Lost recipes. Woohoo! While packing up, I found several recipes that I haven't seen in five years, and given up as lost. →[More:]

Here are three of them that I particularly missed - all nice and easy. I'm going to be rocking the first two just as soon as the the first really good tomatoes start making their appearance.

Speedy Pat-in Pastry

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Sugar
3/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Oil, corn
3 tablespoons Milk, cold

Directions:
"I could never never make a good pie crust. My crusts were always tough or crumbly, no matter what recipe I'd try. Whenever we had a family get-together and I'd offer to make a pie, my sister or my niece would say, "No, Ednie, don't bother. You bring the vegetables, I'll make a pie." But since my sister Norm gave me her recipe for a pat-in pie crust, I've had incredible success! Every time! The family no longer reject my offerings. My crust are crisp and tasty and golden. The edges may not be perfectly fluted like Norm's are but that's not important. Pat-in crust is so easy to make. I put all the ingredients into my food processor, give them a brief whirl, and pour the mixture into a pie plate. I pat it firmly around the edges first, then through the middle - and that's it. No rolling or wasting bits of pastry, and so fast that it can be done in five minutes. Norm doesn't mix her crust in her food processor. She let her husband, Ralph, blend the ingredients with a fork in the pie plate. Then he can proudly say he made it..." Sift flour, sugar and salt directly in 9-10" pie plate. Combine oil and milk in measuring cup and beat with fork till creamy. Pour all at once over flour in pie plate; give your food processor a brief whirl or ~in a pie plate mix with a fork till flour is completely dampened. Push the dough with your fingers to line bottom and sides of pan, then fill with whatever filling you've chosen. If you are making a baked pie shell to be filled later, prick the pastry with a fork to keep it from bubbling. Bake at 425F for 15 minutes or until golden. Fill If you're fussy, press it down with a pie plate. Flute the edges. Source: Edna Staebler's Schmecks cookbooks NB: To extend a pie to serve more than 6 or 8, then pat the pastry into a 9" X 13" cake pan, spread the filling over it and when baked, cut into 12 squares. posted by Anne MacLellan

I found this on the net and printed it out but then lost it, and could never find it again because I was always searching for something like "quick/easy pie crusts" instead of "pat-in pastry". I've never had the space/optimism/energy to do a roll-out crust (and we don't have frozen crusts here), so I'm delighted to have recovered this.

Also from the net:

Tarte a la Tomate (or French Tomato Pie)

This is a totally genuine french recipe that I picked up from a friend while living in Paris the last 2 years. This is a easy - very quick version since I use a frozen pie crust. If you have time to make your own crust it is even better. I like the quick version for dinner after a long day when I don't feel like cooking (perfect for the hectic holiday season)

Ingredients:
One pie crust
Some tomatoes (if you can afford the vine ripened ones it is better)
A few eggs (2-4 depending on the size of the pie and your taste)
Dijon mustard (real strong one)
Good strong cheese grated (like Emmenthal or Gruyere)
Some heavy cream (in France they have something call fresh cream which doesn't exist in North America - I used whipping cream here)
Fresh herbs if you have them

Method:
Preheat the oven at 350F. Put the empty pie crust in for 5-10 minutes. Take it out of the oven. Brush some Dijon mustard all over the pie crust.

Slice the tomatoes and take out all the mushy transparent liquidy stuff where the seeds are.

Cover the bottom of the pie crust with one layer of tomatoes.
In a bowl, mix the eggs, some cream (1/4 to 1/2 cups) and add the grated cheese (I like lots of cheese), a little salt and pepper, fresh herbs (still very good without).

Pour this mixture over the tomatoes. Cook in the oven for about half an hour or until the egg mixture is solid.

Oh, god, this is so good. It was also hard to find, because - well, try googling "Tomato Pie"... over a million returns, and this one is surely tucked in there somewhere, but I never would have found it.

This one came from Gourmet Magazine:

Fusilli with Collards, Bacon, and Garlic

1 pound collards, coarse stems discarded and the leaves washed well and chopped coarse
1/4 pound sliced bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 large garlic cloves, chopped fine
1 large onion, sliced thin
1/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
1/3 cup olive oil
3/4 pound fusilli (spiral-shaped pasta)
1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
freshly grated Parmesan as an accompaniment

In a kettle of boiling water boil the collards for 10 minutes, drain them in a colander set over a large bowl, and return the cooking liquid to the kettle. In a large skillet cook the bacon over moderate heat, stirring, until it is just browned and transfer it with a slotted spoon to a small bowl. Pour off the fat from the skillet and in the skillet cook the garlic, the onion, and the red pepper flakes in half the oil over moderately low heat, stirring, until the onion is softened and the garlic is golden brown. Bring the cooking liquid to a boil, in it boil the fusilli until it is al dente, and drain the fusilli well. To the skillet add the collards, the bacon, the fusilli, the remaining oil, and the vinegar and toss the mixture well. Season the fusilli with salt and pepper, divide among 4 bowls, and sprinkle each serving with some of the Parmesan.

Serves 4.

Very easy, so very delicious.

Okay! I haven't been around much because I've been too busy with packing and other things (and towards the end of the month/ beginning of next month I'll disappear entirely for a week or two), but I still love the bunnies. I'll be back to normal by May, probably.

In the meantime, if you have any good-and-easy and/or lost-then-found recipes, please to share?