Recipe - Low Carb Yummy Crustless Quiche

Welcome to Quince Cottage!
If you're watching your carbs, or if you just aren't a big fan of pie crust, then this quiche is for you! Quiches are ideal for using up little bits of this and that which might otherwise go to waste (small hunks of cheese, half an onion, cooked vegetables, etc.) They're perfect for brunch, lunch or light dinners. And LEFTOVERS, served hot or cold.

RECIPE:

Ingredients
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
Salt
Black pepper
1 bag baby spinach
1/4 C sun-dried tomatoes (packed in oil), pat dry, chop small
4 oz. crumbled feta cheese
1/4 C chopped scallions
5 eggs
3/4 C milk
1/4 C grated Parmesan
4-6 oz. shredded Swiss cheese (depending on how cheesy you like it), divided 1/3, 2/3

Directions
1. Spray large skillet with cooking spray or rub with oil. Over medium-high heat, saute mushrooms. Cook until no water remains on bottom of pan (5-7 minutes). Add spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until spinach is wilted
2. Spray 9" pie pan with cooking spray. Spread spinach mixture in pan. Place  1/3 Swiss cheese, and feta on top.
3. In medium bowl, whisk eggs until smooth. Add milk and Parmesan. Whisk to combine. Pour over mushrooms and feta. Sprinkle remaining Swiss cheese on top.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes, until golden brown on top and center is set. Let cool slightly before slicing.
Serves 6
Variations: substitute liquid egg whites for some or all of the eggs, use different cheeses, add bacon, ham, sausage, use kale instead of spinach, add caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, black olives, etc.

Crustless Quiche © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Served Quiche © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

A piece of quiche "might" have made its way into a dog's bowl once. They gave it a good review. Hope you like it too!

Daisy & Buster © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Also, don't forget to join us on Instagram! If you love collecting things (walking sticks, milk glass, vintage cameras or anything else you use as decor), then our cohosts and I want to see what you've got every Monday! See our #Magpie Monday posts for details.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Quince Cottage style is where rustic and sparkly rub shoulders. 

Think gilded mirror against a plank wall, and you'll know what we mean. 

We prefer our opulence a little beat up and our recipes 

GOOF-PROOF!

DIY - Rustic Cabinet ReDo

Welcome to Quince Cottage!
As you may know, we like to go bargain-hunting. Thrifting, junkin', antiquing, call it whatever you want. Finding a diamond in the rough, or "buried treasure" is always exciting. Earlier we did a post about finding a shabby dresser and making it look all pretty again. Here is that post, if you're curious.
At the very same shop in Raleigh, we found a rustic cabinet. Now, please understand we weren't in the market for a cabinet of any kind. Our house isn't all that big, so impulse buys of large objects don't happen very often. To make it clear, the inside of our garage has never seen a car because storage is an issue here. But this cabinet had the "it" factor. It was clearly crafted by someone who didn't make furniture for a living, yet the curved detailing along the skirt and the walnut inset panels indicated that the maker was trying. Trying really hard to make this piece special. At least in the front - the back not so much. The other compelling feature was its price.

At the shop © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Here's a better picture of that fancy (in a naive way) skirt at the bottom.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

After a bit of haggling, we became its new owners. The dear old thing was delivered to our home the following week.
Inside was a shelf and below it, a board with some hooks attached. Ron removed all that, along with the doors. He then gave everything a much-needed deep cleaning.

Removed the doors © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Did you notice in that photo above, taken in the garage aka workshop, that there are no cars to be seen? Told you.
We decided to paint the interior for contrast, and to make a more pleasing background to display whatever we ended up putting on the shelves. We had some leftover Valspar latex paint from an office redo a few years ago. The color is Blue Arrow. It's a perfect shade, not too "baby", just a little "dirty" (meaning it has some earthy warmth to it). This chip is a bit darker than the color is in real life.
Also because the cabinet's new purpose was to display pretty things, this old beasty needed some sturdy shelves. We bought pine boards from Lowe's and Ron cut them to the desired length. Using some leftover molding strips we had lying around, he created supports by cutting the strips to fit, then gluing and screwing them to the cabinet interior. These do a nice job while maintaining a low visual profile.

Painted interior © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Here's a close up of the support strips.

Support strips © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

After the painting, a coat of clear polyurethane was applied to the interior surfaces only, including the shelves
Ron waxed the au naturel wood exterior with paste wax. This provides protection and gives a lovely, warm glow.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

We installed new knobs, but chose a style that looks antique. They're real glass.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Then we added some gimp along the edge of the shelves for a finished look. We got a good deal on some closeout trim at a fabric outlet. We took care to choose one that looked vintage and had a bit of blue in it. Hot glue worked just fine to adhere it to the shelf edges. We only burned ourselves once or twice.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Now the fun part! Styling!
You might have noticed this cabinet in our post about Christmas decor. If not here you go - we displayed our mercury glass collection, our white pitchers, and created a Winter Wonderland for our Snowbabies!

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Fairy lights and white felt on stacked boxes make it pretty effective. Here's a closer look...

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Now that the holidays are over, but it's still winter, the Snowbabies are hibernating. We've gone all white for a fresh, simple look with white ceramic pitchers and milk glass. There are some pillows and throws on the bottom shelf to contribute warm, soft textural elements.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Here's a photo of the cabinet in its new setting. Daisy dog for scale...

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Now of course, it wouldn't be fair to deny you a cute Irish Jack Russell picture, right? Daisy looks suspicious, doesn't she?

Buster & Daisy © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Don't forget, if you're on Instagram, please follow us here and join us for #MagpieMonday ! We want to see your decor collections! There are four co-hosts and we each choose our weekly favorite to feature in our gallery and in the following week's meme.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Quince Cottage Style mixes old and new, rustic and opulent.

Our goal is to make our new subdivision house look inviting, beautiful, 

and as though it wasn't born yesterday!

DIY - Styling the House After the Holidays Part II

Welcome to Quince Cottage!
Perhaps you visited last week, when we showed how to style a simple, elegant mantel for winter. If not, you can go here to have a look.
Our first re-do of the dining room buffet looked like this. Those glittery pine cones were half price at TJMaxx and they certainly work for generic winter as well as holiday. In the second photo below, we mixed them with some "au naturel" ones in those large glass hurricanes. The faux fur throw is also from TJMaxx and creates a pretty, snowy look. The throw, the real cotton stems, and the faux greenery add soft texture to an otherwise "hard" vignette. We added a sparkly little crystal wreath to our windmill head too.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

But then we bought a cake stand at HomeGoods and that led to some alternative design inspiration.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Fairy lights make everything special, don't they? We always look for the ones that have a timer - that way we never have to think about turning them on or off. These lights are a snowflake design.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Here's our winter dining table. Sorry, didn't have time to do place settings!

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

A few days later Rhiann found a great deal on a wood slab at Marshall's and set up a little centerpiece to replace the milk glass compotes. Yes, we know, more pine cones, but aren't they great? These were free! The mercury glass votives cost a couple of bucks a piece at Michael's and we put battery-operated candles in them.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

In our living room cabinet, we kept the mercury glass display "as is".

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

In the foyer, we removed the bits of Christmas (glittery deer, red berries, ornaments) and just kept it simple with milk glass and bits of Nature.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Winter is the perfect season for napping, don't you think?

Daisy and Buster © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

We also want to let you know about a fun Instagram hashtag we started this past Monday. It's called #MagpieMonday and the idea is to share a photo of whatever you like to collect and display in your home. Each co-host picks a favorite to feature on their feeds. Follow us on Instagram here to learn more and see which IGer's collection was our pick this week! Also, we've just passed the 2k follower mark and we're pretty excited about that too.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Quince Cottage Style mixes old and new, rustic and opulent.

Our goal is to make our new subdivision house look inviting, beautiful, 

and as though it wasn't born yesterday!

DIY Restyling the Mantel Post-Holiday

Hello, and welcome to Quince Cottage!
First of all, we'd like to wish you a 2016 full of love, peace, and inspiration!

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

As we see it, there are two ways to view the post-holiday winter season. 
1. Now that all the excitement is over, winter is dull and colorless (depending on where you live of course).
2. Now that all the excitement is over, winter is a peaceful time for reflection and simplification.
Let's go with 2, shall we?
Now, as you may already know, Rhiann's favorite part of the home to style is the mantel, so it makes sense that's where she headed first, once the holidays were over.
If you weren't around for Christmas, here's what the mantel looked like then.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Now, with the goals of simplifying and honoring the bare, frosty, beauty of winter, she started with one of our Chinese porcelain vases, which is icy blue, gray, and white. An IG potter friend let us know this is a crystalline glaze and actual crystals form during an extra slow cooling cycle or a long hold time.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Rhiann filled the vase with branches, some of which already had little faux ice crystals stuck to them. The others were the branches we painted to look like birch and stuck in our Christmas tree. The real branches have glass icicles wired to them.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

She strung a garland of crystal prisms across the mantel. Finally she worked on the right side, using her favorite empty Victorian frame and a small watercolor we bought long ago in New England. It's a snow scene at sunset and reminds us of the years we lived in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. We miss the beauty of snow, but not the shoveling, or the bad driving! Finally she tucked in a sprig of faux juniper and added a real jumbo pine cone. We bought a bunch of these pine cones in an antique store and they had a good time laughing at us for buying things they picked up in their yards. They were only fifty cents a piece and unfortunately we don't have sturdy, supersized pine cones anywhere near us, so...

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

That shot above gives you a nice clear look at the great job Ron did creating an old, distressed finish on our brand new mantel. If you're curious, click here for the DIY.
Now here's a photo of the whole thing.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

We'll be sharing other areas of the house that have transitioned from holiday to winter season in an upcoming post. Tell us what part of your home you like restyling seasonally in Comments. We'd love to hear from you!
And of course, it wouldn't be a Quince Cottage post without a cute doggy pic. This was how Daisy and Buster spent most of New Year's Eve. Party animals...

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

We'll leave you with a beautiful North Carolina sunset to start the year off right. The beauty of Nature is just one of the many things we hope you'll enjoy in 2016.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Quince Cottage Style mixes old and new, rustic and opulent.

Our goal is to make our new subdivision house look inviting, beautiful, 

and as though it wasn't born yesterday!

DIY Interior Shutters

Glad to see you here at Quince Cottage!

One of the things we liked least about our previous home was how dark it was inside. Frankly, cave-dwelling is depressing. This house is much lighter and brighter and we love that! When it comes to window treatments, sometimes less is more, especially when it comes to farmhouse style.
However, once we'd decided to leave the living room windows naked, a problem reared its head(lights). At night, when Mr. Quince Cottage relaxed in his leather chair (see below) to watch some TV, headlights coming down the street darn near blinded him.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

What to do?
Shutters, that's what.
We're not talking about the super-expensive, custom-fitted plantation shutters that many people in this part of the world adore. Nope. We're talking old school circa 1960-70-something shutters. They come in white or wood-tone.
We ordered them online from Lowe's and they ended up costing about $80 a window. So, not exactly cheap, but remember, we didn't do drapery of any kind, so we spent no money on curtains or curtain hardware.
Installing the shutters wasn't too hard. You will need to have a drill and a screwdriver, along with a pencil, tape measure, and plenty of patience.
Since they aren't custom, you will need to order in the range that suits your window. Measure carefully! The shutters come with spacers which enable a snug fit. You can see them on the right side of the shutter, butting up against the window frame. The shutters can be opened, closed, or left midway.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Here's an after photo. Now, this was in the "early days" of our family room so it's looking pretty bare and we hadn't yet hung the mirror over the fireplace OR done our planked wall treatment. Click here for that DIY. However, you can get an idea of the light, airy feel and the connection to outdoors that this kind of window treatment allows. Very fresh farmhouse/cottage, right?

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Another photo. With mirror, planked wall, and a Buster photo-bomb.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

A close up of the corner, with shutters partially open.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

And closed...

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Another of the whole room...

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

What? No doggy picture? Don't be silly, of course there's a doggy picture! Since Buster already managed to sneak into two of the photos, we'll leave you with one of Daisy. You can tell she's thinking. Watch out!

Daisy © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Quince Cottage Style mixes old and new, rustic and opulent.

Our goal is to make our new subdivision house look inviting, beautiful, 

and as though it wasn't born yesterday!

Setting the Holiday Table

Welcome to Quince Cottage!
It's getting pretty close to Christmas, and we've figured out the menu. How about you? Once the food questions were decided, we turned our attention to setting the table.
We like things to be easy whenever possible and yet, we get bored when things always look the same. Here's a little tutorial meant to inspire you. We didn't spend hours layering china patterns, creating elaborate centerpieces, or hand-writing place cards. These looks are simple and practical, but offer variety, with very little effort. Also, none of the china, glassware, or napkins are specifically Christmas. We don't know about you, but our storage space is limited, and we like our tableware to work for more than one occasion.
Start with your basic centerpiece concept, whatever that might be. This year we decided to include some of our favorite things: milk glass, pine cones, mercury glass and pompoms! In all the tablescapes below there's a faux fur runner and three compotes filled with either the pine cones or the pompoms.

Look #1. we went with a natural and neutral theme, using taupe gingham place mats, beige/white damask napkins and white china plates and milk glass tumblers.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Look #2. Here we incorporated cheery red with a tablecloth, napkins, and Bohemian crystal glassware. The plates stayed the same.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Here's a closer look at some of those snowmen. Aren't they cute?

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Look #3 is basically the same but we fancied up the napkins a tiny bit by tying a glass pine cone ornament on with twine.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Look #4. Here we used brown transferware plates and a colorful plaid napkin. That's a lot of pattern, so we simplified the glassware to clear crystal tumblers.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Look #5. By the way, it's perfectly okay to mix plaids, stripes, ginghams and other prints. Just be sure there's something uniting them - in this case, the color red. White plates again, a pine cone "garnish" and the crystal juice glasses. This would be a fun breakfast setting, wouldn't it?

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Look #6. Back to the red glassware, and a napkin ring with Russian khokhloma painting.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Look #7 This one is quite playful, isn't it? Normally we use our jadeite in the summer, but we thought it looked cool with this plaid napkin, a vintage Shiny Bright ornament, and a mason jar mug.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

All these place settings were the work of about three minutes each, and the combinations are practically endless. Stealing decorative items from other vignettes or Mother Nature is highly recommended. We used to have a book on artsy napkin-folding and if you have the time and interest, by all means impress your guests with your skills.
Which look is your favorite? 
Daisy provided moral support, or maybe she was just hoping a meal was about to be served in the dining room.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Quince Cottage Style mixes old and new, rustic and opulent.

Our goal is to make our new subdivision house look inviting, beautiful, 

and as though it wasn't born yesterday!