Friday, March 11, 2011

HOORAY FOR TRADER JOE'S

$242.28  

That's the amount Rachel and I paid at Trader Joe's when buying ingredients for our girlfriend's baby shower we're catering tomorrow.  With a total of 24 RSVPs, that equaled out to $10.09/per person and we were happy to discover at checkout that we stayed under budget! 

The cheese selection at Trader Joe's is amazing and VERY well priced. They carry a truffle cheese that is out of this world.  One of the appetizers we're going to make is a platter of crumbled goat cheese topped with chopped dried fruits and nuts.  We thought it'd be a nice contrast to use salted nuts to offset the sweetness of the dried fruit and the creaminess of the goat cheese.  Spoon this mixture onto a sliced baguette and I'm confident our guests will be super excited to try our other dishes.

Also on the menu, mini Zucchini Quiches.  Rachel and I bought mini paper baking cups at Sur La Table at $.25/each.  These quiches are going to look (and hopefully taste) fabulous.  I wanted to share with you today the Zucchini Quiche recipe I got from this lady, Winnie Case, who lived across the street from my family when we lived in Florida.  She was a delightful woman who lived with her two toy poodles and she loved to cook.  Thank you, Winnie, for this recipe.  I have made this quiche many times and everyone always raves about how delicious it is.   Hopefully that will be the case this weekend!

ZUCCHINI QUICHE
1 cup Bisquick
½ tsp. seasoning salt (or to taste)
dash cayenne pepper
dash pepper
½ Tbsp. chopped parsely
½ tsp. dried marjoram
1 tsp. dried oregano
¾ cup grated parmesan
4 eggs slightly beaten
1/3 cup vegetable oil or less
1 ½ cup chopped onion, sauteed, seasoned with S&P
1 clove garlic, minced
3 unpared zucchini, thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9 x 9 inch casserole dish.
In a large bowl combine biscuit mix, seasoning salt, cayenne pepper, pepper, parsley, marjoram, oregano and Parmesan cheese.  Stir in eggs and oil, then the sauteed onion and garlic.  Mix well.  Fold in zucchini.  Pour into prepared casserole dish.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until cooked through and golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before slicing.  Since we are making mini quiches, we will have to guesstimate baking times.  

We're waking up early tomorrow morning to start prepping.  But we're not complaining.  We will happily lose sleep to start cooking in the kitchen!

M & R