Minding Your P's and Q's, November 5th

I am going through the month of November, or rather, the first 26 days with a letter of the alphabet for each day, and naming something to be thankful for for that start's with that day's letter. A-D are here.


Nov. 5th- E- Eggs. I am so thankful for eggs. I love them in omelettes, in egg and cheese sandwiches, in breakfast burritos, in custards, boiled, poached, and gently fried sunny side up. I like them in muffins and cakes and cookie recipes as well.=)

I also am thankful that we have a source for fresh home reared eggs again- it is such a huge difference. The fresh from the family flock eggs have bright yolks, sometimes nearly orange, and the egg stands up in the pan with vim and vigour, as opposed to their weak and insipid supermarket kin, which falls limply into the pan and spreads itself flat, too poor in spirit to hold itself together.

Here are some egg receipts from a 1922 cookbook:
All measurements are level
Eggs a la Goldenrod
Four portions

3 hard cooked eggs
1 1/2 C milk
3 T butter
l/2 t salt
3 T flour
1/2 t pepper
1/8 t. parsley

Melt the butter, add the flour, salt, and pepper into the pan over low heat. Mix well. Add the milk gradually. Cook until a white sauce consistency. Add chopped egg whites. Pour this mixture over slices of toast arranged on a platter. Force the yolks through a strainer on top of the sauce on the toast. Garnish with parsley and serve hot.

(All measurements are level)
Escalloped Eggs (Four portions)

Four hard-cooked eggs
Two tablespoons butter
Two tablespoons flour
One teaspoon salt
One-fourth teaspoon pepper
One and one-fourth cups milk
One-third cup cheese
One-half cup crumbs
One tablespoon melted butter

As soon as the eggs are cooked, crack the shells and drop into cold water. Let stand until cold. Melt the butter, add the flour, salt and pepper, and when blended add the milk. Cook the mixture until it is creamy. Add the cheese and the hard cooked eggs, diced. Pour into a buttered baking dish.

Sprinkle the crumbs, combined with the melted butter, over the top. Bake in a moderate oven for twenty minutes.

Baked Eggs and Cheese (Four portions)

Four eggs
One-half cup milk
One teaspoon salt
One-half cup grated cheese
One-fourth teaspoon paprika

Butter a small baking dish and drop the opened eggs into it, whole. Add the milk and sprinkle the salt, cheese and paprika over the top. Bake in a moderate oven until the eggs are white over their tops.

(Note.—Of course in such a recipe as this, the eggs should be broken first, one by one, into a small dish, and then added, so there is no chance that a bad egg may be mixed with the good ones. Add the eggs carefully, side by side.) Escalloped Tomatoes (Four portions)

No eggs here, but 'Escalloped' starts with an e.
Escalloped Turnips (Four portions)

Two cups raw peeled diced turnips
Four cups boiling water
One teaspoon salt
Three tablespoons butter
Four tablespoons flour
One teaspoon salt
One-fourth teaspoon paprika
One and one-half cups milk
One-half cup cooked celery
One-half cup cracker crumbs
One tablespoon melted butter

Boil the turnips in the salted water until tender when pierced with a fork. Drain. Melt the butter and add the flour, salt and paprika. When well blended, add the milk, and cook until a creamy sauce is formed. Add the turnips and cooked celery and pour into a well-buttered baking dish.

Combine the melted butter and crumbs, and spread over the prepared turnips. Bake in a moderate oven for twenty minutes.

To cook the celery, add one cup of water to one half cup of diced celery and cook very slowly for thirty minutes. Reserve the celery stock for flavoring soups or sauces, or as part of the liquid in the sauce for creamed vegetables.

A thousand ways to please a family with Bettina's best recipes
By Louise Bennett Weaver, Helen Cowles Le Cron