Two Birds, One Stone: Dinner of Champions.

Tonight I finally had a night off with Nathan, and we made a delicious dinner together after a fabulous 2-hour nap! I love making dinner with my husband, putting in the time and effort to create something delicious. So for dinner, we made steamed artichokes, basil garlic aoili, garlic cheddar biscuits, and quiche! For dessert we made pudding trio, an easy and delicious dessert we got hooked on when Nathan had his wisdom teeth removed.

So far, steaming artichokes is my favorite method for cooking them. I just added about 2 inches of water to the bottom of a big pot, set the steam basket in it, put in the artichoke, covered, and let it steam to perfection! It's a great no-fat way to cook the artichoke and leave it tender and warm. When eating artichokes, I like to have a few dipping sauces to add some flavor (though I love the natural flavor of artichokes). Tonight we made an easy basil garlic aoili (whisked egg yolks, dijon, oil, basil, & garlic), as well as some melted butter with parmesan. Artichokes are one of my favorite veggies, but we only make them every once in a while because they're somewhat expensive & a bit of a hassle to eat. But they really are a treat whenever we make them.

Now, the quiche was really a learning experience. I used a deep-dish pie crust for the filling, and I think this adversely affected the cooking time. The egg didn't cook all the way through, though it was browning on the top. To remedy this situation, we simply microwaved the slices we wanted to eat immediately & then put the rest of the quiche back in the oven on a lower rack and at a lower temperature. The great thing about quiche is, aside from being super easy to make, it makes for great leftovers!

Now for photos from our fun evening.