AT THE RISK OF BEATING A DEAD HORSE...

So, if you've been following this, you've got a new trick or two. Now let's revisit eggs and asparagus one more time and move it on up a notch. Back in the day, my mother didn't drive. Going to the grocery store had to wait until my father could take her, usually once a week on Saturday. Even though the milkman came twice a week, by the time the following Friday came around, the refrigerator was running a little bare. It was time for:

Viola Folsom's Salmon Cakes

For garnish

1 pound asparagus (or a package of frozen asparagus, prepared as per the package
directions)
4 hard-cooked eggs

Clean asparagus and snap off ends. Put in a microwave dish, ready to zap just before serving. When needed, microwave for 3 minutes, or until as done as you like it.

Put four eggs in a sauce pan. Cover with cold water so that eggs are submerged by at least one inch. Bring to boil and put a cover on the pan. Turn off heat and allow to stand for 10 (for small eggs) to 15 (for extra large eggs) minutes. Drain and cover with cold water. Peel when cool enough to handle.

For white sauce

2 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch pepper
2 tablespoons butter

Combine flour, milk, salt and pepper in a microwave safe bowl that will hold at least four cups. Mix thoroughly and zap for two minutes, stir and then zap again until mixture has boiled and thickened. Stir in butter and set aside.

For salmon cakes

1 (14.75 ounce) can salmon, drained
2 stalks of celery, diced fine
1/4 cup onion, diced very fine or grated
(I use dried onion flakes)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup saltine crackers, crushed

Mix together all ingredients and shape into four patties. Saute in a little oil over medium heat for approximately 10 minutes, turning over once -- carefully.

To serve, put asparagus on plate, top with salmon cake, then white sauce and sliced hard-cooked eggs.

Mother used canned asparagus, too. I wouldn't recommend it. I was a grown up before I figured out that all asparagus wasn't slimy!

I HAVE SIX HARD-BOILED EGGS. NOW WHAT?

Beyond the obvious grabbing of the salt and pepper and digging in, I use hard-boiled (hard-cooked) eggs mainly for deviling, potato and macaroni salad, egg salad sandwiches and garnishes. We'll get to some of the others later, but since it's spring and asparagus season, one of my favorite uses for cooked eggs is the following:

ASPARAGUS ON TOAST

(makes one serving: multiply accordingly)

1 or 2 hard-cooked eggs (use two if this is a main dish, one for a side dish)

1 slice of good bread, toasted

6 spears of asparagus

1/2 cup white sauce

So let's start backwards, with the white sauce. Put 1/2 cup of milk, 2 teaspoons of flour, and a pinch of salt in a microwave-safe cup or bowl that holds at least two cups so it won't run over. Stir until all the flour is mixed in and then microwave on high for one minute. Stir again and re-zap at 30 second intervals until it thickens up. Add 1 teaspoon butter, stir and set aside.

Asparagus needs to be bent until the tough base snaps off and you're left with the nice tender stuff. Depending on the quality of your spears, the tough part might be 1 inch or many. Just go on, grab both ends and bend it -- the asparagus knows! Put the asparagus and 1 teaspoon of water on a microwave-safe plate, cover loosely with wax paper or another plate and zap for about two minutes. You want it to be just barely tender when you stick it with a fork.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...put the bread in the toaster and slice the egg(s) as neatly as you can. Or, chop them up if neatness is an issue! Butter the finished toast and slice it into strips.

To assemble all this put the toast strips on a plate, lay the asparagus across them, spread on the white sauce and garnish with the eggs. All this takes about as much time as it takes to explain the process and you have dinner for less than $2.00.

SO IT REALLY DOESN'T PAY TO COOK...

My eldest child dropped that little phrase on me. The fact that conventional wisdom, not to mention his mother, said exactly the opposite had no influence on his opinion. It made me stop to consider how he possibly could have come to his conclusion.

1. He's definitely starting with an unstocked kitchen. A box of salt may last a year or more, but initially you have to spend fifty cents to buy it. You buy five pounds of flour because you need a tablespoon. I see the pattern here, but sooner or later your pantry is there to rely on. Sort of a savings account.

2. It's difficult to cook for one. Yes, but it's more difficult to cook for six, or at least it's more work. Planning is the key. If you cook a chicken, you have not only roast chicken tonight, there's chicken sandwiches tomorrow for lunch and maybe chicken curry for supper. Or you cook for a friend tonight and tomorrow he cooks for you. Or you stick with frozen chicken parts and only cook what you can eat.

3. There's a lot of waste. Shouldn't be. Pre-emptive freezing is a big help. Divide a batch of chili into four servings and freeze three of them right at the start. It works best to freeze in small batches, not only because thawing is quicker, but also because food freezes faster and maintains its quality better in small batches. Chili lurking in the refrigerator is a health hazard, not to mention an appetite killer. And if you should be foolish to reheat the whole batch every time you want some the chances are good you'll burn it to the bottom of the pan before you're done.

You need to buy in smaller quantities and use what you buy consistently. This means staying out of McDonalds while your food is rotting in the frig at home!

4. Cooking is BORING! Doesn't have to be. It's actually a creative thing, and unlike fine art which fills up all your walls sooner or later, you constantly need to create more culinary art.

5. You waste ingredients because you don't know how to cook them. Practice is key here. Do a little research. Web sites such as Allrecipes.com and Cooksillustrated.com are there to help with ideas. This blog would love to lend a hand. And if you see my son, he cooks a mean turkey and would be delighted to tell you how!

6. Time is money and it takes time to cook, not to mention clean up the mess. Yes, but unless you are profitably occupied 24 hours a day, some of your time isn't worth a whole lot. How better to spend it than on creating something healthy to put in your body. If you start with a sink of soapy water and wash up as you go, the dishes shouldn't be a major stumbling block either. Decide to wash them tomorrow and you're on your own.

NOW ABOUT THOSE HARD-BOILED EGGS

First, although they are called 'hard-boiled' eggs, you really shouldn't boil them. Eggs don't do well when exposed to high heat. When boiled they get tough, when overcooked, they get that ugly grey layer around the yolk. So how does one proceed if you can't boil?



Put eggs in a good-sized pot -- the more eggs, the bigger the pot. A 2-quart pot will hold 6 or so comfortably. Add enough cold water to cover the eggs by two inches. Put on the burner over high heat. As soon as the water boils, turn off the heat, cover the pot, and set your timer for 15 minutes. At the end of the 15 minutes, drain off the hot water and add cold water (with ice cubes if you need your eggs in a hurry. Peel as soon as they are cool enough for you to handle or chill in the refrigerator for later.



Note 1: Eggs peel better if they aren't too fresh. Those you bought last week are much more likely to let go of their shells without a fight.

Note 2: If you're going to save your hard-cooked eggs in their shells for later, put a little X in each one with a pen or pencil. Otherwise they'll look exactly like uncooked eggs. Don't ask me why I know this!

Note 3: A hard-cooked egg is a perfect take-along for lunch. No wrapper needed and they'll keep until lunch without spoiling.

Note 4: If your eggs are destined for potato salad, a good proportion for a rich salad is 1 egg for each potato.

WHY ME, WHY NOW, AND WHY, OF ALL PLACES, HERE?

I shared the produce aisle with two college girls not long ago. As they pondered their options for supper, it was pretty obvious that neither had spent much of any time in a kitchen.

"How about potato salad?"

"You have to cook eggs, and that takes forever!"

The mother in me took over and explained that the eggs were simple and would be done long before the potatoes were cooked. As I left them with an explanation of the process to mull, I did my own mulling on how little time my generation of working women had spent teaching our own children what our mothers spent many hours teaching us. And so, in an effort to rectify mea culpa the purpose of this blog will be to pass on useful bits and pieces of the education many in my children's generation either ignored or were cheated out of. t

There has been a book on the back burner of my brain with similar purpose for many years, and perhaps I can coax feedback from those who find this blog to assist in making that book more useful. At one time there was a wonderful little book (more like a thick pamphlet) entitled "The Impoverished Student's Book of Eatery, Drinkery, and Housekeepery." During the first years of life as a married college student, I wore the thing completely out. Long since out of print, I'd forgotten about it for years until a customer of mine mentioned that she, too, had had a copy which she loved. It explained to the uninitiated the mysteries of casseroles, chicken, bricks and boards bookcases and beer making. I suspect that beer making is beyond the scope of this blog (although I've tried my hand at wine making a time or two), but the process of putting food on the table, clean clothes in the closet, and money in the bank is as fresh and timeless as it was 45 years ago.