quick & delicious quiches

Quiche is always on sale in the supermarkets and i always used to fall for it because i totally love quiche until i realised i was disappointed every time and in fact found the taste pretty gross. each time i hoped it would taste better and it never did. so i decided to make my own. i found an amazing recipe and cooked it for a visitor - it took hours and we ate dinner at about 10pm. it tasted good but was so involved and complicated that i gave up on home-made quiche.... until i came across Clare's brilliant recipe over at Lovely Things to Make & Bake. It is so quick and easy and totally delicious... it met all my quiche expectations! i made it in a huge hurry in order to take it on a picnic with family. as usual i got the idea in my head to make quiche for our picnic tea for the kids in a National Trust House with beautiful rose gardens. i didn't leave enough time but could not possibly abandon my romantic idea of taking home-made quiche so i ploughed on with gusto - manicly throwing in ingredients. i let the kids help for about 5 minutes and then got too flustered and turned on the tv for them. i picked up my sister very late (she understood - she does the same thing when she gets a good notion) and we set off at high speed - we got lost, almost ran out of petrol in the middle of nowhere, got stuck behind a tractor and both kids fell fast asleep for the whole drive (=bedtime nightmare!). We arrived to find my sister-in-law and kids in an overflow parking field next to the stately home. it had closed half an hour before. ugggh..  we made the most and laid our blankets at the edge of the field as it slowly emptied of cars. there was in fact a sweet river (with face-height barbed wire) and lovely long grass for playing in. as the kids crawled and hid and lept and made paths and rooms in the long grass we reminisced about how much we all adored playing in long grass (when we were young, haven't done it much lately) - there is something magical about it. perhaps the kids will remember the long grass more than they would the beautifully manicured rose gardens. i will remember the quiche. even my kids loved the one i stuffed with sweetcorn and cheddar. 

here's how to make two quiches (this way you can do different fillings or pop one in the freezer. however you will want to eat a whole one yourself when you taste it):

combine and then mix together with your hands to form a dough: 250g plain flour, 100g butter and 3 tbs cold water. divide in to two balls, roll out and put in your quiche dishes

Fill the dishes with whatever vegetables and cheeses take your fancy. I did the following:

Quiche 1: lots of tinned sweetcorn, some crumbled feta cheese, sliced tomato and chunks of cheddar cheese (grate if you have time)

Quiche 2: large handful of spinach, lots of chunks of feta cheese, sliced tomatoes

Whisk 4 eggs and mix with 1/2 pint milk. season with salt & pepper. pour half of the mixture over each quiche filling and bake for about 30mins or until just turning golden.

still warm when we finally arrived

here is our spot - not too bad after all

the river

the long grass

i find it very satisfying packing picnics

cheese & avocado sandwiches (my & the kids favourite)
i hate unpacking picnics when you get home tired and have to scrape soggy smelly leftovers out of tupperware