At the Flip of a Wrist

Remember the 2 dozen eggs I purchased? Well...I've been practicing!

And I believe if you saw me, you'd be proud. Because I did it! I flipped an egg, using only the skillet, my wrist...and a considerable amount of counter space. But no need to dwell on the last item. Sizzling butter and runny egg yolk clean up easily enough, after all.

When I say, I flipped an egg, what I really mean is the thing flew into the air and landed again, mostly in the skillet. Happily, on one occasion we had reason to celebrate. One particular egg landed just where it should, just how it should--with the yolk still intact. There was so much rejoicing, I forgot to re-flip it seconds later, per Alton's "over-easy fried egg" instructions.So the perfect over-easy egg turned into a perfect over-hard egg, which worked out fine since it was for a fried egg sandwich anyway.

No big deal, there's plenty more eggs in the fridge. Poor little guys have no idea what's in store for them.

Good Eats, Season 1, Episode 3a

Egg cooking terminology is something that until very recently confused the tar out of me. Over well, over hard, hard, over medium, over easy, runny, sunny-side up. Eating breakfast out was always a little nerve wracking.

I knew what kind of fried egg I wanted, but could never remember the universal verbiage to make my desires clear to the server.


The inevitable question always came.

"And how would you like your egg cooked, Honey?"

This is the part where I'd twist my features into my contrived innocent/confused look. "Not raw but not cooked all the way either. I don't want the yolk going everywhere," I'd say, then I'd work up a light laugh. "I never can remember what it's called!"

When I was a kid, I'd get a little chuckle accompanied by an endearing smile. Anymore, they aren't so indulgent with me. (I am a female adult after all, and should know these these things.) Last month, I even had one server condescend to lecture me on the different forms of egg frying and the accompanying definitions, then she stopped, huffed, and told me I'D confused HER (I'd just been sitting there silent, mouth agape) after which she proceeded to tell ME what I wanted. When she stalked off to fill "my" order, I was more confused than ever.

To her credit, she brought me exactly what I'd wanted, which I now know to be called "over medium."

Alton isn't the one to credit for my recent aquisition of knowledge. The Hubby's sweet grandpa is. He patiently guided me through the process and explained as we went why certain applications were called what. A light went on and suddenly it made sense.

I've decided I learn best by doing, which is why over the last week, my family of four has consumed two dozen eggs. Two more remain in the fridge, ready to be fried, scrambled, omeleted (not a word, but you get the picture) and whatever else, Alton requests of me.

Today, it was eggs over-easy, WHICH I know to be called such because they are flipped over "easy" for ten seconds to cook the top side while leaving the intact yolk a thin liquid ideal for dipping. It all seems so simple to me now. Well, the definition anyway. The actual doing of it, isn't so "easy".

I did it well with Papaw by my side and a flipper in hand, but Alton's expectations exceeded Papaw's. The only flipper he allows is your wrist as you pop the skillet away and up. How did it go? Let's just say, I should have started with one egg instead of two.

After seven false attempts, I at last managed to flip a portion of the eggs. The other remained unflipped, but I kept at it until I did it, gaining confidence with each attempt. After I was done, flipping and re-flipping, it looked like a war zone. The once beautiful eggs were in tatters and pieces, and butter and egg bits decorated the stove top. By the time I was done practicing (and laughing along with the kids, who were quite amused at mommy intentionally making a mess in the kitchen), the eggs had cooked too long and become over-medium--just the way I like them.

The kiddos and I shared the bits and loved every creamy bite. Best fried egg I ever had.

They turned out looking disastrous but never fear, I have 2 dozen more to practice on!

What did I learn this time around?

Salmonella resides on the egg's shell and when broken open contaminates the egg white/yolk. I always thought the salmonella was inside the egg itself. If you want to consume a raw egg, and don't relish hours heaving over the toilet, simply purchase eggs which have been pasteurized in their shells. Good tip, Mr. Brown.

The Three Amigos--I mean Musketeers.

Only four full days left in January!

Is anyone else feeling "The Three Musketeers drag"? I'm still only half way through.
But I'm no quitter. If it takes me to mid-February, I'm going to finish it.

d'Artagnan and his friends are still quite entertaining. They just happen to be too adventurous for a short telling. And their loyalty to each other cracks me up! Imagine your best buddy (while you're in another room, catching a few zzz's) betting with and and losing your horse in a game of dice and NOT holding it against him? No way. He'd be history. I'm no gambler, so I must ask...Is betting someone else's property even done?! I mean, if you were the guy on the other side of the dice table, would you bet your 500 remaining pistoles against a horse your oppoenent didn't even own?

Looking at it with modern eyes, the book is one exaggeration after another, but I've gotta hand it to Dumas. He's good. He makes me believe every moment of it! Yes, these guys are really THAT loyal to each other. Yes, they're really THAT insulted and absolutely MUST recover their honor by dueling or die trying. Yes, they're really THAT good and can best any man in swordplay any day of the week all while catching and sustaining my complete attention.

It's adventure and intrigue at it's very romantic best, and I'm glad the old Chick-fil-A cows chose it for me.


REMINDER! If you don't already have it, you need to get a copy of February's classic,
 "Sherlock Holmes, A Study in Scarlet".

Happy Reading!

Ode to the Omlet

I made an omelet!

I'm 31, and at last managed to make omelet. A good one, that is. All previous attempts had been disasters, the main reason being my lack of a non-stick skillet.

I'm in love with the cast iron skillet I got for my wedding. It's hard, but I'll reluctantly admit I now see I can't use it for every application. I still love you, though, Casty!

Since I now own non-stick, I MUST have one in every size. How did I ever do without it before?

So, non-stick helped the omelet making, but intense note-taking of Mr. B's demonstration was just as helpful. I can even do the nifty back handed plating. How cool is that?

No, this wasn't in the Good Eats book either, but The Hubby wanted an omelet real bad. He's begged for omelets over the years, but only every received a snarl and a grunt. To make up for the years of abuse, I bought a giant family size pack of eggs (NOT on sale, which extra proves how repentant I am) to make all omelets his little heart desires.

Good Eat's Masher Cakes--Season 1, Episode 2b

Around here, it's been Masher Cakes Central. We've eaten so many, I don't care to have another for at least five weeks.

Yes, garlic mashed potatoes, seasoned, coated in panko bread crumbs, and pan-fried in olive oil is delicious, but please, no more.

The Hubby, on the other hand, could eat them morning, noon, and night and why not? They're a variation on of his favorite food of all time. When I got tired of making them several days later, he took up the mixing spoon, yanked the tub of leftover mashers from the fridge, and got to work.

He's helped me a lot in the kitchen lately, and we've both enjoyed the experience. For someone who, up to now, in the kitchen has had lots of opinions to offer but little else, he's performing quite well. I'm proud of him, but the female-pride in me was a little smug when his masher cakes didn't turn out as well as mine. We figured out, he didn't put enough oil in the pan and he didn't give them a firm little pat once there, thus producing a more of a grilled effect instead of a GBD (golden brown and delicious) effect.

Didn't stop him from licking up every stray panko crumb.

Alton's Fritatta

I didn't do the mashers today, as promised. Instead, I got inspired to try his fritatta after watching one of the episodes we have recorded. No idea the season or episode number.

Good Eats? Yeah, except for the taste of burnt egg.

Lesson learned? If he says use a 12" skillet, you'd better use a 12" skillet. The ten inch just won't cut it. Turns out with a 10", the fritatta is too thick, so by the time the center is ready to be broiled, the bottom has already scorched. Bummer. Maybe if I'd foreseen the problem and used 5 eggs instead of 6...?

Oh well, I'll try it again sometime soon, but first, a trip to Kroger to buy a 12" skillet.

I'll try the masher cakes tomorrow. Deja Vu anyone?

Steak Your Claim--Good Eats Season 1, Episode 1

If Julie Powell can blog Julia Child's cookbook, then I can blog Alton Brown's.

Over the last six months, my family (including dght 6yo and son 8yo) has fallen in love with Good Eats. With Alton really. He's wonderful--chocked full of culinary tips, food facts, and wit. The kids love the show because they say it's funny (who wouldn't agree?), but wise mother that I am, I know they're learning as they laugh.

Six months ago, when Alton entered our lives, we'd just moved back to the States from serving overseas for 12 years. I believe "Good Eats" plays on the American Forces Network at some ungodly hour in the morning. Never at a decent time, which is, well, indecent. And since I don't make it a habit to be ungodly, I never saw it.

Since we were introduced to Mr. Brown--no let me rephrase that...Since we were introduced to Mr. Brown's Crockpot Pepper Porkchops (the first recipe of his we tried), we've been die-hard fans. Ok, that might have been just three weeks ago, but I'm telling you! This guy knows his stuff. At least, that's what we're going to confirm by cooking through his latest cookbook, "Good Eats, The Early Years". The book explains every episode from seasons 1-6 and includes many (if not most) of the recipes highlighted in the shows.

I've been pouring over the book and just today have tackled two of his first recipes.

Season 1, Episode 1--Steak Your Claim.

I've always been fearful of steaks. Of the price really. I'm a penny-pincher grocery shopper, which is my downfall in the steak department. But I found rib-eyes on sale today at Food Lion. 2, 1.5 lbs at $3.50/lb. Yeah, me!

Four simple ingredients did the trick for this recipe: canola oil, salt and pepper. That's it.

One huge downfall with this recipe is the smoke. Alton warned me, but I didn't quite believe him. When he said "smoke" what he meant was SMOKE. The Hubby and I rushed to open every window and door and prayed our ADT smoke alarm wouldn't go off. Last time it accidentally went off, we couldn't get it to shut up. We ended up having to climb into the attic and disconnect our entire security system, which lead to other problems that took days to iron out.

But all stress was for naught. The alarm didn't go off, although I'm not quite sure how with all the smoke those two steaks produced.

That's what raw flesh on a super-heated cast iron skillet will do. But boy was it yummy! We didn't make the sauce, mostly because being teetotalers we didn't have Cognac readily on hand. We used some steak sauce Hubby said is sold by a former Miami Dolphin's coach. He's a big fan.

Recipe result? Smoke aside, this recipe was great.

What did I learn? insert meat thermometer through the side not the top.

Season 1, Episode 2a--This Spud's For You. Topic--potatoes

As a side, The Hubby and I made Alton's "Mashers" a.k.a. mashed potatoes.

To be fair, right up front, I have to say I Hate Making Mashed Potatoes. There's nothing worse for RA hands than all the peeling, chopping, and mashing involved. But The Hubby lives for the very food I hate to make (and am not particularly thrilled to eat either).

But today, with good company in the kitchen (and wonder drugs in my blood stream), it went smoothly enough. But would the taste we worth the pain???

Something I found interesting is that in order to provide contrast in textures, Alton uses two varieties of potatoes--russet and red. Buttermilk, heavy cream, and garlic give these guys their flavor and are we talking FLAVOR! Yes, these potatoes were good. A little chunk, a little peel, and a lot of creamy. Of course, you can never go wrong with garlic! AND plenty of leftovers to try his Masher Cakes tomorrow.

Recipe Result? A little extra hassle, but the end result is worth it.

What did I learn? Because of their varying levels starch, certain potatoes are better for certain dishes. For example: Russet for baking, Yukon gold for gratins, and red for pot roast. Very interesting. And all along I thought a "baking potato" was so called and used because it was large. Very interesting indeed.

I don't intend to do a recipe a day or finish the book in a certain amount of time, but do plan to work through it consistently. So check back regularly!


Until tomorrow.

"Zounds! You appear in particular haste!" --d'Artagnan

I recently heard Beth  Moore say most Americans live their lifes as if on a treadmill. Moving for all they're worth, sweating and miserable doing it, out of breath, wishing it were over, each one in her own little world ignoring those around here, and in the process getting nowhere.

It's important we make the time to put our feet up. Schedule it in!

So.

Tomorrow, at a convenient time for you, you must pour yourself a fragrant mug of coffee, sink into your favorite comfy chair, and read (preferably The Three Musketeers)--sometime other than right before bed when sleep will invade your brain seven minutes into Chapter 23.

Then, you must drop in and tell us all how it went, how long you  managed before you were interrupted. If I put in a Disney DVD and supply a snack, I might get 49 minutes.

By the way, I'm on page 212. Any body out there gotten further, or am I the champ?

The Three Musketeers: How's it going?

It's been too long since I've posted. Life's been busier than normal (a large-scale, out-of-state family reunion plus an over-sized DIY house project once we got home) but I've found time every evening to read.
At first, I was a little leery of this month's selection. "The Three Musketeers" is a classic of rather substantial length! Alexandre Dumas apparently doesn't know how to tell a short story. What if I got bogged down in a mire of descriptive paragraphs...pages! But never fear, this author's great at constant motion. The plot never stands still and neither do the musketeers. These men are from an age of gallantry, honor, daring bravado, and damsel's in distress. A little over-the-top, if you ask me, but it's what I've loved about the story so far.

So far, I really like the book.

Just got a call from The Hubby. He's stuck at Wal-mart with a car that won't start. I'll cut this short and go rescue my dude-in-distress.

But first, what about you? Liking the book so far? Please tell me you've started. :)

.

Perf-EGG-tion

 

Here it is. The world's most perfect over-easy-leaning-toward-over-medium egg. It was flipped in the air twice, yet the yolk remained intact. Oh yes, it did.

My son was the very proud owner of the egg for the two minutes it took him to down it. He insisted on having the moment memorialized on the world wide web. Feeling quite proud of myself, I didn't object. 

My son also wishes to point out the egg and two English muffin halves create a lovely smile, such as the one he is himself displaying.

The List: Chick-fil-A Classics!!

It's been a month since the idea struck me to see if I could get a few friends (and maybe even a few strangers!)to join me in reading classic literature this year. At least 12.

Up to this point, I had no list I was going by, but, at last, I've been inspired and it was my favorite chicken sandwich that did it!

Have you seen Chick-fil-A's 2010 calendar? Isn't it great?! If not you can see it here

Mom bought one and showed it to me. It was as though God lit it up with a holy glow and said "Behold, your list!" Makes sense, right? I mean, Chick-fil-A IS a Christian establishment. ;)

So, here's the deal, and it's complicated so pay attention! Each month, we read the book pictured on the Chick-fil-A calendar. Ta-da!

It's a great list too. Here goes:

January--Three Musketeres
February--Sherlock Holmes
March--Alice in Wonderland
April--Old Yeller
May--Robinson Crusoe
June--Gulliver's Travels
July--Moby Dick
August--Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves
September--20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
October--Frankenstein
November--Peter Pan
December--A Christmas Carol

I'm thrilled, because amazingly I haven't read any of these. If you've read one or more, you can pick another of your own. We don't mind! Just please drop by often and tell us all about the classic you're reading.

So far there are four of us who have made a solemn vow to follow this list religiously. Ok, maybe not, but we ARE very excited about it. Drop me a line and let me know you'll join us. The more the merrier!

If you haven't gotten a Chick-fil-A 2010 calendar, make sure you do. They cost $5, or are free with a $20 gift card. Inside, are over $30 in coupons, so it's a great deal. Of course, you don't need the calendar to read the books with us, but they sure are cute. Besides it's always good to support our favorite Christian restaurant chain!

We love you, Chick-fil-A!! Thanks for the great food and the stand you take.

Now let's get reading!

April Gardner
www.aprilgardner.com

The end of Classic #1 and the demise of King Lear

No spoiler there, really. It's a Shakespeare Tragedy. Everyone dies!

I can't say my life has been transformed by reading "King Lear", but I do have a new perspective on Shakespeare. It's the first of his works I've read with a comments/explanation section on the bottom of each page. It just translated some of the more difficult ye Olde English words and phrases into something the average reader (myself) would understand.

While stopping every few lines to skip to the bottom broke up the flow of the story, it did make a big difference on my understanding of the plot.

Oh and I discovered something! Did you know Shakespeare was obsessed with sex? Ok, obsessed is an exaggeration, but really, I don't remember so much sex talk.

It might have been a decade since I've read him, but I'm not new to Shakespeare. Maybe I was too naive in my younger years to put it all together or maybe "King Lear" is the exception. It could be the modern commentators were seeing things in the writing not really there? Making their own assumptions maybe??? Perverts. ;)

I'm sure the old bard really meant to be so open about it and I've just been oblivious all these years. Whatever the reason, I was just a little taken by surprise.

When The Hubby and I were much younger and life was free and easy with no kids, we decided one day on the spur of the moment to make a quick two day trip to London. We lived in Germany at the time, so it was easy.

I wanted to see Shakespeare, so we bought on-line tickets for The Globe (back when that was super-cool techonolgy). I didn't recognize the name of the only play we could make it to, but it didn't matter. It was Shakespeare! (Knowing my memory, it was probably "King Lear".)

Since we didn't know the plot, neither of us could follow along with the actor's British English speaking Shakespeare's English, which can be confusing enough in black and white.
About the only thing I recognized were lewd sexual gestures I was certain the actors had improvised. Shakespeare would never have that in his plays! Or so I thought.

I have a feeling any Shakespeare afficionado would confirm I've had an ill-placed romanticized opinion of the writer my whole life.

Well, so long as I don't read any more comments, I can continue to enjoy Shakespeare and remain oblivious in my make-believe world. I mean, who would have thought "his spirits were raised" meant THAT?!

To sum up, "King Lear" was educational. Very educational.

Oh and The Globe, inside and out, was spectacular. We loved it.

On to the next classic!!