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Five guys, anniversary and pickled eggs

I have a long-time friend who’s said since she met His Royal Plaidshirtness (HRP) that he’s one of only 5 good guys in the galaxy and that if I ever leave him, she will personally take me apart. I agree he’s one of the good guys, and I happily think back to 24 years ago at this moment  when oldest daughter Joanna and I were on our way to Divajade to get our hairs done for the 1 p.m. wedding whoopdedo up here in the pasture.

A good partnership at work: Lew, Dannye and their 3-year-old grandson, Townes. Baby eating Greek yogurt.

At the same time, or near’bouts, daughter Alexandra was headed for a shower in HRP’s grandparents’ pink shingled house where she spent the night and discovered just how many praying mantis nymphs hatch from one egg case (up to 400, evidently). 

I don’t agree with the 5 good guys part, though. Projecting myself back into yesterday’s choir loft I see many more than 5 men who are grownups, who are funny, sexy, committed to their relationships and hard at work at something, be it a job, a father-daughter dance, babysitting for grandchildren or cheering a daughter-in-law’s flute solo.

HRP is the right guy for me who will always (damn his eyes!) call me on my delusional thinking, but there are plenty of others “out there,” including the loving, longtime husband of my friend Dannye, who hosted a real ladies’ lunch for us old newsroom gals last week. I know for sure Lew made the good coffee, and I’m guessing he helped with a few other things as well. The house and yard and table were completely Southern Living-perfect, and Dannye taught us how to make good deviled eggs without mayonnaise (hummus, yellow French’s mustard and a few drops of Tabasco).

All of us ate the pickled beets, but I alone braved the pickled eggs. I’m a Pennsylvania Dutch girl, and pickled eggs are just a colorful part of that. I’ve eaten some from a sketchy-looking gallon jar on a bar, but mostly I’ve made my own by peeling hard-boiled eggs and letting them take it easy for a few days in a non-reactive container (glass or stainless steel) of pickling beets. 

I use the easy-breezy-lemon-squeezy pickled beets directions from the always reliable 1987 Fearrington House Cookbook: A Celebration of Food, Flowers and Herbs (Jenny Fitch, Ventana Press, Inc.). The older my taste buds become, the more I find I enjoy a small, piquant taste of pickle with many meals.

Pickled beets (and eggs)

A fuzzy picture of chicken salad, grape tomatoes, chips, a deviled egg, pickled beets and a very colorful pickled egg. You can see how the pickling liquid works through the white.

1-1/2 pounds fresh beets, cooked, trimmed, peeled and cut into wedges

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

2 whole cloves

1/2 teaspoon pickling spices, tied with cook’s twine in cheesecloth

Combine water, vinegar, sugar and cloves and bring to boil. Add pickling spice packet and stir until sugar dissolves. Pour over beets. Add hard-boiled eggs for a little taste adventure and cover the container. Let sit, refrigerated for 2 or 3 days (stirring gently every now and then), but serve pickles at room temperature.

 

Category:

Beets, eggs, healthy cooking, Marriage, Pickles, Spices

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Ye old spice shoppe, secret chocolate cake


The smells of seven continents make The Spice Shop a spa for the senses. OK, maybe not Antarctica -- six continents!

OMGsh, as our friend Marilyn writes so no one thinks she’s cussing. Waiting for supper last week with two other friends, I wandered into the Savory Spice Shop in Birkdale Village, just north of Charlotte. I’d been looking for vanilla beans that cost less than a sports car, and there they were, just inside the front door and at four different prices.

I nearly went berserk. I managed to control myself somewhat — skipping the lavender vanilla sugar but buying three vanilla beans, crushed red pepper flakes, a medium-hot chili powder and eight ounces of Black Onyx Cocoa Powder.

This cocoa looks more like coal dust than Hershey’s, and you use it for only one-quarter to one-half of the cocoa called for in a recipe. I just used it in my mother’s “Secret Cake” recipe and, I promise, the icing has aftertones of a dark and exotic jungle. I’m just sorry I put most of it on the cake!

To make the cake heat your oven to 400.° In a large saucepan melt together 1 stick butter, 1/4 cup vegetable shortening, 1 cup water and 3-

No one knows what the secret of the Secret Cake might be, unless it's that any one of us could eat it in a single and very large bite!

1/2 tablespoons cocoa (I used 1 tb. of the Black Onyx and 2-1/2 tb. Hershey’s). In bowl mix together 2 cups granulated sugar and 2 cups flour. Pour over the chocolate mixture and stir gently. In bowl beat together 1/2 cup buttermilk, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add to flour mixture and beat by hand, just until well-mixed. Pour into greased and floured 11-x16-x2-inch pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

During the last few minutes of baking, boil in the saucepan (which you’ve washed) 1 stick butter, 3-1/2 tablespoons cocoa and 1/3 cup buttermilk. Remove from heat. Add 3 cups confectioner’s sugar and 1 cup chopped walnuts. Spread on warm cake. Cool cake (in pan) completely on rack.

I don’t know how many servings it’s supposed to be. I think I’ll make two!

The combination of the two types of cocoa gives a rich chocolate taste.

Category:

Cake, Chocolate, Desserts, Spices

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