Services

I was not raised religiously, though for a great deal of my life lived in a place where 60% of my peers were church-going of some sort or another. Most of my friends growing up were either evangelical christian or Mormon and as a result I was constantly in the process of being saved.  Unfortunately (for me) I turned out to be (in their eyes) unsaveable. Despite tens of trips to church services, church camps, and church youth groups I remain unsure about the nature of my relationship with God and/or Jesus (as well as my and my families impending afterlife). Thankfully, my churchless parents understood the importance of a few traditions, namely the importance of eating together.  Thus, leave it to a Hill to form a "service" revolving entirely around food, in this case a weekly gathering celebrating my Grandmother BettieJean's waffle recipe. To be fair, church service involved one other (perhaps more key) element, the teaching of that great prophet, Jackson Browne.  Every Sunday morning (or at least many Sunday mornings) I was awoken by Lives in the Balance or The Pretender blaring on the stereo (which at the time was annoying to my sleep loving body and Debbie Gibson listening ears).  All was made better by the sweet smell of waffles in the iron. Hence was born The Church of Sunday Morning Waffles and Jackson Browne Music.

This tradition has actually survived the longest of any of our family traditions. If ever we are home on a Sunday we hold services; my sister-in-law, Laura actually made my father a defacto "pope" hat. They (my brother Josh and Laura) held regular services when they lived in San Luis Obispo, while Jay and I have formed a splinter cell up here in Seattle: The Church of Sunday Morning Frittata and Jackson Browne Music (we don't own a waffle iron, I am ashamed to admit).

Well yesterday morning we held services and true to form listened to JB's acoustic album while I prepared my most basic frittata.  You can pretty much add any vegetable you like in this recipe, most often I add spinach. Just add the spinach right before you add the egg.  If you are using a heartier vegetable simply add it earlier:

Basic Frittata

makes 8 slices

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 large white potato, thinly sliced

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp salt

6 medium eggs

1 cup lowfat milk

1/2 cup shredded parmesan reggiano

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil in a 9" cast iron skillet over medium heat. Cook onions, potatoes, oregano, and red pepper flakes until onions are just starting to brown. Salt and pepper to taste. Combine milk and eggs and whisk thoroughly. Pour egg mixture into skillet and cook for one minute. Transfer to the over and cook for 20 minutes until the frittata is cooked through. Sprinkle cheese over the top and move to the broiler. Broil until cheese is bubbling. Let cool for 5 minutes and cut into 8 slices.