One Year in Coal Harbor Read Online Free PDF

conversation.
    “I’m the one,” said Uncle Jack proudly through a mouthful of potatoes and ersatz gravy. “New enterprise.”
    “Wow. That place has been empty for as long as I can remember. I’m surprised it’s still standing. People have been talking for years about tearing it down before it
falls
down. Wasn’t it an old hotel back in the day?”
    “Yep, and it’s not in such bad shape. The timbers are sound. I was getting tired of always traveling around down island on business. I thought it would be nice to open up something closer to home so I’d
be
home.”
    Normally Uncle Jack loved to roam. My mother used to call him old hotfoot Jack. She threw him a piercing look and then turned to Miss Bowzer.
    “My, my! Then I guess you and Jack will be
neighbors
!” She said this with so much enthusiasm it was as if the concept of neighbors had just been invented. By her. “Isn’t that nice? Well, this is a surprise. Jack is always such a
dark horse
. We never know what to expect from him from one moment to the next. He’s just FULL of surprises.” She shrieked this last, which made even my unflappable father look at her in alarm. But she was oblivious and looked around, pretending to be speaking to the tablein general, but really she might as well have had a megaphone pointed at Miss Bowzer’s ear, calling out, “Eligible bachelor. Tons of fun. Catch him while you can!”
    My father picked up another already-gnawed chop and yawned. I wanted to pass my mother her better script because I wasn’t so sure that
general unexpectedness
was what Miss Bowzer was looking for in a mate.
    “So tell us, Jack,” my mother went on with manic beaming approval, “what is it that you’re opening?”
    “A restaurant,” said Jack.
    And then I knew the evening was over.

Freeziolla
    Put an undrained ten-ounce package of defrosted frozen strawberries in a bowl with a can of drained crushed pineapple. Add one cup of strawberry yogurt, one quarter cup of powdered sugar and one half cup of mini marshmallows. Line an ice cube tray with foil extending a few inches over both sides. Pour the mixture in and fold the extra foil over the top. Freeze it for three hours, until solid. Lift it out of the tray. Let it stand a bit to soften so that you can cut it in triangles. (Evie says triangles look the prettiest.) Arrange each piece on a lettuce leaf and put a pineapple ring on top to garnish. You can tell people this is a salad. People in certain moods will believe anything.
    Ersatz Gravy
    Take a can of consommé and heat it with some poultry seasoning. About two tablespoons or so. Bring it to a boil and add a tablespoon or so of cornstarch which you have mixed with a quarter cup of water. Mix that in and let it cook a bit to thicken the gravy. That’s it. If people know how it’s made they will pretend not to like it but they really will.
    Floating Island
    Beat eight egg whites, three quarters of a cup of sugar and a pinch of salt until you get a meringue. Boil water and let simmer and into it drop four large glops of the meringue. These will be the islands. Poach them in the water for two minutes on one side and four on the other and then drain them on paper towels.
    Take four egg yolks and beat with a pinch of salt and one quarter cup of sugar. Scald two cups of milk and add it to the egg yolks, beating frantically so the eggs don’t cook. Place the custard in a double boiler and stir constantly until it thickens. Remove from heat and cool a bit and then add a teaspoon of vanilla and a teaspoon of lemon rind grated very, very tiny. Chill this.
    Finally, to assemble, put the sea of custard into four dessert bowls and float a meringue island in each one.
    If your parents have been stranded on an island for a year, this is a very poignant dessert. And even if they haven’t, it’s pretty good.

What Happened to Miss Bowzer When She Was Young
    “A RESTAURANT ? A RE YOU crazy?” said Miss Bowzer, no longer able to retain her polite