I Like "Tough"

What you're looking at up there is one of my two spearmint plants. Fortunately for me, mint is an extremely hardy critter, tough to kill. This little guy and the one beside him, out of the frame, were very tall and bushy and full of dark green leaves that perfumed the air when you just brushed them gently. Gorgeous. And then they came to live with me -- and then I set them in the hallway, thinking the skylight would be great for them. I was wrong. They rapidly grew spindly and pale and began losing their leaves and I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't even notice for all too long. Bipped right past them, day after day, and never even looked. (sigh)

Well, when I realized I was in the process of committing involuntary mint slaughter, I whipped them back into the kitchen, pinched off all the spindly and dying stuff, watered them well and humbly begged them for forgiveness. I guess they're okay with that because they have begun to thrive again on the windowsill by the table. They're still not as dark green as they used to be but they've certainly improved over the sad state to which I'd reduced them. Provided I don't lapse into black thumb mode again, they'll progress beautifully.

I so admire their toughness that I decided they were an apt illustration for the batteries in my camera. I know -- that seems like a ludicrous leap of logic but stick with me here. I'll explain.

Back when I got my first digicam, the little refurbished Kodak, I was going through double AA batteries like they were popcorn. I think digicams were greedier then but maybe I'm wrong. I hate to think how many batteries I tossed before I found out they would still operate things like clocks and tape recorders even after the camera had sucked them down. By the time I got my beloved Nikon CoolPix, I'd graduated to rechargeable batteries and I ran two sets of Rayovacs for a couple of years without any problems. Along toward the last, I felt as though the batteries were not holding their charge as long but, by golly, they worked hard for the duration.

Then, when I got my current Canon Powershot (thank you, Cecil), I did a lot of research and ended up ordering a double set of Sanyo's Eneloops, along with the charger. That was in February of last year. The first set didn't run out until yesterday, a good year and a half after they were first popped into the camera! Mind you, that's with almost daily use for over a year. This past six months I haven't shot as many pictures but, still, I think the time span is pretty impressive.

Besides the fact that they're sturdy and long-lived (hence my mint analogy), these are what are called "precharged" batteries. They're ready to go right out of their bubble pack. So I've just recharged the first set and stored them away in their little container and fully expect them to be still amply charged when this second set runs down next year -- or whenever.

Wolfie, if I remember correctly, you were investing in -- I think -- Rayovac Hybrids at the same time. I think the hybrids are virtually the same as the Eneloops. What has been your experience with them? Just so folks know there are choices. Heck, by now there are probably even more precharged battery brands out there.

Just for the record, I'm not being paid by Sanyo to brag on their Eneloops -- but they wouldn't hurt my feelings if they sent me chocolate. Dark chocolate, please. Sanyo? Can you hear me now? Tap, tap. Darn. I don't think this thing is on.

Egg-ception to the Freshness Rule

Okay, Coffee Mates, I want you to take a good look at the above photo. See that smooth and silky perfectly peeled egg? See the shell, lifted from said egg in almost one piece? It would have been one piece but I was so startled, I twitched a bit and tore the little section off.

There is nothing particularly earth-shaking about a smoothly peeled egg -- unless it happens to be a FRESH egg. Remember in yesterday's post how I mentioned a factoid I've always found to be true -- the shells of fresh eggs cling so tenaciously to the white that your hard boiled eggs end up looking like they've been chewed by starving hamsters. You always, always choose not-so-fresh eggs for hard boiling.

I think I may have been suffering under a misapprehension, at least in part. I still believe it to be true that fresh eggs, when boiled, are nearly impossible to peel neatly. But eggs that have been steamed to the hard cooked stage -- ahhhhh. That's a different yolk entirely.

Frankly, I had never heard of steaming eggs until I did some general research this morning, inspired by Drew after his comment on the last post. Thank you, Drew! It was while reading the comments of others who had faced the peeling problem that I came across the steaming tip. Further research showed it to be a not uncommon method for achieving hard "boiled" eggs and almost all the tipsters insisted it made peeling slick and easy even for fresh eggs!

Just for contrast, here's my tried and true method for boiling the (not so fresh) eggs. Put them all in a pan, single layer, and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat, slap on a lid, and let the eggs sit for 20 minutes. Put the pan in the sink and run cold water in until all the hot water is gone and the eggs are cooling their round heels. (Note: some folks suggest putting salt or vinegar in the cooking water to prevent cracked shells. Salt makes the whites come out a bit rubbery. Don't know about the vinegar. I don't bother with either and rarely have a cracked shell.) Crack each egg against the side of the sink and, starting at the big end (where the air pocket is), peel the egg under running water.

Now here's what I did with the steam method: not willing to experiment with the whole dozen, I slipped one egg out of the carton and carefully slid it into a measuring cup full of water. Yup. Very fresh. The egg insisted on laying flat on its side, absolutely refusing to attempt any effort at rising. It languished. I suppose I should have taken a picture of it in that state but I'm sure you will believe me when I tell you it was definitely a fresh specimen.

Okay. As it happens, the shallow steamer pan for my pressure cooker fits quite nicely in my biggest saucepan. I put plenty of water in the pan (but not up to the bottom of the steam tray), brought it to a boil, turned the heat down to medium, put the egg in the steam tray and plopped the lid on. Set the timer for 20 minutes. (I read instructions for steaming anywhere from 12 minutes to 30 minutes. Since the egg came right from the refrigerator, I figured 20 was about right.) While the egg was steaming, I put the measuring cup of water in the freezer to chill. Some folks insist on bathing cooked eggs in ice water. I didn't have any ice handy. It didn't matter.

Once the 20 minutes was up, I transferred the egg, via tongs, to the cold water and let it sit for a couple of minutes. Had some sips of coffee. Crossed my fingers. Pulled the now-cool egg out of the water, cracked the shell good on the sink and held it under running water. Started the peeling process, expecting to work as delicately as I had to do yesterday with the slightly older eggs.

OMG!!!! The shell practically leaped off the egg! I could not believe it. And, yes, 20 minutes was quite sufficient to cook the yolk just right. (See photo below.) I'm lovin' me this steamer method, I'm tellin' ya! Now, I realize one measly little egg is not statistically significant so I can't really say steam cooking the eggs will always allow even fresh ones to peel smoothly. But, you know what? I'm certainly willing to do it again, just in the interests of scientific research. (Trying to assume a serious, Einsteinian expression.)

Oh! For what it's worth, here's another tip I ran across: To center the yolks for deviled eggs, sit the carton of eggs on its side in the refrigerator for 24 hours. I have no idea if this works or not but there is a vision in my mind's eye of the yolk lining up smartly like the bubble in a carpenter's level.

For information on the freshness test, you might enjoy the photos at the Recipe Hut. Also, the What's Cooking America site has lots of egg info. If you check in the left-hand side bar, clicking on the link for "Why do some eggs float?" will give you even more fresh-test info.

Well! I don't know about y'all but I've had an egg-ceptionally informative morning. And there's still time to look around for new worlds to conquer. Either that or imitate my fresh eggs and spend the afternoon languishing.