Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Pot Lucky

The party went really well--I think everyone enjoyed themselves. I certainly did. And the pot luck idea was really fun--a great chance for people to ooh and aah over each other's cooking. I made a big tray of deviled eggs (with scallions and chili powder), a pot of frijoles (with a smoked ham hock), and frozen margaritas. K made delicious, gooey brownies.

The extra-special benefit here is leftovers. Yesterday, I grabbed three deviled egg halves for breakfast this morning, and brought half of the leftover pepper-onion-cheddar quiche for lunch. Dinner was more deviled eggs and some tortilla chips with spinach-artichoke dip. Today, breakfast was a piece of coffee cake, and lunch will be the rest of the quiche. I also froze individual portions of the leftovers from the big, deliciously crusty macaroni and cheese with broccoli, edamame, and peas: there are five or six foil packets of the stuff in my freezer, and I'll have one for dinner tonight.

Speaking of quiche, I only just figured this out: quiche is seriously frugal food. You buy a frozen pie shell, which I would (I do make pie crust myself, but I've got none of the appropriate tools in my own kitchen--neither food processor nor pastry cutter--and would probably not want to do the whole routine on a Tuesday), here is how you make quiche: you throw leftover whatever in a blind-baked pie shell, you pour milk and eggs on top, you bake, you eat. Voila! C'est marveilleux, non? I'm definitely going to get a couple of frozen pie shells for my freezer. They generally cost less than $4 for a package of two, so it's a very low-cost dish.

In fact, I'm hoping the leftovers from the party will last us all week. I think it's a serious possibility, and that would make me and my very broke boyfriend two very happy campers.

Point is: pot lucks are great! Creativity, cooking, variety, leftovers! I'd almost like to make it a monthly affair (rotating, of course, so the leftovers-bounty and the cleaning-burden are shared).

11 comments:

Revanche said...

Happy Belated Birthday!

Anonymous said...

I make pie crusts regularly, but have neither a food processor or pastry cutter. (To be honest, I don't even know what a pastry cutter is.) Why do you need these things? Besides the ingredients, I just use a fork and a bowl, and my crusts always come out just fine.

A. Marigold said...

Happy birthday again! Sounds like a fun time.

Anonymous said...

*ahem* like anonymous, i think you can make pie crust without a food processor or a pastry cutter. a fork, bowl, and paring knife will do the trick. that said, you might not have learned how to makepie crusts that way. also, it's quicker to use the frozen ones, and working people couldn't get by without shortcuts, so no worries. but just for clarification, there you have it.

oh and quiche sounds interesting... i've never made it, and maybe i'll try.

Anonymous said...

Happy belated b-day!! And please post either the recipe or link for K's brownies. I'm over here in Philly just dying to make them!!

xoxo Ally

Anonymous said...

We like quiche too--lots of veggies, lots of protein--and we usually use the rolled up piecrusts that are in the refrigerated section near the refrigerator biscuits, butter, etc. This usually costs $2.15 for a two-pack, cheaper than the frozen ones here. If anyone knows cheaper alternatives, I'd be interested; I've never learned to make a piecrust because my mom's always self-destruct, to the great bemusement of Grandma.

SavingDiva said...

I've never made a pie crust, and I don't plan on making one...ever! It sounds like too much effort...

Anonymous said...

Great tips on the quiche. I think I'll have to talk my wife into making some of those. We usually have eggs that need to be used because I eat a lot of eggs, just not enough!

Throw some veggies in there and you have a good, cheap meal!

Thanks again.

imtheirishone said...

Happy Birthday! That food sounds so good I would so love to raid your freezer lol. Sorry blaming it on the pms:)

Anonymous said...

Hehehe...I wrote a similar post about how frugal pot lucks are and how fantastic leftovers are earlier this week. Mmmm...Love 'em! :)

Happy bday again!

HC said...

You know, I haven't had quiche in awhile, and it's finally chilly enough outside that I might want it.

Hmmm.

I'm glad all the birthday fun went well.