my father, I'm still in wine connoisseur training).

I'm thinking this one might even be Food Gawker worthy.

Mom, take that as a huge compliment!

Today I miss the mountains.

Today I miss waking up early, feeling the chill of the air and remembering that I am in Venezuela. I miss pulling on a sweatshirt and walking to the open window to gaze at the mountains, just to reassure myself that I'm really here.

It was like this in Uganda, too. But instead of waking up to crisp, mountain air, I woke up to tropical air. I remember the air being thick and heavy, and smelling of sun-warmed earth and spices.

I think one of my favorite things about traveling was the rush I got when I woke up and remembered that I was somewhere unfamiliar. It's exhilarating - and somehow always caught me by surprise.

It's so different from that other familiar and pleasant feeling - the one you get when you wake up in the place where you feel most at home. It's the feeling you get when you stay over at your parents' house and wake up in the morning wrapped in your favorite soft comforter to the smell of breakfast and coffee.

My theory is, if you go too long without one of those feelings, you start to crave it. For example, when I was abroad in Venezuela, I embraced the rush of excitement that overcame me every morning as I woke up. But then, as I neared the end of my trip I began to crave the comfortable and familiar feeling of waking up in my own bed, close to people I knew and loved, where I could brew my own coffee and drink it out of my favorite coffee cup.

However, now that I've been enjoying that comfort for over seven months now, I'm ready to go abroad again. Where, you ask? At the moment, my list looks a little something like this:

1. Italy
2. Spain
3. Greece
4. India
5. Indonesia
6. Argentina

Lofty, I know. This travel bug is BAD.

Summertime

There's nothing like grilling on a beautiful summer night. 

Last week my parents and I took full advantage of the nice weather...and of our local farmer's market. We used colorful locally grown veggies in our salad (red peppers, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, and lettuce), and the rest we threw on the grill (yellow onions, fingerling potatoes, skewered chicken breast chunks tossed in extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, and rosemary). Simple, yet one of the best summer meals I've had this year!

There are many ways to approach enjoying a summer evening, but here's my preferred method:

1. Grill

2. Relax, eat, drink wine

3. Drink more wine and drool over food magazines.

I want

these Gold Honeycomb Earings. 

Find them, here.

Oh, and this "Dipped in Mint" Blouse...

found, here.

Both of these stellar finds come from Notheast Minneapolis' own Parc Boutique.