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The Good Egg A nod to one of nature’s most perfect foods. Eggs for the Holidays Deviled eggs are among our family’s favorite holiday foods. Passed as a plate of appetizers or nestled in a crowded buffet, they are always a treat and sure to disappear. The concept of deviled eggs began in ancient Rome, where boiled eggs were generally served with spicy sauces. The practice of removing the yolks from hard-cooked eggs, mixing them with spices such as mustard and cayenne and stuffing them into the whites was common in 17th-century Europe. The term “deviled” first appeared in print in 1786 but referred to any food cooked and highly seasoned, such as kidneys, meats and seafood. Deviled cooking was popular before the age of refrigeration because the spices helped cover any "off" flavors in foods that were less than fresh. By the 19th century, “deviled” referred specifically to food cooked with spicy peppers or mustard--supposedly hot as the devil’s domain. One of the earliest printed recipes for deviled eggs was for a salad course:
Since then many variations of the recipe have appeared in print and on American tables, but all seem to have in common the creamed yolks, a binder such as butter or mayonnaise, and a hot seasoning such as cayenne or dry mustard. As for other additions, imagination is the only limit.
Published November 11, 2011 Eggs in a Heart-Healthy Diet When the lab report from my annual checkup came back recently, I noticed my cholesterol levels are slightly elevated. My first thought was to cut back on eggs (I average one a day) but when I did a little research, I learned that eggs aren’t the likely culprit in my diet. The American Heart Association Cholesterol website states that eggs can fit into a healthy diet provided we restrict other high-fat foods:
In other words, it’s probably not the eggs I eat that are raising my cholesterol, it’s more likely the bacon I sneak from under the warmer and the butter I put on on my toast. Fortunately, there are so many satisfying dishes we can make with eggs using small amounts of meat, dairy and fat, and they can be eaten for any meal, not just breakfast. Quiche and strata come to mind, as well as frittata and other baked egg dishes. Our “menu R&D” this winter will focus on testing more of these heart-healthy recipes. And if you’re also focusing on healthier choices, try our cholesterol-free omelet, made with egg whites and vegetables, fried using spray shortening instead of butter or oil. There are several other entrees on our menu that are satisfying low-fat selections. We also offer Egg BeatersÒ. Below is a heart-healthy recipe similar to one we are currently testing, which may soon be a featured special.
Planes, ??? and Automobiles One busy day a couple summers ago, a neighbor was working on Lucky’s truck in the driveway while customers came and went. When I left for the day, he said, “Just this morning I've seen everything on wheels pull in here.” He was exaggerating, of course—but not by much. Customers do arrive in all makes of cars and trucks, campers, vans and SUVs. They come on bicycles and motorcycles. (Some friendly Harley enthusiasts ride up from the Twin Cities every year, have breakfast and ride back. This year, a convoy of 21 bikes pulled in, quite a sight around here!) Last year, one of our regular customers flew onto Reed Lake, parked his float plane at our dock and came in for breakfast. That caused a bit of excitement, too! A neighbor down Callahan Road rides his lawn mower over once in a while and another neighbor rides his ATV. In the winter we often serve groups of sledders, since we’re just off snowmobile Trail 18. Many customers arrive pulling boats, sleds, ATVs, or campers. Our unique location allows for easy trailer parking on Callahan Road and drivers can pull ahead when leaving, with two quick right turns back to Highway B. (If you’ve ever tried backing up in a tight spot with a trailer, you can appreciate this advantage.) Sometimes people tell us they didn't stop because there were so many vehicles out front, but we have room for 80 customers and there is seldom a long wait for a table, even on busy summer weekends. So don't let all the "wheels" scare you off! It doesn’t matter where you come from or how you arrive. You and your friends and family are always welcome here!
Published August 30, 2011 Waste Nothing Think of all the things we can waste in a day. Time. Water. Electricity. Motion. For a business, everything wasted translates into wasted money. So our motto for The Robin’s Nest this year is: Waste Nothing. With this in mind, we added a section to our menu for Lighter Alternatives. These are combination plates of popular breakfast items portioned with lighter appetites in mind. Many customers feel guilty about leaving food on their plates and are happy to order less. I’m not sure yet if this is a profitable practice for us but it makes sense for a lot of our customers and helps reduce waste.
Not all food scraps are
wasted, though. Some are saved for Judy's animals: dogs, cats and a horse
who run to welcome her when she gets home from work. Other scraps can be
composted. As a result, only garbage ends up in the garbage bin. (Even that
gets raided by bears now and then. Nature’s great recyclers.) We don’t serve bread crusts to our customers as toast but we use them for bread crumbs, croutons, and our Thursday specials, strata. Strata is a baked dish usually consisting of layers of bread cubes or croutons, eggs, milk, and whatever cheese, meat, vegetables and seasonings are at hand. (The word strata means layers.) The best strata are chilled overnight before baking to allow the bread to soak up the liquid. We like ours served with a little cheese sauce and fresh fruit on the side. Like anything else made with eggs, strata is a satisfying main dish that can be served any time of day. So don't toss out your bread crusts, stale bread and leftover buns. Collect them in the freezer and you will soon have enough for a strata. Published June 30, 2011 The Day From Hell For many, the approaching Memorial Day Weekend brings to mind a lot of family memories. For our family, and the staff with us in 2005, that Sunday will forever be known simply as The Day From Hell. We should have suspected disaster in the making. The weekend included Megan’s Birthday and her graduation from high school, plus a joint open house on Saturday for Megan and newlyweds Dan and Cristi. Graduation was set to begin at 2:00 pm Sunday. Being on the school board, I was privileged to hand out diplomas, so Megan and I were to be there by 1:00. Megan was waitressing that day, Tom was helping out front, Chef Lucky and Bri were cooking, and I was helping in the kitchen. No problem; we would close early so all could attend. Ah, the best-laid plans. The restaurant grew busier and busier. People were lined up outside the door. The kitchen got behind. The dining room got behind. Still there was no lull. We were full and we stayed full … all morning. Noon came and went with no empty tables. We started running out of prepped food. We started running out of clean dishes. We couldn’t clean off tables fast enough. Friends sitting at the counter were drafted to wrap silverware. Other friends bussed dishes. Tensions rose, tempers flared. One of the servers dropped several plates of food on the way to the dining room, and the orders had to be redone. One of us tripped over the cleanup. One of us slipped on the wet floor. One of the cooks was screaming mad. At some point that day every one of us wanted to quit. The humidity and heat were stifling by the time Megan left to get ready. We were crabby, customers were impatient. There was no let-up in sight. Tom and I kept working until the last possible moment, when I took his face in my hands and told him twice, “We need to leave. Now. We do not want to miss our daughter’s graduation.” It took every ounce of willpower we had to walk out of that restaurant and leave things in that condition. The procession had just begun when I joined the superintendent at the end of the line. One hundred-nineteen beautiful young people received their diplomas that afternoon, among them one very special young lady. My heart was bursting with emotions. I wondered if any of the graduates noticed I smelled like bacon. We got back to the restaurant around 4:00 and joined a very weary staff who had just finished the clean-up. We served a record number of guests that day, 20% more than we had expected or planned for, and we’ve never approached that record since. Some restaurant owners would consider it their best day ever. For us, in spite of graduation, it will always remain The Day From Hell. Published May 25, 2011 Finalizing the New Menu One must wonder what in the world we do up here to pass the long winter hours when business slows and we are open only on weekends. Admittedly, the first few days following the five-month summer rush may find us flat on our backs, relearning the art of deep breathing, but when we've recovered sufficiently we start thinking about all the new things we want to try. This is the time for what I call "menu R & D." This isn't Research and Development as practiced by the big chains. There are no technicians in lab coats sampling current food trends, weighing and measuring various combinations of ingredients to determine the most profitable items and portion sizes. No randomly selected focus groups tasting and evaluating our concoctions down to the last grain of salt. Our Research consists of watching the food shows and paging through magazines and cookbooks and websites in search of something new to do with the lowly (but good) egg. Our Development consists of Chef Lucky and I testing our ideas in the Robin's Nest kitchen. Our Focus groups are made up of Trekker Tom, our servers Lynn and Megan and whatever willing customers happen to be around at the time. Somehow we always seem to come up with new menu items for the busy summer season. This year we've replaced the tired Seafood Omelette with Chef Lucky's Buffalo Chicken Omelette, consisting of sautéed onions, green peppers and sliced chicken breast tossed in Buffalo sauce and topped with cheddar. And we've started making our own Fajita spice mix for omelettes and wraps.
We're trying some new Specials this year, too, with Monday-through-Friday daily selections and a variety of popular combination plates designed for the lighter appetite. With our Children's Menu, and our separate Sandwich Menu, we think we've got something for everyone! As I write this, my trusty old Canon is chugging out 250 pages to be stuffed into our menu holders in time for Opening Day. Here's to a good season, everybody! Stop in and try something new or revisit an old favorite. Either way, we'll be glad to see you! Published April 28, 2011 The Last Eight Eggs
We started out with a brisk business even before our usual rush that begins around 9:15. Our younger son and head cook, now nicknamed “Lucky” for his prowess at certain games of chance, commented, “I hope we don’t run out of eggs.” I chuckled, thinking he was joking. He handles the food orders and does a great job for us. The tickets kept coming and the two of us kept cranking out the meals. Tom poked his head in the kitchen and asked, “How are the eggs holding out?” “I’m down to my last flat.” There are 180 eggs in a case, 30 to a flat. In the summer we can go through 10-12 cases a week. In the winter, one case generally gets us through the weekend. More tickets on the line, tables still coming in. “I’m down to 12 eggs.” It was looking like someone would have to run over to Hillman’s store and hope he still had some eggs on hand. We’re at least 12 miles from the nearest grocery store, so Lonny has pulled us through some tight times more than once in the past. But he’s just a little country store and gas station, and when he’s out of something, he’s out. We started getting some lunch orders and the traffic eased up a little. The last time we called it this close on eggs, the food truck pulled in and saved our necks. There would be no food truck coming this time. We finally closed and breathed a sigh of relief. With eight eggs left to spare, I gave a silent prayer of thanks – for the record number of customers, and enough eggs for all who wanted them. Chef Lucky really was lucky!
Published Mar. 29, 2011 The Good Egg I should tell you up front that our family owns and operates a breakfast restaurant in Wisconsin’s Northwoods. And that a sizeable portion of our sales are derived from – what else? – eggs. My appreciation for the humble egg goes beyond sales, however, and its enduring qualities are notable for more than profits. We humans have been consuming the eggs of birds for thousands of years. (Don’t you wonder who first looked at that oval capsule of goo and thought “yum”? And who first fried it over the fire instead of eating it raw?) Whoever they were, they had stumbled on a nutritional powerhouse. Eggs are nutrient-dense sources of high-quality protein. They are natural, hormone-free, and economical. Plus, they taste good! I owe it to Julia Child for teaching me, via public television, how to make an omelet. “Practice, practice, practice!” I can still hear her exhortations. “Don’t be afraid of failure. That’s how you learn.” Here are the directions for an omelet for 1 or 2.
Published Mar. 3, 2011
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We've
also added a Country-Style Benedict to our Choice Requests (topped with our
sausage gravy instead of Hollandaise) and replaced the Eggs Poulet Neptune
with a new combination we call Eggs Cordon Bleu: A griddled chicken cutlet
topped with sliced ham, basted eggs and Swiss cheese. Yum!
One
of the challenges of operating a seasonal business like ours 
