Introduction
Bettina’s mother and father have returned from
vacation, and our crafty heroine knows just what bait to dangle to lure them to
her house: a juicy steak that even hypercritical Father proclaims “exactly
right”!
Once again Bettina, that goddess of domesticity, brings full honors upon herself. Father “was as eager as a boy to get here,” confides
Mother, accepting a cup of coffee a now thoroughly domesticized Bob presses
upon her. “I can say that after a summer spent in California, I’m more than
thankful to be back again!”
Part 1
The
Menu
Pan-Broiled
Sirloin Steak
Mashed
Potatoes
Carrots
Head
Lettuce
Thousand
Island Dressing
Sliced
Bananas
Quick
Cake
Coffee
Preparing the Meal
Pan-Broiled
Sirloin Steak
It seems rather surprising that Bettina doesn’t
splurge on a T-bone or filet mignon, but I suppose even a welcome home dinner
for one’s parents isn’t worth breaking the household budget for!
As for preparing the steak, I’m deviating from the
recipe in a big way…after wrecking untold pounds of meat trying to cook steak under a
broiler flame I’m going to fry this one in a pan (my apologies, Father!)
Ha!
This can be cooked this without even breaking a sweat. Simply fry for eight to
ten minutes, season with salt and pepper, and add some dabs of butter.
Mashed
Potatoes
\What
good’s is a steak without a pile of spuds (dripping with butter or gravy)
snuggled next to it? Frankly I was delighted to find this dish on the evening’s
menu—potatoes turn up with disheartening regularity at most Bettina meals but
they’re almost never mashed.
Pared
potatoes in boiling, salted water.
For
once these didn’t overcook and crumble into bits.
I
really do hate mashing potatoes by hand, but I have to admit they come out far
better that way.
Hmmm…a
bit dry, it appears. I believe they more than the stingy two tablespoons of
milk the recipe calls for, plus salt, pepper, and butter.
Carrots
This is a new one…I don’t believe I’ve ever seen
carrots in any form on Bettina’s table.
For
some reason or other (a midnight raid from the Easter bunny?) one of the carrots I purchased disappeared
overnight…I’ll have to make do with a little less.
The
recipe demands the carrots be chopped into cubes, but I honestly have no idea
how to go about that. These crude hex- and heptagons will have to do.
All
that’s left to do now is cook these carrots “until tender”, drain, and season
with the spice combo of the day (salt, pepper, and butter).
Head
Lettuce With Thousand Island Dressing
Generally Bettina’s salad dressings are the bane of my
life…so many ingredients, so much mixing and chopping it hardly seems worth the
effort.
This time however I’m feeling a little more
optimistic…the much-dreaded chili sauce is the base for this dressing, but with
rare good fortune I already have some in my refrigerator.
Good
Lord, do we really need all this for a supposedly simple dressing?
And
this…good old Iceberg, Bettina’s “head lettuce” of choice.
Hmm…these greens have seen better days.
Well,
thanks to the already-prepared chil sauce this wasn’t too difficult to mix
up…can’t say it looks very appetizing, though.
Sliced
Bananas
A commonplace fruit now, but these must have seemed a
real treat in the early 20th century. Slicing bananas is no problem
of course, but—how long before they turn brown?
Quick
Cake
I generally don’t think much of Bettina’s homebaked
goods—too little fat/shortening and a minimum of eggs tends to make for
incredibly dry and/or rubbery cakes. But this time I believe there’s hope…tonight’s
cake contains chopped dates which should (fingers crossed) add some much-needed
moisture.
Milk,
dates, and brown sugar—hopefully this will help make up for the paltry 1/3 cup
of butter and the pitiful single egg.
Alas
I forgot to remove the butter from the refrigerator earlier in the day…consequently
it was still hard as a rock when it came time to make the cake. Since dinner
was just a couple hours away I cheated here and softened the butter in the
microwave.
Creaming
the butter and sugar.
Adding
the egg and milk to the butter/sugar combo.
Uh-oh.
Looks like drought has set in!
*Whew*.
Crisis averted. However it happened this batter in the end came out pretty
moist. Amazing.
The
dates—eight of ‘em.
I
always forget how sticky dates are…wish I could use my food chopper for these.
Folding
the chopped dates into the batter.
A
well-greased (glass) loaf pan. For once I feel optimistic about a Bettina
cake—everything looks great!
Later
Unbelievable.
My oh-some-promising cake developed a sinkhole. ☹
But there's still the icing...Usually these overly-sweet Bettina
frostings seem less than necessary, but in this case I’m grateful to have
something with which to fill in that crater.
Whipping
the egg whites.
Adding
two tablespoons of cold water…
…and
some powdered sugar.
As
so often happens the icing came out too thin, and even adding more powdered
sugar didn’t help. So I decided to whip it a bit more in hopes of
encouraging some volume. We’ll see…
Coffee
Percolated coffee…strong enough probably to keep even Father awake after multiple helpings of steak!
How It Looked
No comments:
Post a Comment