I was 17 when I really understood that eaters could slavishly be mine. It was my mother’s birthday and we were celebrating with a grand bash at a friend’s house. By then I had a reputation for cooking for celebrations so I made Julia Child’s Quiche Lorraine from Mastering the Art. I followed the recipe to the letter and people went nuts. NUTS. I had been cooking on my own for years but at this party a light bulb went off in my brain. I was to use food to lure beautiful men for years. Now I just enjoy making people (ages 2 to 100) happy.
So tonight I just couldn’t face another sweet pie. It’s the seventh day of this pie commitment so I thought, “Why not make Mom happy with a quiche for dinner?” She is a corn aficionado so I put together a “pie” of sauteed fresh corn niblets, a bit of bacon, a couple of tablespoons of gruyere and Julia’s ratio of custard (1 egg in a measuring cup then cream to reach 1/2 cup). I used half and half, (after all my mom is 89) and I poured it all into a cornmeal crust inspired by James’ McNair’s Pie Cookbook.
Mc Nair’s book has all these wonderful suggestions for decorating the edge of your pie. I attempted the “Checkerboard”, forgetting that I had to blind bake the crust, angling parchment paper and a pound of beans around the little pieces of dough edge facing the filling. Oh well. Next time it will be prettier. I have to buy some different pie pans too. Getting a little tired of the pyrex thing. And oh, it was delicious.