Last night on a subway halfway under the East River a quick purse excavation confirmed what we suddenly feared -- a distinct lack of house keys on our person. The day's lunch of leftover Easter ham and homemade challah bread satisfied our epicurean side but was woefully inadequate when it came to blood sugar maintenance -- hence the walking away, the leaving the keys behind and the "aw, crap!"

We panic a tad in moments like this and scramble right to our happy comfort place -- mentally cataloging the contents of our fridge, flipping the pieces this way and that until they interlocked and a picture formed.

The ham, gotta get through the ham. Well it could go with the red cabbage ... no, no ... the scallions. And eggs, oh right! We remembered to buy eggs. Tortilla espanola? Oh wait, got it -- still have that puff pastry left over from the Eccles cakes and that makes ... sacre damn bleu! We've got the makings for a serious quiche -- if we can actually get into the house.

By some strange miracle (we like to think it's The Secret, of course) our beloved husband materialized on the same train car two stops before ours, and in lieu of a civilized "Hi honey, how was your day?" we collapsed into him sighing "We'regonnahavequichetonightpleasedon'targue." Once in the house, we made a beeline for the Julia Child to verify proportions, and got to rolling, chopping, whisking -- grateful not to have to think, just to act. Half an hour later, there was a ridiculously delicious quiche in front of us, without single extra cent or second spent at the grocery store.

Perhaps y'all are more forward-thinking than some of us, but when do you actually decide what's going to be for dinner that night? Do you cook it all up on Sunday, and apportion throughout the week? Do you daydream about what's on hand and pick up any extra ingredients on the way home? Or do you stand in front of the fridge, staring, and make do with what's in front of you?




Get the Ham and Gruyere Quiche recipe after the jump.

I am a puff pastry virgin. I've never worked with the stuff (although I have a box hanging out in my freezer at the moment, waiting for the time when I'm ready to play with it). Mandy at Fresh From the Oven takes it a step further, by making her own puff pastry from scratch (rolling it out during the Super Bowl, no less).

Thanks Mandy, for adding such a gorgeous image to our Flickr pool!

I fell in love with eclairs when I was just a teenager, working in a deli. We'd get a shipment of pastries from a local pastry shop once a week, and I quickly learned that these delicacies of pate a choux, pastry cream and dark chocolate were best fresh. If no one else was around, I'd sometimes pay half-price for one of them and eat it for breakfast (technically, against the rules, but in the spirit of understanding my product, no?). Days later I felt badly selling them, the pastry no longer flaky and light, the cream no longer vanilla-scented but more like deli-fridge-scented.

When I saw these treats from Renaissance Culinaire, I knew they were fresh. You can just taste chocolate ganache, can't you? It would be a crime to let these go until tomorrow. Next time you make cream puffs, Amber, I'll be happy to help you save them from languishing uneaten...