stress

Sorry for the long delay between updates.  Life has been pretty stressful lately, so here's a quick update:  I need an egg-shaped stress ball.  That would be perfect.  More to come later, I promise.

National Egg Month (?)

According to the American Egg Board (yes, such a thing does indeed exist...), May is National Egg Month. 

What exactly IS National Egg Month?  Why is there a National Egg Month?  According to the American Egg Board and the Incredible Edible Egg: 

"Because sales tend to slow at that time"

 There ya go.  

So, what can you do with National Egg Month (besides eat eggs)?  Well, you can buy some really nifty things like: 

- A National Egg Month magnifying ruler! (Ooo!) 

   

- A National Egg Month mini notepad! (Wow!)

  

- A National Egg Month "a-mazing" maze!  (Swell!)

  

- A National Egg Month chicken-shaped yellow scrubber! (...part of me actually kind of wants this...)

Happy National Egg Month everybody!

food with eggs = happiness

Travis and I prowl the internet for food recipes all of the time.  And by all of the time, I mean way more than we should...

THAT being said, Travis found this **amazing** site based on David Chang's world famous Asian fusion restaurant, Momofuku.  In it, lucky reader, you can find all of Momofuku's recipes from Chang's cookbooks that the authors have all tried to make themselves.   TONS of them call for pork, and TONS of them call for eggs, all of which equals food heaven for people like myself.  

Some highlights:

Pan-Roasted Asparagus (way better than hollandaise)                                                    

  

Green Onion-Oil Deviled Eggs

Lychee Lime Mint Sorbet (no eggs, but it looks too good not to share)

茶碗蒸し = yum

When I was but a wee little Sus, my grandma "Mary" (aka Setsuko) would make me this amazing eggy dish whenever she happened to be visiting from California.  I LOVE this dish.  So tasty and simple, it warms your whole body with its protein-filled silky-smooth goodness. 

Here is a great version of the recipe from rasamalasia.com: 

Ingredients:

4 medium shrimp (or skip if you want it to be veggie)
4 gingko nuts (optional - I usually don't)
2 inch carrot
3 oz chicken breast (or tofu for the vegetarians)
1 teaspoon sake
1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 fresh shiitake mushrooms (thinly sliced, stalks discarded)

For the custard:

3 extra large eggs, beaten
2 cups water*
1/2 teaspoon dashi-no-moto (aka dried dashi pellets you add to water) (or equal amount of dashi stock)* (or veggie stock for the vegetarians)
1 tablespoon sake
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
Water

*Ratio of eggs to dashi stock/water is 1:3. The above measurement of water is for reference only.

Method:

1. Blanch prawns and set aside. 

2. Cut the carrot slices into maple leaf shapes . Blanch in salt water and drain. 

3. Cut the chicken into small cubes and marinate in sake and soy sauce for 15 minutes.

4. Put all egg custard ingredients in a bowl and mix with chopsticks and strain into a bowl. 

5. Bring a steamer to boil and then set the heat to very low.

6. Divide the chicken, shiitake, prawns and carrots among four ramekins (or small oven-safe cups.  Think creme brulee cups). Divide the egg mixture among the ramekins. Put the scallion on top and cover each ramekin with aluminum foil. 

7. Steam on low heat for 15 minutes. Insert a tooth pick into the egg and if it comes out clear, it’s done.

6 uses for eggs (besides eating and decorating)

Instructables.com has a great list of 6 unusual uses for eggs: 

1.  Hair care.  Gross?  Very, but eggs, being high in protein, make good conditioning masks.  Take some egg whites, beat them with a whisk till frothy, add a bit of olive oil, put on your hair, leave for 20 minutes, rinse, and voila!  Conditioning.  And, if you want to smell more fresh than freshly laid, add some scented oils to the concoction.   Supposedly this also works for dogs (feeding them scrambled eggs) and skin care (whisk whites or yolks with water and use it as face wash - alternate each night). 

2.  Arts and Crafts Glue.  Egg whites as they dry become very sticky.  or for papier-mâché, egg whites + flour + sugar + a little alum. 

3.  Plant water (from making hard or soft boiled eggs).  let it cool first (obviously), then go ahead!  Shells are full o' calcium, so besides the water, save the shells for composting. 

 4.  Ghetto band-aid and first aid.  From a hard-boiled egg, use the thin membrane between the white and the shell to cover your wound.  Also, if you get a bruise, use a freshly hard-boiled egg to rub over the bruised surface.  The warm pressure dissipates some of the pooling blood. 

5.  Leather cleaner.  Gentry rub hard-boiled egg whites onto leather (supposedly any leather), and wipe off with a damp cloth.  Makes your leather clean and shiny!

6.  Jewelry cleaner (not sterling silver).  From Instructables: "First boil an egg or two, depending on the size of your jewelry. You only need the hardboiled yolk...Break up the yolks a bit, and place at the bottom of a container that you can easily seal. Set a wire rack over the yolks so you can hold your jewelry above without directly touching the yolks. If you don't have a rack, use some paper towels. Place your jewelry in, and seal the container. Let sit for a day (or longer if you want it darker), and wash silver with a bit of soap. Heads up: the yolks will smell pretty nasty after sitting out, so be sure to open your container in a well-ventilated area."  There you go.

Aren't eggs awesome?  I'm not sure if I would do some of these...but hey!  Who knows?

Egg Carvings

Well, that's not accurate.  They're not so much carvings as they are...burnings?  Etchings?  I know a small laser light is used, but I'm not sure what to properly call these.  

ANYWAY, big thank you to my friend Leah for sending this my way.  The artist, Cai.Sculptor (aka Zhong Gui Cai), is a genius.  He uses eggs from ducks, geese, quail, chickens,  and ostriches to make these elaborate "carvings". 

Egg Jams

Egg art by John Lamouranne

...as in songs about eggs.  Found this awesome list of 10 (10!) songs about the great egg.  From Wolfmother to Autechre to Ween to Tom Waits, many thanks to The Music Fix.

for more egg jams, click on the link above (got lazy).