Bun in the Oven - My Sister's, Not Mine

I have been obsessing thinking about scotch eggs since my visit to the State Fair in September.  Melissa, Heather, and I exchanged countless e-mails on the topic.  Turns out you can get scotch eggs in Brooklyn, but nothing turned up in my MN scotch egg hunt.  I would just have to make my own.  What better occasion to make scotch eggs than a baby shower?  At least that's what my sister and I decided when planning the menu for her grand soirée. 

Members of my paternal and maternal family lines descended on Minneapolis this weekend to attend the baby shower I hosted for my sister.  True to family form, what we lacked in frilly baby games and party favors, we more than made up for in sheer volume and quality of food.  Here's what was on the menu:

• Leipaa accessorized with butter, six kinds of homemade jam, and Thill's smoked whitefish and lake trout
• Pickled Delights: dilly beans, quail eggs, herring, and cucumbers - all but the herring pickled by my dad
  
• Tomato Tarts - two kinds - one with gouda and dijon mustard, the other with mozzarella and pesto
• Torta di Riso e Spinaci found on the Accidental Hedonist
• Fresh fruit - sliced persimmons, pears, and apples
• Smoked Sausage, Butternut Squash and Wild Rice Soup
• Mashed Banana Cupcakes, my great-grandma's recipe
• Venison cudighi courtesy of my dad
• Mrs. Alasimi's Pulla
• And last, but not least, scotch eggs.   

They are really quite easy to make.  We used quail eggs from my hometown's local food co-op, which made golf ball-sized bites after the venison sausage wrapping.  A standard chicken egg could end up quite big, but that's not necessarily a bad thing!  The quail eggs are sold to the coop through a high school biology project at Engadine High School.  We used quail eggs that my dad pickled, which added a great brininess to the warm sausage and egg combo. 

The jam selection should not be overshadowed by my scotch egg fixation.  My dad brought six (6!) diffferent kinds of homemade jam and preserves to the party.

Foreground L to R: Ginger Pear Honey, Blackberry Jam, Pear Butter

Background L to R: Apple Butter, Thimbleberry Jam, and Strawberry Jam

In the wake of the party, I am eating very well this week.  Even after sending my sister home with a cooler full of food, I have enough food for another feast.  Last night I used leftover roma tomatoes and crumbled leftover cudighi to make a tomato sauce.  I have it squirreled away in the freezer to eat with polenta during the cold winter months!

Comments

[melissa]

I am so jealous! But HOW were they? I mean, you DID gussy them up a bit, what with the quail and venison and all. But, how were they?

[Sarah]

Oops, I overlooked the obvious in my post. I forgot to say that the scotch eggs were damn good, and it wasn't just my immediate family that thought so. My sister and I had decided to offer regular venison sausage patties to appeal to those who might not see the beauty in the fried sausage, egg and pickle combo. We were wrong. We ended up hiding the last two eggs to defend our interests and ward off hungry relatives and guests. The plain venison, while also tasty, was no match for the scotch eggs, hence the tomato sauce I made with the leftover venison patties.

[heather]

oh, snap. clearly melissa and i now need to get our act together and make these, STAT.

you kids know how to eat. yum yum yum.