The
hype about Grandma’s scrambled eggs
For this post, I wanted to share some of the food and
drink that's featured in Growing Pains. None of these are important to the
story - but then again, even if it's not important to the story, food is
important, point blank. Right? Right. These recipes are aggregated from the
Internet and personal experience, and I take no responsibility for how they
taste – but I’m telling you right now, eggs like the below are sublime.
Gigi's
Grandma's Scrambled Eggs
Gigi's very conscious about the food he eats – dancers
tend to be. In the novel, he refuses to eat a bunch of things, but his
grandmother's famous eggs loom large on the no-go list. It's totally the wrong
decision, as you're about to find out, but hey, athletes amirite?
6 eggs (you're feeding family)
salt and black pepper to taste
2 pinches ground nutmeg
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp crème fraiche OR 1 handful grated cheese
(cheddar is especially good)
2 tbsp chopped parsley or chives
Break the eggs into a bowl. Add the salt, pepper and
nutmeg, and whisk together with a fork until light and frothy.
Melt the butter over low heat in a frying pan. Wait
until it's frothy and completely melted, covering the entire pan. Add the eggs
to the pan, leave for ten seconds, then stir. Repeat until they begin to set,
then stir continuously until they're almost done.
Once they're on the verge of being finished, take the
pan off the heat and stir in the crème fraîche/cheese and the parsley. Serve
with buttered toast.
Extra ideas:
Dice a clove of garlic and brown that in the butter
before adding the eggs.
Stir cooked chopped bacon bits into the egg mixture
before adding to the pan.
Serve with slivers of smoked salmon for extra
decadence.
Brock's
Grandma's Screwdrivers
Brock's grandma gets one shout-out, and it's with this
drink in hand.
1 part vodka
2 parts orange juice
Mix in a highball glass over ice (whatever glasses you
have will probably be fine). Garnish with orange peel if you're feeling fancy.
Sit down and enjoy with family and/or a cigarette. [Author note: please do not
smoke, it isn't good for your health. Also, Brock and Gigi's grandmothers would
probably enjoy being brunch buddies.]
Sophie's
Wedding Kombucha Delights
Kombucha is a fancy-ass fermented tea that’s making
the rounds as a recent health thing to drink. Confession time: when I included
kombucha cocktails in this novel for Gigi’s sister’s wedding, I did it as a
joke. The joke's on me - they're real things *deep sigh* And they're probably
delicious to boot. Damn you, hipsters of the world! I don't think you're
supposed to drink kombucha with alcohol, but eh *shrug* Here are two recipes,
one alcoholic and one non-alcoholic.
2 oz spiced rum
pinch cayenne pepper
3/4 oz lime juice
3/4 oz ginger simple syrup
kombucha to top off
Shake the rum, pepper, lime juice and syrup together
with ice. Strain into a highball glass filled with ice. Top off with kombucha.
2 large mint leaves
3/4 oz apple juice
1 lime wheel
1/2 oz ginger simple syrup
kombucha to top off
Muddle the mint, apple juice, lime wheel and syrup
together in a highball glass. Add ice and pour kombucha to fill the glass.
Sprig of mint to garnish.
***********************
About Growing Pains:
Gigi Rosenberg
is living his best life: performances in the big city, side gigs at a dance
company, a successful drag act, and the boy of his childhood dreams who now
adores him. Even if the boyfriend part isn’t the sparkly ride of passion he
expected it to be, life is sweet. So when his sister’s wedding calls him back
to his hometown, he sees an opportunity to show the hicks from his past how
wrong they were about him. Only, his boyfriend isn’t quite on board.
Brock Stubbs
left their hometown and his parents behind for a reason, and the prospect of
facing them again is terrifying. He swore he’d never go back, but Gigi has made
it clear refusal isn’t an option, and Brock will do nearly anything for him.
There’s just one deal-breaker of a problem: Brock promised Gigi he was out to
everyone, including his parents. He lied.
It’s magical
to run into the sunset together, but staying the course takes work. For Gigi
and Brock, going home feels like the finale of a long, disappointing year.
Sometimes love isn’t all you need.