Shells

An American Sentence for the Prompt today at Real Toads. We have a mystery guest with a list of words. I know who it is!!!! And she makes amazing word lists.

Shells
“The flood subsides, and the body, like a worn sea-shell emerges strange and lovely.” – D. H. Lawrence

Shells like strewn lemon sticks on the shore of an onyx sea speak to me.

 

Daffodil Cake – Retro Recipe

It is still sputtering and spitting and trying to be spring, but it just isn’t here yet.  I got to rummaging around in precious things – ie., my Papa’s handwritten notes for grated sweet tater puddn’ and fried chicken, my grandma Ninny’s punch and fondant candy, etc.  What I wanted though was the barely legible but rewritten on the back recipe for my great-grandmother’s Daffodil cake recipe.  This recipe has been around since early 1900s and varies with the usage of 6 – 12 eggs.  This one takes 6.

It is a lovely cake – yellow and white cake batters – angel and sponge cake together in the same pan. A light and springy cake – lemony, delicate – a visually happy cake.

TIP: Use some white vinegar and a paper towel to wipe your bowl and beaters. This ensures all the film of dishwashers, grease, etc. is removed. This stuff is the enemies of a good meringue. You also don’t want to beat the whites into dry peaks. You want soft peaks. The French make wonderful meringue because mostly, they do the egg whites in copper bowls – a natural acidic reaction takes place. So, as I said, wipe your bowl and beaters. The cream of tartar also helps to aid in that reaction. And please, do the white part in a glass or steel bowl – don’t use plastic that’s been around the block a few times thata gallon of vinegar wouldn’t help.

どうぞめしあがれ  Douzo meshiagare y’all!

WHITE PART
6 egg whites
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. lemon flavoring
Beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and continue beating until eggs hold a point. Add sugar gradually and continue beating. Fold in flour which has been sifted with the salt. Add lemon flavoring. Pour into large nonstick tube pan sprayed generously with cooking spray.

YELLOW PART:
6 egg yolks
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. boiling water
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
Beat yolks until light and fluffy. Add sugar gradually and continue beating. Add flavoring, then alternate boiling water with the flour which has been sifted with the salt and baking powder. Mix smooth and place over white layer. Bake in moderate oven (350 degrees) for 45-55 minutes.

Southern Sweet Tea – House Wine of the South

 

       Sweet tea, in the South, is drunk all through the year.  Glasses will hold as much ice in them, in the winter as they do in the summer.   My papa made the best sweet tea in the world.  Dark brown, like stout; fragrant, sweet as a baby’s smile, and satisfying as a long nap under a big shady tree on a summer Sunday afternoon.

If the tea is too sweet for you, back it off.  I have given a low – high amount of sugar.  Also, when possible, use Luzianne Tea – “brewed for iced tea”.  I’m not advertising it or giving any special endorsements.  We, like most folks around us, used Luzianne tea for our iced tea.  If it isn’t where you live, use a good black and orange pekoe mix with plenty of tannins.

Tea Tip:  Hot water causes the tannins to blend into the water.  Sometimes, when tea gets cold, those tannins separate and cause the dreaded cloudiness.  My papa always added a pinch of baking soda to his tea – it helped smooth out the flavor and reduced the risk of cloudiness.  He also would never, never, ever put a container of warm tea in the refrigerator.  He would wait until it cooled down.  And…..you don’t want to bruise the tea – let it steep and not throw in the pot with the water to boil.

Recipe is below.  Be sure you get a nice tall glass and fill with lots of ice.  Don’t piddle around with one or two measly cubes.  Also, you can certainly add mint and/or lemon to the tea as well.  You can use artificial sweetners if you have to, but unless you have to, don’t.  For myself, I like extra squeezes of lemon and then I chunk the slices down into the tea.  At the end of several glasses of this, you get one of my favorite treats – tea marinated lemon slices.  Dig the lemons out, bend the peel backwards and pull the lemon off with your teeth and eat.  Y’all make think this is weird, but only if you are not from the South.

Papa’s Sweet Iced Tea

5 – 8  Family size Tea Bags. (or 12 regular Tea Bags) 
1 Quart  (4 Cups) – Boiling Water
3 Quarts (12 cups) – Cool Water
1 1/2 – 2 (one & a half) – Cups Sugar. 
1/4 teaspoon – Baking Soda

Sprinkle baking soda into a pitcher (I use a large pyrex batter bowl or measuring cup).  Add tea bags to the pitcher/baking soda.  Pour boiling water over tea bags.  Cover and allow to steep for 15 minutes.  Remove and toss out tea bags.   Add sugar and stir until completely dissolved.  Add cool water.   Serve over ice.  Take a nice long swig.  Ahhhhhhhh.  Repeat.
     
Yowzer y’all…..Now this is what I’m talkin’ about. – Nectar of the gods.