Vows are sometimes meant to be broken...

 Last year I banished all the silk flowers from my home except for one large Capodimonte vase in our bedroom and one vase that sits on a little shelf in the living room.  I vowed to never buy any more dust catching silks.  Ha!  Last week found me at Michaels buying some additions for my living room vase and my old autumn wreath.

I rarely start from scratch on any project but instead recycle and add a few new embellishments.  My motto is "quick, easy, and cheap."

The dried flowers that were in my living room vase were utterly disgusting and I couldn't get them in the trash pile fast enough. I picked up a few very inexpensive flowers and tall squiggly things that matched my cute little wall lamp shade (you can read about that cute little lamp here) and stuffed them in the vase. Time and money spent (other then shopping)?  Maybe 5 minutes and $4.00. 

My fall wreath, languishing in the barn got a few new fall leaves and a ribbon from the Dollar store crammed on it and hit the wall.  Time and money spent?  10 minutes and $2.00.  Ah - that's my kind of decorating...

Introducing another Adrienne. 

Good heavens!  The Adrienne's are multiplying like flies or mice - or something. 

La Vie Quotidienne (which means "daily life")  is home to Adrienne of the pretty red hair, 100 watt smile, and a flare for all things French.  Adrienne can make beautiful clothes,  has designer mice in her house, and has a scarecrow that's better dressed than moi. 

I threw in the moi (sole extent of my French) so Adrienne wouldn't think I was a dummy or something.  After all, she and Parisienne Farm Girl have potagers.  I only have a garden.  Sigh...

Meantime, Roz, over at La Bella Vita is whipping up one of my favorite breakfast or brunch items - frittatas.  As usual she has explicit instructions and great pictures.  I posted a simple "clean out the fridge frittata" a few months ago. 

Frittata for Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner

Frittata is an Italian version of the omelette, except way easier to make. I refer to it as my "clean out the refrigerator" breakfast since just about anything and everything can go in a frittata.

For this morning's frittata I chopped up two slices of bacon and browned them in a medium non-stick pan. Putting the bacon aside I added chopped onion, fresh asparagus (cut into small pieces), and roasted red pepper to the pan. While that was cooking, hubby was whipping up four eggs with a little milk added.

I put the bacon back in the pan and poured in the eggs. I had a bit of Jarslberg cheese so I chopped that up and sprinkled it in the eggs.  When it was almost done I popped it under the broiler where it puffed up nicely.  The last thing I did was throw some grated sharp cheddar cheese on top and gave it a minute more under the broiler. 

Hubby toasted some sourdough bread and breakfast was ready.  Hubby is great about cleaning up as I cook, so the kitchen was essentially spotless when breakfast was ready.  I'm a pepper freak, so all those little black speckles on top is fresh cracked pepper.

What can you put in a frittata?  Just about anything.  It's one of my standbys for Sunday brunches where I usually take a bit of extra time to cook sliced potatoes to use for a bottom "crust."  Almost any leftovers will work - beef roast, chicken, and almost all veggies like spinach, tomatoes, broccoli, or zucchini.  Left over pasta?  Yum - throw it in your frittata.  

You can take a wedge of frittata for a wonderful lunch. It's just a good cold as hot (sometimes better!)  And frittatas are great for dinner, too.

Have a family to cook for?  Right after dinner prepare all the veggies and whatnot and put the pan in the fridge.  In the morning whip up the eggs and cook. 

Happy eating...