Like all artists, beginning chefs practice for hours.. When passion is involved though, you might substitute “play” for “practice”. I enjoyed watching grandson Nathaniel in my kitchen. He piped chocolate on a plate, working for skill and speed. A design like this might be used to decorate a plate on which a dessert is served. Grandson David was the designated cleaner, eating it the next day.
I cooked poached eggs for breakfast, using silicone forms. Nathaniel had a second one, which he cooked in the classic way. He boiled water in a saucepan, added a little vinegar, swirled the water with a spoon, and gently tipped the egg in the water. He likes a runny yolk, so he took it out before the yolk solidified.
Nathaniel held his phone in one hand to take a video as he cut the egg with the other hand. I was filming the same scene with my camera. We enjoyed the replay.
I requested a chocolate dessert of his choice. As he and I walked to the creek, he was planning the trifle. While chatting with neighbor Marla, he spoke of his plans and invited her to come over when it was ready. We were delayed by several things, so Connie was home from work and able to come for the spontaneous party, too.
Nathaniel practiced assembling the trifle in small bowls. I would have plopped the layers in with a spoon, but he did the proper thing of using a pastry bag. Each layer was even, making a pretty picture from the side. For our little group, he used a large bowl. If I knew he would settle near us after college, I’d buy a trifle bowl!
Mehrling Muse 
Love this!!!
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Lucky you to be the beneficiary of his practice! I love trifle!
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Nathaniel likes to cook about as much as we like to eat. We’re a good fit.
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Lol I could help with that too:)
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I loved poached eggs when I was a girl. Your photo of Nathaniel cooking the egg in boiling water reminds me of my mother doing that. Suddenly I want a poached egg…
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I’ve never tried the classic way of cooking a poached egg in water. It was fun to watch Nathaniel poke his to see if it was still soft.
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There is talent there. Keep up the encouragement.
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We are always ready to eat Nathaniel’s experiments.,
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Oh my that egg! Perfection. You may send him my way anytime!
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Nathaniel says he’ll cook for anyone for room, board, and ingredients.
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He is there for how long? Better take a long walk to walk it off. I’m gaining just looking.
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Nathaniel is leaving Sunday after being here for 10 days. We missed a few walks because of rain. Maybe we’ll cut back our portions after he leaves.
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I love his Charles Rennie Macintosh design plate but if he settles near you when his training finishes you’ll all be the size of houses.
xxx Massive Hugs xxx
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I hadn’t thought about the danger of being with Nathaniel too long. However, he has spent the last three summers with us, and he didn’t have time to cook a lot.
xxx House-sized Hugs xxx
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Some are true artists!
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He doesn’t like decorating cakes, but I think he’ll have to get over that.
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All looks good!
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I wish all of my mistakes were edible. Nathaniel doesn’t make drastic mistakes, although he did start over making a lemon cake for the eclipse of the sun. We eagerly ate the one he deemed not up to snuff.
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It’s really wonderful to have a chef in your midst. Nathaniel is so talented.
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Love that dessert plate, tell me he’s gonna be on Master Chef one day! Gordon Ramsey all the way!
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Can you loan Nathaniel to us ? We could provide board, ingredients, and plane tickets. He would be the next Jamie Olivier in our parts.
I am going to try to make poached eggs( I have never eaten any) and do it his way. What is the silicone cup way of doing poached eggs?
Still waiting to hear or read the orange sauce recipe.
Susie
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Nathaniel says he has written down the ingredients for the orange sauce. He needs to test it to see if he has it right.
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Great- looking forward to see it in print.
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I am so enjoying these posts featuring your chef! I can’t wait to see what is next!
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Nathaniel is going back to college tomorrow, but he interviewed for a summer job in this area.
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He should start a blog! Hope he gets the summer job!
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Nathaniel rarely posts photos of his work. I wish he would.
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I haven’t had a poached egg in ages. We used to have a small stainless steel form and cups that fit inside over boiling water in the saucepan. I think I gave it away, but now, I want a poached egg. I didn’t know it would help to add vinegar to the water…learned something from your post and Nathaniel. I think I might try poaching an egg tomorrow. The trifle looks lovely too. Thanks for the good ideas.
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Like you, I’d like to try a poached egg, Nathaniel style. It may be one of those things that is harder than it looks.
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Anne, guess what I had for breakfast??? I looked up poaching an egg on Youtube, and Alton Brown, a food network personality, had a YouTube video that was very informative on the subject. While I was making the poached egge my husband said it was a lot of work for what was just a glorified soft boiled egg, but I succeeded, and over toast…it was delicious. Thank you to you and Nathaniel for the inspiration to try something new.
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That’s wonderful! Thank you for telling me.
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😊
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Oh and one other great tip on Brown’s video, he showed how you can store the poached eggs in the fridge for up to eight hours if you are using them for company or a special recipe. They can be reheated for one minute in the same temp water as they are cooked in…at least so he says.🤔
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I can’t imagine poaching more than one egg at a time, can you?
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Eating one is enough for me…I might do more, but there is so much goo in the water that just floats around. It is easier to keep it in check by doing just one.
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Wow! What a delight. I especially like following the evolution of Nathaniel’s culinary skills. I wonder what he’ll cook up next?
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Nathaniel returns to college tomorrow, and he’ll be taking academic classes this time instead of cooking labs. He may be very eager to cook when this term ends.
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If you ever take a vote, runny yoke for me.
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That’s good to know that you are a kindred spirit. Half of our family would choose hockey puck-style eggs.
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2’45”
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Your Nathaniel is such a talented chef! And he has someone to clean up too. Even better! I love those impromptu parties that just spring up organically. Sounds like a lot of fun! So sorry I missed it.
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I wish I could have all my blog friends here, one at a time.
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Sounds like suggest pretty an delicious fun.
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Very pretty decoration on the plate – Nathaniel is going far and fast. I’ve never had trifle, but it sure looked good.
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Nathaniel’s trifle was like two puddings separated by a fudge brownie and topped with whipped cream. I wish I knew the spellings of the French names he used to describe it.
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Oh that sounds delicious Anne. Once again, I must say how impressed I am with how much he learned in one semester!
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Ain”t life grand! wow! xoxoxo Michele
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