As you all know Jamie goes to Rice University in Houston. I remember when she first told me she was applying there. What? Where? TEXAS? NOOOO. My diabolical plan to dissuade her involved visiting the campus in the middle of July. It didn’t work. She loved the campus and the vibe despite the heat and humidity.  It turned out to be the perfect choice. Over the last 3 years we have visited her on numerous occasions and have come to appreciate not just Rice University but the city of Houston. Gone are the pre-conceived notions I had of Houston-it is a vibrant, culturally diverse, rich, welcoming metropolis.

I watch with a sense of profound sadness and helplessness as Houston and the surrounding areas are being pummeled by Harvey.  I thank my lucky stars that Jamie is safe and one of the fortunate ones.  Her area has seen plenty of rain but has not flooded.  I see the photos and videos of places I now know (I drive the 610 all the time when I am there) and cannot imagine the trauma Houstonians are going through.

I asked Jamie to write a post for the 3Jamigos blog.  It is filled with that carefree spirit one has when they are young and views life through an optimistic lens.  Confined to her apartment she has watched the devastation in other areas of Houston much like I have, on TV.  When Harvey has passed and she begins to venture out and see first hand Houston in the aftermath, I know she will jump into action to help her adopted city.  I will too.  She asked me to include this link Relief Efforts-How to Help Houston with her post.  Any donation would be greatly appreciated.

Jamie-August 28, 2017

Hurricane Harvey has hit Houston hard. (cool alliteration I know). Luckily, my roommates and I have prepared well for it–we have tons of food to last us for weeks and enough bottled water to last us a month.  We are even more lucky because of our location.  We are living in West U, which has gotten over 20 inches of rain, but it has not flooded yet.  *Knock on wood.* The street next to us is flooded, but our small street has been doing ok.  There has been a couple of leaks in the windows of our house, but we are dealing with it.  All this time stuck at home has made us a little stir crazy–we alternate between crafting and, you guessed it, baking.   My schedule these past couple days have been: get up, eat, run, eat, watch tv and craft, eat, watch tv and craft, bake, sleep, repeat. So far, we’ve made banana bread, crepes, and pumpkin bread.  And yes, we’ve eaten almost all of it.  This is not to mention the blondies that Claire’s (my roommate) mom made, ice cream, and super delicious quiche. Luckily, Claire’s parents also have a treadmill that I’ve been using to work off all the food. School has been closed until Wednesday night, but I’m hoping it will just get cancelled for the entire week. I don’t want to deal with getting to and from school in the rain and water. Unfortunately, that means a lot more TV movie marathons which have gotten pretty boring.  I’m lucky to just be bored, there are a lot of people all over Texas who’ve been forced to evacuate their homes. Will keep you posted!  Stay dry!

I wasn’t going to include a recipe in this post but Jamie said the “pie” (ok, quiche) Claire’s Mom made was from the Friend’s Cookbook (love it) and it was delicious and made them all feel so much better.  In times like this we turn to comfort food to share with friends and family.

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Heartsick for Houston (Spinach Savory Pie)

Ingredients

This recipe is from the Friends Cookbook

• 1 9 inch pie crust partially baked
• You can use a store-bought pie crust if you like
• 2 T unsalted butter
• 1 small onion minced
• 1 10 ounce package fresh spinach stemmed and washed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup shredded Swiss cheese

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line pie crust with foil or parchment and weights. Bake 10 minutes. Remove weights and continue to bake for 2-5 minutes until pie crust begins to turn color and is set.
• Set oven to 375 degrees.
• Melt butter in a large pot, Add onion and cook over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Chop damp spinach and add it to pan. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally until spinach is tender, about 5 minutes. Drain off any liquid in the pot, season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
• In mixing bowl, whisk eggs and milk together. Stir in the spinach mixture and cheese.
• Pour mixture into prebaked crust.
• Place pie on a baking sheet and slide into oven. Bake until pie is golden brown , 35-40 minutes.
• Remove from oven and let pie sit for approximatel;y 10 minutes before cutting.
• Serve warm or room temperature.

Hi Claire Hi Mui Hi Georgia