It’s pretty obvious, to me, the kids and I are creating some pretty incredible memories with regards to our little “restaurant”. Today: we emulsified mayonnaise (which failed, my fault, leaving me with a sink full of oil-soaked dishes and cutlery to tackle with my nonexistant water pressure, and the latter is no joke). The kids then packed themselves up and went off in the sunshine – together, they would not be separated – to Grandma’s to steal some mayonnaise, then home for washing up and: slicing homemade bread, salting rich-red tomatoes, washing and tearing lettuce, dressing avocados so they wouldn’t brown, assembling and wrapping sandwiches, installing chips and folding slices of pickle in wax-paper squares; sliding rich from-scratch birthday cake (with candle!) into parcels, preparing devilled eggs on a bed of red leaf lettuce, slicing navel oranges just right.
I show the kids the various methodologies I use to prepare food, skills will be in their blood for them to use or no, but for them always to remember the pride we take in cooking, and Nels and I finish the stacks for our customers including the little note we send out, personalized for each client. Phoenix vacuums the living room and rousts the cats, just a bit, so it won’t be terribly decadent when our visitors arrive. Then Ralph gets home and puts Nels in the tub (to tame his giant blonde mop of hair, mostly) and at least for our new customer, we make sure he emerges wrapped in a towel instead of nude, and he greets the man by name right away.
But the best part of my day personally was somewhere in between inception of the meal and customer delivery, where after our little boxes of BLT(A) and chips and pickle were on the counter, the kids requesting their own fare and going outside and waiting and knocking and getting to serve them, and how much they exclaimed in delight over the food, and Nels joyously said, “This is the best chocolate cake I’ve had in my life!”, and I had it with the pink candles he’d requested and all.
& now? I’m off to read Nels’ birth story, give him a kiss – if he’s willing – just in time for the exact moment of his birth (1:20 AM).
P.S. (Next week, at the Conch)
* Yeah, whatever. P.P.S. I’m a terrible lay.
I absolutely adore this, it’s such a lovely thing to do! If I lived closer than I did I’d support it with participation, but alas. Instead I’ll cheer you on from over here 🙂
Thank you, Elly! As per Nels’ original idea we are still cooking additional food and taking it to the hungry (in downtown Aberdeen); I need to post more about that. Thanks for the support!
Your deviled eggs will forever leave me breathless. SO GOOD. Next time I’m down, please teach me. I’ve tried following directions and watching tutorials and apparently I’m useless when it comes to fairly rudimentary tasks.
And happy birthday to Nels from all of us! Please to be passing it on!
@Jasie
Devilled eggs are trickier than they look. I’ll post here briefly for anyone interested; and yes when you visit I can show you.
So basically, making devilled eggs well requires making hardboiled eggs well, which I am a master at.
On a burner on high, heat up enough water to cover eggs by 1″ (but don’t put the eggs in yet). When the water boils, carefully but swiftly lower each egg in. Stir them gently as the water heats back up to boiling (still on high). The minute the water boils, set a timer for ten minutes. Keep stirring for most of that time. Soon you won’t have to stir so carefully; you may lower the heat a bit if the boil is very vigorous, but keep it boiling. If an egg pops or breaks, have a bit of vinegar on hand to add to the water, which is said to staunch a white-hemorrhage. Any eggs that pop or break, the yolk can still be used but the white will have to be discarded (or put in a casserole or potato salad or whatever).
After ten minutes, immediately remove the eggs to a bowl of ice water. Stir and stir and add cold water. Stirring and cold water chill the egg very fast. If I am about to serve the eggs up immediately, I only do this for a few minutes, before I peel and slice them in half (so they are still warm; the kids like them this way). If you’re going to be peeling and/or eating and/or prepping later, go ahead and make sure they cool all the way down. Maybe ten minutes, stirring and adding cold water.
Time to peel. If we’re going to eat them later or prep them later, I still like to peel them at this point then put in the fridge under covered glass. With regard to peeling, the whole “fresh” vs. “old”, “farm” vs. “store”, etc. egg aspect seems to be bullshit as I have a 99.9% easy-peel success rate regardless of egg source.
Back to the devilled eggs: slice the eggs very carefully in half, wiping the sharp knife after each one. Since I did all that stirring earlier, the yolks are in the center of the egg – no thin-walled egg whites here! Put the yolks in a bowl and set the whites, cut-side up, on a cloth napkin.
Smash the yolks well with a fork. The consistency of the yolk will vary quite a bit depending on if you boiled for ten minutes, and if you really did cool quickly. Ten minutes of boiling makes for an egg that is still a bit soft and tender. NO CHALKY YOLKS.
Once the yolks are smashed, add some fresh-squeezed lemon juice, maybe a tablespoon for every four eggs, and mix well. Then add a small amount of Dijon, and a bit more (but not too much) of mayonnaise. Stir thoroughly, you should have a creamy mixture, then salt to taste. Sometimes I add sesame or almond oil, sometimes tamari (instead of salt). I don’t have quantities to give anyone, but I do have a recipe – I just know it by intuition! You don’t want to add too much mayo or mustard that those take over the flavor.
I then scoop out filling and set it in the little white cups; then sprinkle with cayenne, pepper, and celery salt. If I have it, sometimes I snip fresh chives on top. I dress the eggs on the napkin then move them to a platter with lettuce. They say the first bite is with the eye!
The most important part of all this is handling the egg well, including the boiling and stirring, then cooling, and smashing the yolks long before you add anything to them (and adding things slowly). Because when it comes to how you dress the yolk, individual flavors and tastes vary. I have always received compliments so I must be doing well enough.
Good luck!
I am so fucking happy right now. Imma make deviled eggs today per your instructions!