11.331
1 (Tue) December 2020
Eggs Sunny-Side Up, Holy Bagumba!
3.5
by me
at home
-Changgok, Sujeong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-
with DJ and IZ
Newbery 100 Medals, 100 Meals (22) (see 100 NEWBERY M&Ms)
While reading my way through the 99 books that have been awarded the annual Newbery Medal since 1922 – leading up to the 100th winner to be announced next year – I will also attempt to create one dish for every book, a dish that is directly referenced in or indirectly inspired by the events of the book. Food plays a strong role in many of the stories; not surprising as the characters in most of the books are faced with adversity of some sort, including poverty, so they’re often very hungry and thus grateful whenever they get a bite to eat – as we all should be at every meal, literally give us this day our daily bread. The dishes will be featured as posts on Give Me This Day.
Flora & Ulysses (2014) by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by KG Campbell. The book is about girl Flora Belle Buckman and squirrel Ulysses, who was accidentally sucked into a vacuum cleaner and came out with the power, inter alia, to write poetry; he also has the related power to type the poetry on a typewriter. As Flora struggles to make sense of the world, Ulysses becomes her friend, her superhero, her inspiration, her conscience.
Holy Bagumba, I loved this book. Adored everything about it, from the first page to the last: the fun story, the crazy characters, the uplifting themes, the clever writing, the zany illustrations. An eternal American classic. This is what all Newbery winners should strive to be.
Sunny-side up is a method of cooking eggs. The egg is cracked into a pan with hot oil until the white base is set, leaving intact a round golden yolk on the upside, like a sun.
[paraphrased in part]
How, Ulysses wondered, had things gone so wrong?
Only moments ago, he had been looking at the Giant Do-Nut menu, captivated by the glossy pictures of food and the dazzling descriptions that accompanied the pictures.
There were giant donuts with sprinkles, giant donuts powdered, iced! Giant donuts filled with things: jelly, cream, chocolate.
He had never had a giant donut.
Actually, he had never had any kind of donut.
They looked delicious. All of them. How was a squirrel to choose?
And to complicate matters, there were eggs: scrambled, poached, over easy, sunny-side up.
Sunny-side up! thought Ulysses as he clung to Rita’s hair. What a wonderful phrase!
A man emerged from the kitchen. He had on a gigantic white hat, and he was holding something metal that flashed in the overhead lights of the Giant Do-Nut. It was a knife.
While I do sunny-side up as a topping for dishes (e.g., bibimbap, adobo), I prefer scrambled as part of a traditional Anglo-American breakfast plate.
Sunny-side up is also my preferred method for eggs served with Filipino chicken/pork adobo. Fried in lots of oil at high heat, the bottom and edges get nicely brown and crispy.
EPILOGUE
Squirrel Poetry
Words for Flora
Nothing
would be
easier without
you,
because you
are
everything,
all of it –
sprinkles, quarks, giant
donuts, eggs sunny-side up –
you
are the ever-expanding
universe
to me.
(See also FOODS.)
(See also PLACES.)