Every life is marked by two days; the day you are born and the day you die, every other day of life falls in between.
I have been feeling rather in between lately. I am not entirely sure what I mean by that except that I am kind of freaking out about life and work and how hard it is to be happy about both at the same time. And instead of finding one that sustains me through the rough patches of the other I am instead feeling that they are both headed down the wrong track. Could I be heading headlong into a midlife crisis (albeit early since I have this crazy superstition that I will live until my 94th year, no more, no less)? Or is it just the difficulty of adjusting to change? It is hard to say. And if it is a midlife crisis is that more than a theoretical construct wedged between the unhappiness in my day to day existence coupled with the vampire like ability of my job to suck all the joy out of just about everything like a vampire that has live in Alaska for the summer and finally arises to the darkening skies of fall. Or maybe it is more like a leech who has hibernated the winter in the mud at the bottom of the creek and awakes to drink blood until he is engorged and lazy.
I have always thought of fall as being a bit of a between season. There are days of Indian Summer followed by cold rainy days. The light and dark fill roughly the same amount of the day. And in the Celtic calendar, we are quickly approaching Samhain, a cross quarter holiday that finds itself between the equinox and the solstice. It is thought that this is the time to travel between this world and that of the fairies. Maybe you know it as Halloween. The Celts saw twilight, crossroads, these half way point as powerful, as doorways. Maybe I should be looking for opportunity, start setting some goals (or following through on those set and then set aside). WIth some recent requests from my three readers for more blog posting, I will again participate in National Blog Posting Month (NABLOPOMO). After a long abandoned goal of running a 10 mile race, I am training for a 15 K race. I know it is a mile shorter but goodness, I am 7 years older and close to 20 pounds heavier... There are other things and maybe I will share them as I continue on my journey. Little by little, I am trying to take back the control that I feel I have lost.
At the market we can see this between time as well. The last of the summer tomatoes, basil and eggplant mingle with the winter squash, potatoes and the return of the dark leafy greens. To celebrate this I made this healthy casserole to serve my breakfast needs on these dark autumn mornings.
Between the Seasons Goat Cheese Custard Bake
This is a great breakfast, brunch or light lunch dish to make with the last of the cherry tomatoes. Slightly adapted from a recipe for Swiss Chard and Goat Cheese Custard Bake from Kalyn's Kitchen
Ingredients (8 wedges)
- 2 cups raw onion, sliced thin
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- 8 cups kale, stemmed and chopped
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup skim milk
- 6 egg
- 2 1/3 oz part-skim mozzarella cheese
- 4 Tbsp Parmesan cheese (grated) (optional)
- 5 1/4 oz soft-type goat cheese, flavored with garlic and herbs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
- Chop the Kale. Remove stems and dice them into small pieces. Keep these separate as they will be sauteed with the onion. Slice the onion into thin pieces.
- Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan (big enough to hold all the Kale) Add onion and saute 4-5 minutes on medium-high heat, until the onions are starting to become translucent. Toss in the cherry tomatoes. After about 2-3 minutes, add the kale in batches and cook until the kale begins to wilt. Turn off heat and let the mixture cool slightly.
- Combine the milk and goat cheese. Beat the eggs and then add them to the milk mixture and don't forget to season with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. Add the mozzarella and two tablespoons of the Parmesan if using. Add the kale, tomatoes and onions and stir so it's well distributed in the egg mixture.
- Spray a round spring-form pan with olive oil or nonstick spray. (Use a pan that's 8 or 9 inches in diameter.) Put the custard mixture into the pan and top with the remaining two tablespoons of Parmesan. Bake until the mixture is fully set and lightly browned on top, about an hour. SLice into 8 wedges and serve.
- Enjoy!
