I did a brunch at E. Wash, for about 11 adults + 3 little kids + me, Mark & Kanari. The baked goods turned out to be pumpkin-date scones and cherry muffins, and a loaf of long-rise, no-knead bread made special for the occasion, and a loaf of ww bread that I had in the freezer, for toast.
The butter for the cherry muffins was cursed. For two dozen muffins, you were supposed to melt two sticks of butter. OK, no problem. I did this in a small saucepan on the stove, that’s not quite the right size for my stove grids, and it spilled a little bit. And of course, two tablespoons of melted butter spilled on the stove required washing off the [hot] cast iron grid in the sink with lots of hot soapy water, and much sponging of the stovetop, first with a soapy sponge, then with a rinsed one to get the soap off. I decided that I was too tired to bake the muffins Saturday night, so I poured the butter into a glass 1-cup measure and put a saucer on top, figuring I’d let it sit overnight, it’d get a little hard, and I could soften it up in the microwave before baking on Sunday morning. Before I had had any coffee – maybe that was the problem? – I stuck the butter in the micro for like 35 seconds, and as soon as I turned my back on it – to make the coffee – there was a loud Whump! and the butter exploded. Much more sponging with hot soapy, and rinsed sponges ensued.
Everything else went OK, except the baked eggs – on creamed spinach, some with ham and some with just cream, and a dollop of pesto on top – took a little too long to cook. But I managed to get them out of the oven with runny yolks, yum. I just ate a toast and egg sandwich with one of the leftover egg rounds, and there was still runny yolk.
The hash browns were especially good, too – I made them my regular way, which is parboiled potatoes, chilled overnight, then grated. Melt salted butter with vegetable oil in a large non-stick skillet. Make a big pancake of potatoes, the size of the pan. Brown the first side, shaking the skillet to keep the potatoes loose. Then flip the pancake onto a cookie sheet, pour in a touch more oil, and slide the potatoes back in to brown on the other side.
I made a big green salad with greens, vinaigrette, toasted walnuts, goat cheese and dried cranberries, with a bowl of roasted asparagus drizzled with balsamic & a plate of alternating slices of roasted gold and red beets on the side.
But probably the biggest hit was the Eton Mess – strawberries, cream, and smashed store bought meringues. I used the UK National Gallery/Oliver Peyton/Peyton & Byrne, recipe – it’s their picture down below, from the National Cookbook. Mine was pinker, probably because I didn’t sieve the strawberry sauce. And US cream isn’t as rich and yellow as our UK counterpart – they have more weights of cream. We have heavy cream that’s 36 – 40% butterfat and half & half, that’s about 20%; they have half cream, and whipping cream, and the double cream that the recipe calls for is like 48% butterfat.
I came home and finished grading as assignment in one of my online courses, washed the dishes, including the egg cups, such a pain, and then biked to the liquor store, seeking champagne or Prosecco. The liquor store was closed, so I went to the grocery store and got a bottle of Prosecco, for the elder flower cocktail I am drinking as my mother’s day treat, right now. Oh, and I saw both kids, and got a few nice gifts from Mark and Al, earrings and a beaded coin purse, and a box of Penzy spice blends. Darn good mother’s day and there’s still game of thrones to come … and probably another cocktail. Even though there are still a few more dishes to wash.
