Saturday, April 12, 2008

Meet Our Fellow Passengers

Noelle, Countess of Rothes
One of the many passengers I had the privilege to meet last evening was The Countess of Rothes. She boarded Titanic with her parents, Thomas and Clementina Dyer-Edwardes, however her parents disembarked in France. Her cousin Gladys is accompanying the Countess for the complete voyage. The Countess plans to arrive in New York in time to celebrate her 12th anniversary with her husband. Lord Rothes arrived in New York in February aboard the Lusitania.

The Countess is the only child of a multi-millionaire Londoner. The Countess was born on Christmas day, was formally named Lucy Noel Martha—but everyone calls her Noelle. Though born in London the family made their home in Prinknash, in an old abbey.

Major Archibald Butts
During her second season in London Noelle met and fell in love with Norman-Evelyn Leslie, a lieutenant that would shortly be deployed to the Boer Wars. The Rothes have two sons, who have remained in England.

Major Archibald Butt sat at our table last night at dinner. He is military aide to President William Taft. Major Butt is returning from a six-week rest in Europe. He was urged by the President to make the trip due to the Major's recent health issues. The President also sent a personal message to Pope Pius X, which the Major delivered. He and his friend Frances Millet spend much of their time in the first class smoking room playing cards.

For dessert last evening we had Oranges En Surprise
  • 4 large navel oranges

  • 2 cups orange sherbet

  • 2 egg whites

  • pinch cream of tartar

  • 1/2 cup fruit sugar

  • dash almond extract

  • fresh spearmint leaves

  • candied orange peel
Cut off top quarters of oranges; discard. Turn over and slice off (without penetrating flesh of oranges the stem ends so that the oranges sit flat. Carefully spoon out flesh, reserving for another purpose. Place hollowed skins on baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze for at least 30 minutes.

Divide sherbet evenly among oranges, firmly packing into hollows. Return oranges to freezer for 30 minutes or up to 2 days.

Preheat oven to 425F. Beat egg whites until frothy; add cream of tartar. Still beating, gradually add sugar. Continue beating for about 3 minutes or until eggs are glossy and form stiff peaks; stir in almond extract.

Oranges en Surprise
Remove oranges from freezer and place on baking sheet. Decoratively cover openings with meringue; spoon dollops of meringue or pipe meringue onto oranges. Immediately bake in 425F oven for 2 minutes, reduce temperature to 375F and continue to bake for 3 to 5 minutes or until meringue is set and slightly browned. Garnish with spearmint leaves and candied orange peel; serve immediately.

This was a cool refreshing dessert. In fact we plan to have it again tomorrow with lunch.

*The orange flesh was used the next morning in the pancake mixture.

This afternoon we hope to explore the second class decks and meet some of the other passengers.

2 comments:

Rose of Sharon said...

So, did the Contessa make it alive or did she drown? I hope she lived. The orange desert looks wonderful! Very fancy looking!

:0) sharon

P.S. Thanks for the tip about taking my photos to target! My son Cameron works there too, so that is a great idea!

Kim said...

I will update all the passengers we "meet" at the end of our voyage. My lips are sealed for now.
The oranges were wonderful and very easy to make. It was such a hit I had to make them again.

No problem on the pictures, I switched from Wal-mart photo last year, since I had so many problems as they always seemed to be down. I have only had that happen once with Target, so I have been very happy with them. Having your son work there would make it very easy to get them printed.