Hello and welcome to a pretty happy Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is February 8th and we're all in Grand Forks, North Dakota today to cheer on the WAKWIR and the Lego the Woods team at the North Dakota FIRST LEGO League State Championship Tournament. Go, LEGO!!!
Regular readers of the Wannaskan Almanac will be happy to know that the Wannaskan Almanac Kid Writer-in-Residence (aka WAKWIR) will be posting his Lego League adventures (and results!) next Saturday. For those who've never read the WAKWIR's posts - save the date! You're in for a treat! Seriously, folks, the kid's got fans.
A quick literary shout-out to Jules Verne, who would have been 192 years old on this day. Many a happy hour has been passed at our house reading Around the World in 80 Days, and the like, in both English and Czech. Also, on this day, the Boy Scouts of America was founded. Whether you're an admirer of the Boy Scouts or not, I have an excellent book recommendation for you, The Hearts of Men, by Nickolas Butler which is set at a Boy Scout camp in northern Wisconsin. A great book club discussion book, so if you read or have read it, leave a comment below and we can discuss!
Occasionally our readers will write in, or in our case tell us at parent-teacher conferences, that they have a topic request. Apparently our children have been sharing a hot tip with their teachers that their dad makes the perfectly peelable boiled egg. What follows is the transcription of the highly scientific explanation of:
Kim: Okay, apparently you know the secret to boiling the perfect egg. So what did the teacher say?
Hubby: She said that [the Oldest] was praising her dad, that boiled eggs peel very easily, the eggs which I boil, apparently.
K: Are you willing to share your secret, your process?
H: Let me think about that because, there may be something that I hesitate perhaps sharing.but on the other side, I tell myself that it is a skill, perhaps, to teach my children, and perhaps others as well, if they are willing to go through the ropes.
K: Okay, so what are the ropes?
H: Well, it's very simple. It's not rocket science, believe me, I know. So you put your eggs into your pot, fill it up with water at least one inch above the toppest, highest positioned egg and bring that water to the boil. As soon as the boil is there, you bring the boil temperature down. If you have 10 scale buttons there, you bring it to like 2 or 3, to the very mild boil. Keep it there that way for like between 8 to 10 minutes, I would say 10 minutes is certain. Then you take it off, turn it off everything, and right away put cold water into the hot water and everything. Then-
K: So you don't empty the pot but you run cold water right into the pot.
H: You fill the pot and dump the whole water, right. This way you don't burn yourself, you still have to use rags or whatever, kitchen gloves, whatever to prevent injury. Safety first, right? BUT, as soon as you do that, refill the pot with cold water again, wait like a minute, the hot eggs will exchange temperature with the cold water and do it again, but this time wait like 3 minutes or maybe 5 minutes til the process, again - really, it's about the temperature exchange - and then you perhaps may do it again for the third time, then you're done. Then you just bring the eggs, you take them out and put them on a strainer/drainer, to dry out, to drip out, and you take them out of the water, and ta da. (Note: My personality is more "TA DA!" But hubby is more of a "ta da" guy.)
K: In the third rinse, how long do you keep the eggs in the third rinse?
H: Third rinse, perhaps another 5 to 10 minutes. Ten minutes is probably max.
K: So one minute, 3 to 5 minutes, then 5 to 10 minutes.
H: Yeah.
K: When you start to boil the eggs, what number do you put the sporak on? (Note: In my defense, I was recovering from a cold and at that moment the Czech word describing the stove top came to my head first.)
H: I put it usually on the highest one.
K: A 10?
H: Yep. I either preboil the water with konvice. What's it called in English? The kettle - the electric kettle. Or I start boiling the water from whatever I get in the tap.
K: And what does a boil look like? Is it just starting to boil with little bubbles coming up or is it like rapidly boiling?
H: Mmmmm....it's just, yeah, rapid boil, the real visible boil, but you don't wait - as soon as you see that you need to watch it little bit. Let's say it'll take you like 5 minutes from even hot water because even though you pour hot water from your preboiled kettle into the cold eggs, it will take a while, maybe those five minutes because those eggs are very cold, right, from the fridge, so it'll take awhile. But doing that from very cold water in the pot, it might take you 10 to 12 minutes to bring it to the boil process. But as soon as you see that, you don't continue that, you bring it down to the very mild boil.
K: And keep the cap, the lid on? (Note: Once my mind went to Czech words, it's sometimes hard to stay in English.)
H: Keep the lid on. You don't want to have the foam or anything going, just very mild again.
K: So if you turn it down, you can put the lid on completely.
H: Yes, yes.
K: Okay. Any other tips?
H: Don't overboil the eggs. Fifteen minutes is too much. Ten minutes under mild boil is just plenty.
K: Yeah, and your eggs always have really nice, soft yolks, but it's completely cooked. Nice job, honey. Thank you.
H: You're welcome.
Regular readers of the Wannaskan Almanac will be happy to know that the Wannaskan Almanac Kid Writer-in-Residence (aka WAKWIR) will be posting his Lego League adventures (and results!) next Saturday. For those who've never read the WAKWIR's posts - save the date! You're in for a treat! Seriously, folks, the kid's got fans.
A quick literary shout-out to Jules Verne, who would have been 192 years old on this day. Many a happy hour has been passed at our house reading Around the World in 80 Days, and the like, in both English and Czech. Also, on this day, the Boy Scouts of America was founded. Whether you're an admirer of the Boy Scouts or not, I have an excellent book recommendation for you, The Hearts of Men, by Nickolas Butler which is set at a Boy Scout camp in northern Wisconsin. A great book club discussion book, so if you read or have read it, leave a comment below and we can discuss!
Occasionally our readers will write in, or in our case tell us at parent-teacher conferences, that they have a topic request. Apparently our children have been sharing a hot tip with their teachers that their dad makes the perfectly peelable boiled egg. What follows is the transcription of the highly scientific explanation of:
Kim: Okay, apparently you know the secret to boiling the perfect egg. So what did the teacher say?
Hubby: She said that [the Oldest] was praising her dad, that boiled eggs peel very easily, the eggs which I boil, apparently.
K: Are you willing to share your secret, your process?
H: Let me think about that because, there may be something that I hesitate perhaps sharing.but on the other side, I tell myself that it is a skill, perhaps, to teach my children, and perhaps others as well, if they are willing to go through the ropes.
K: Okay, so what are the ropes?
H: Well, it's very simple. It's not rocket science, believe me, I know. So you put your eggs into your pot, fill it up with water at least one inch above the toppest, highest positioned egg and bring that water to the boil. As soon as the boil is there, you bring the boil temperature down. If you have 10 scale buttons there, you bring it to like 2 or 3, to the very mild boil. Keep it there that way for like between 8 to 10 minutes, I would say 10 minutes is certain. Then you take it off, turn it off everything, and right away put cold water into the hot water and everything. Then-
K: So you don't empty the pot but you run cold water right into the pot.
H: You fill the pot and dump the whole water, right. This way you don't burn yourself, you still have to use rags or whatever, kitchen gloves, whatever to prevent injury. Safety first, right? BUT, as soon as you do that, refill the pot with cold water again, wait like a minute, the hot eggs will exchange temperature with the cold water and do it again, but this time wait like 3 minutes or maybe 5 minutes til the process, again - really, it's about the temperature exchange - and then you perhaps may do it again for the third time, then you're done. Then you just bring the eggs, you take them out and put them on a strainer/drainer, to dry out, to drip out, and you take them out of the water, and ta da. (Note: My personality is more "TA DA!" But hubby is more of a "ta da" guy.)
K: In the third rinse, how long do you keep the eggs in the third rinse?
H: Third rinse, perhaps another 5 to 10 minutes. Ten minutes is probably max.
K: So one minute, 3 to 5 minutes, then 5 to 10 minutes.
H: Yeah.
K: When you start to boil the eggs, what number do you put the sporak on? (Note: In my defense, I was recovering from a cold and at that moment the Czech word describing the stove top came to my head first.)
H: I put it usually on the highest one.
K: A 10?
H: Yep. I either preboil the water with konvice. What's it called in English? The kettle - the electric kettle. Or I start boiling the water from whatever I get in the tap.
K: And what does a boil look like? Is it just starting to boil with little bubbles coming up or is it like rapidly boiling?
H: Mmmmm....it's just, yeah, rapid boil, the real visible boil, but you don't wait - as soon as you see that you need to watch it little bit. Let's say it'll take you like 5 minutes from even hot water because even though you pour hot water from your preboiled kettle into the cold eggs, it will take a while, maybe those five minutes because those eggs are very cold, right, from the fridge, so it'll take awhile. But doing that from very cold water in the pot, it might take you 10 to 12 minutes to bring it to the boil process. But as soon as you see that, you don't continue that, you bring it down to the very mild boil.
K: And keep the cap, the lid on? (Note: Once my mind went to Czech words, it's sometimes hard to stay in English.)
H: Keep the lid on. You don't want to have the foam or anything going, just very mild again.
K: So if you turn it down, you can put the lid on completely.
H: Yes, yes.
K: Okay. Any other tips?
H: Don't overboil the eggs. Fifteen minutes is too much. Ten minutes under mild boil is just plenty.
K: Yeah, and your eggs always have really nice, soft yolks, but it's completely cooked. Nice job, honey. Thank you.
On This Day
Historic Highlights (credits)
1971 - The NASDAQ holds its first trading day
The National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations was the world's first electronic stock exchange.
1960 - The first 8 stars are added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame
More than 2400 five-pointed stars have since been embedded in the sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street to honor stars of the entertainment industry.
1950 - The Stasi, East Germany's notorious secret police, is established
The “Staatssicherheit”, which was dissolved in 1990, is considered one of the most repressive intelligence agencies in the world.
1910 - The Boy Souts of America is founded
3 years earlier, British General Robert Baden-Powell had founded the Scout movement in England.
1879 - Sandford Fleming proposes the use of time zones
The later introduction of Universal Standard Time, which is based on time zones, revolutionized time keeping.
The National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations was the world's first electronic stock exchange.
1960 - The first 8 stars are added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame
More than 2400 five-pointed stars have since been embedded in the sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street to honor stars of the entertainment industry.
1950 - The Stasi, East Germany's notorious secret police, is established
The “Staatssicherheit”, which was dissolved in 1990, is considered one of the most repressive intelligence agencies in the world.
1910 - The Boy Souts of America is founded
3 years earlier, British General Robert Baden-Powell had founded the Scout movement in England.
1879 - Sandford Fleming proposes the use of time zones
The later introduction of Universal Standard Time, which is based on time zones, revolutionized time keeping.
Happy Birthday to You!🎶
1941 - Nick Nolte, American actor
1932 - John Williams, American pianist, composer, conductor
1931 - James Dean, American actor
1925 - Jack Lemmon, American actor, singer, director
1828 - Jules Verne, French author
1932 - John Williams, American pianist, composer, conductor
1931 - James Dean, American actor
1925 - Jack Lemmon, American actor, singer, director
1828 - Jules Verne, French author
Remembering You
2007 - Ian Stevenson, American biochemist
2007 - Anna Nicole Smith, American model, actress
1998 - Enoch Powell, British politician
1957 - John von Neumann, Hungarian/American mathematician
1587 - Mary, Queen of Scots
2007 - Anna Nicole Smith, American model, actress
1998 - Enoch Powell, British politician
1957 - John von Neumann, Hungarian/American mathematician
1587 - Mary, Queen of Scots
Keep trying new things, enjoy your eggs and make it a great Saturday!
Kim
You're a good mom.
ReplyDeleteI plan to make me some hard boiled eggs ASAP.
ReplyDelete