September 3, 2020 Edition: Sunnyside Arms Over Easy Blog
- The Sunnyside Arms Gazette
- Sep 3, 2020
- 8 min read
The Sunnyside Arms Gazette's Over Easy column is taken over today by our sassy and inventive, recipe-loving, home-cooked-meal-making, kitchen garden-green thumb owning, dietary restriction conscious catering wonder, resident specialist of knowing about all things foody and delicious, the one and only Ms. Daphne Reed!
Well! Well! To Agnes' delight, I've decided that I am ready to contribute to this here blog. It's not that I haven't wanted to before now, it's just that these past few months with the COVID-19 pandemic keeping most of the Sunnyside Arms residents on-site, I've been mighty busy in my garden and kitchen trying to keep these folks here healthy and well-fed. I am sure you can all appreciate that! Now that we're in a nice rhythm here at Sunnyside Arms and fall is making her way down to us in Florida, I can finally take a little breather and catch you all up on what we've been doing around here since Betsy's last post in mid-July! My goodness, summer 2020 has flown by!
Why Not Grab a Tall Glass of Minty Sweet Tea and Join Me?
Honestly, I'd just love to sit on down at my computer with a tall, cool glass of minty sweet tea and share with you a few of the bigger goings-on around here this summer, along with a few good recipes, so that's what I'm going to do. I'll also share my minty sweet tea recipe with you first, in case you'd like to join me for a glass while we catch up.
Ms. Daphne's Minty Sweet Tea Recipe
Ingredients
12 cups water
6 tea bags (black tea, no flavors please!)
1 cup fresh peppermint leaves
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups water
1 large saucepan
1 small saucepan
1 strainer (fine)
1 tall pitcher
Also: Have some tall glasses, ice cubes, sliced lemon, and a few mint sprigs on the ready for garnishing and serving up some pretty as well as tasty tea!
Instructions
Tea Base
Bring 12 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan.
Remove the sauepan from the heat and add tea bags.
Let it stand until room temperature; remove tea bags.
Mint Syrup (Can be made ahead of time OR while Tea Base is cooling.)
Place 2 cups water in a small saucepan.
Add 1 cup fresh peppermint leaves
Add 3/4 cup granulated sugar
Heat the mixture to boiling, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Let it stand until room temperature.
To Serve Minty Tea
Once tea base and mint syrup are at room temperature, using a strainer, pour the mint syrup into the cooled tea and give a gentle stir.
Refrigerate your minty tea mixture for at least 2-3 hours.
Pour cold tea into tall glasses with ice cubes.
Garnish with lemon slices and some fresh mint
Serve and enjoy!
If you're wondering what to have with your minty tea while reading this blog post, I suggest some pound cake. I can imagine some of you are huffing and puffing about that suggestion, thinking, "Why humble pound cake when there are so many more interesting options?" Well, I'll tell you, plain and simple: Pound cake can hold its own with mint tea. The buttery, dense cake is a perfect pairing for that herbal minty cool tea. And, well, that's how we've always served it up in my family.
Our family recipe is just too good and secret to share just yet, but this Pound Cake Recipe from Sugar Spun Run is a great substitute!
If you're not a baker, there is no shame in picking up some of that Sara Lee All Butter Pound Cake you can find in your grocer's freezer. Just make sure to give it ample time to defrost before serving it up.
On Heirloom Tomatoes and The Antics of Garden Squirrels
As if I wasn't busy enough planning grocery deliveries and meals for the residents in July, just after the holiday weekend, the community of (apparently taste-discerning) squirrels on the property decided to take an interest in my prized heirloom Brandywine and Cherokee Purple tomatoes, not any of the other variaties or veggies, mind you, just those two.
Thankfully, Betsy Ross volunteered to help me out with the tomato/squirrel situation. Turns out, she had just watched this truly amazing video by Mark Rober showing how setting up an obstacle course with treats for squirrels in your backyard can not only keep them out of where you don't want them to go, it can also provide hours of free entertainment for both people and squirrels in the process.
I am happy to report that Betsy's "Squirrel Heirloom Tomato Eating Deterrent System" reallly helped reduce the number of tomatoes we lost to squirrels from that point on. I can also share that while raw almonds were the most-liked nut with the rodent crowd, my cinnamon-coated pecans were the chosen favorite of the humans watching them. (I'll include my special recipe for you later on.) Maybe it's because of the limited entertainment options afforded by the pandemic at present, but the squirrel obstacle course has been such a hit that we're thinking of changing it up a bit and keeping it going through the fall. Why, I just overheard Betsy and Dylan talking in the garden about how they would "spooky-it-up" (their term) for Halloween! I know the squirrels won't mind and feeding them the leftover roasted pumpkin seeds from our annual pumpkin carving and seed eating event come October would sure save me a lot of time usually spent on pumpkin seed recipe scrambling!
Ms. Daphne's Cinnamon-Coated Pecan Recipe
Ingredients
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
1 pound pecan halves
1 cup white sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 baking sheet, greased
2 mixing bowls
1 whisk or hand mixer
1 spoon
Also: Preheat Oven to 250 degrees
Instructions
In one mixing bowl, whip together the egg white and water until frothy.
In the other mixing bowl, mix together the sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
Add the pecans to the egg white mixture, stirring to coat the nuts evenly.
Take the egg white mixture coated nuts and and toss them in the sugar mixture until well coated.
Spread the nuts out on the prepared baking sheet (in a single layer)
Bake at 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes.(120 degrees C) for about 1 hour.
Flip the nuts over every 15 minutes.
Cool and Serve
Serving Suggestion: We like to serve these up in these handy paper cones we found at Oriental Trading.com.
Joe & Tiffani Delay Return to Play in Key West
Joe and Tiffani were originally supposed to arrive back at Sunnyside Arms from their honeymoon on July 18; we'd even planned a cake and punch "Welcome Home" reception in the rec room for that Sunday afternoon! However, about 8 p.m. that Saturday night of the 18th, John got a call from a (dare I say) very intoxicated young bridegroom (with Jimmy Buffet music in the background) saying that due to the pandemic situation, he and Tiffani had decided to extend their honeymoon time and "hunker down with some of their Parrothead friends" (their words) in Key West until mid-August. When I heard this from John shortly thereafter at the emergency Zoom meeting he'd called for me, Agnes, and Betsy (Zoom because it was LATE by our standards and I wasn't going to change out of my p-jammies for anything or anyone at that hour!), I right flipped out at first. I'll tell you why. Numero Uno: We had a residence full of older ladies and gentlemen who not-so patiently had been waiting for, first, the OK from the state of Florida, and, second, for their beloved hair stylist, Miss Tiffani, to get home from her honeymoom so she could re-open her on-site salon and cut-n-color-n-style their hair for them!
Hair (Care) Apparent Crisis at Sunnyside Arms, Averted with Creation of The Head Scarf Project
In the before-COVID-19 days, this hair care routine was usually a weekly affair for many of the residents, so an additional delay of several weeks more without hair care, was not going to sit well with most of them. I do my own hair, so I am not in that group, but I know Betsy and Agnes sure are. We decided that we'd better come up with something to appeal to the hair care deprived! That's when we put our heads together and came up with "The Head Scarf Project." We figured the residents would be happy for a way to cover up their several months of home hair styling or lack there of (be it a lack of styling or hair) and show off their creativity in the process.
(Again, there weren't as many opportunities for resident group-like activities this summer for safety reasons.)
Betsy, Agnes, and I collected all manor of fabric scraps that we could find and invited the residents to stop by the rec room on Sunday to drop off and/or grab supplies to make their own unique head scarves to wear until Tiffani got back and re-opened the salon. It was quite the hit! No two were alike, and even some of the gentleman, like Harold and Dentley, got into it, creating floral-scented and camo-patterned head scarves (or "bandanas" as they preferred to call them).
The Matter of the Vanilla Bean Cake and Peach Party Punch
Secondarily, or Numero Dos: there was the matter of what to do with the homemade buttercream frosted vanilla bean cake decorated with fondant scissors and my special peach party punch I'd lovingly prepared ahead for Joe and Tiffani's "Welcome Home" reception. We'd already celebrated all of the July birthdays, and the freezer was chock full of ready-to-heat meals in case the pandemic renders me unable to cook for a bit, so we just went ahead and put it all out for the residents to enjoy while making their head scarves/bandanas. The fondant scissor decorations really sold it, I'm told. I'm still a little crispy about having to re-do the food and punch for the reception in August, but it is what it is.
Mid-Augustly, The Prodigals (Joe and Tiffani) Return!
So low and behold (and in no small part due to The Head Scarf Project), Joe and Tiffani arrived back at Sunnyside Arms on Saturday, August 15th, without so much as one disgruntled peep from the hair salon set! Phew! And since we had some warning as to when they'd be back, we organized both Tiffani's salon appointment book for the next few weeks and a "Welcome Home" reception redo for the newlyweds. This time I made a lemon chiffon cake with Turbinado sugar icing (forgot to get a picture in all the celebrating!) and my Auntie Val's Lemon Berry Punch. For the most part, all of the residents were on their best behavior, though a number of them, including poor Mr. Hawker, unfortunately fell asleep in hour four of Joe and Tiffani's honeymoon PowerPoint Presentation. Just as we were getting to their arrival on Key West.
Summer's Ending Brings A Sense of Calm
Now that Joe and Tiffani have been home for a few weeks and the residents have all managed to stay pretty healthy through the summer months, everyone and everything at Sunnyside Arms seems to be a little slower and calmer. I think John is even considering heading home to his condo up in Orlando for a spell. I will miss teasing him about his napping in the rec room hammock and having him and that partner of his, Simon, around as often to cook for and dish with. But time marches on, and so do we. Even the pond alligator has moved on apparently. According to Dentley, who's been monitoring such things, he's been MIA for about a month. Hmm. Maybe we'll see crawfish back in the pond now. I'm getting all fogged up here (mask and glasses combo) just thinking about it all, so I'm going just wrap this up while I can still see what I am typing.
Fall's Beginning Evokes Ideas For Days To Come
September is here, so I'll be gathering up the last of the summer goodies from the Kitchen Garden and planning a Fall Harvest Feast for the residents. Cheese stuffed zucchini boats and stewed tomatoes with summer squash will definitely be on the menu. Those are two of my personal favorites right there! Then it will be time for all the Halloween events and activities (Betsy and I are already dreaming up some All Hallow's Eve-themed goodies which I'm sure we'll share in good time.) One thing I like to do come Fall is add in more spice to my recipes, give them a little seasonal kick, if you will. Something as simple as adding some Saigon cinnamon to meat lasagna can turn your good food into WOW food. I'm just saying. Until the next time I get a chance to contribute to this blog, stay safe, stay healthy, and most of all, stay spicy!
-Ms. Daphne Reed
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