January 19
Dolly Rebecca Parton's Birthday

 
   
Dolly Parton was called the the backwoods Gershwin by New York Magazine who chronicled Dolly's musical transformation of her 1980 film Nine to Five to a Broadway show by writing a score of new songs.  Broadway was a new challenge for the diminutive, songwriter/performer who has received seven Grammy Awards, 42 Grammy nominations, and holds the record for number-one singles. She plays the autoharp, banjo, drums, dulcimer, guitar, harmonica, fiddle, and piano. Her songs "Coat of Many Colors,","I Will Always Love You," and "Jolene" have become classics in the field. Her biggest hit “I Will Always Love You" recorded by Whitney Houston became one of the best-selling singles of all time.

Dolly also won praise for her film performance in Nine-to-Five, receiving Golden Globe nominations for Best Motion Picture Actress —Musical/Comedy and New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture — Female. Her other notable films include The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), for which she received another Golden Globe nomination, and Steel Magnolias (1989). Dolly brilliantly invested much of her earnings into business ventures in her native East Tennessee, notably Pigeon Forge, which includes Dollywood, her theme park in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, which is ranked as the 28th most popular theme park in the US.

The 5'1" Dolly is also well known for her 40DD surgically enhanced breasts which she often highlights with with outfits that only hookers would otherwise wear aand defends her trashy image as she believes it has helped make her a star.  In 2002, she admitted for the first time in separate interviews with The Irish Independent and The Daily Mirror that, after her weight loss in the 1980s, she lost a great deal of breast size and subsequently obtained breast implants to bring them back to a similar size as she had prior to the weight loss. She even once joked by saying "Yep they are mine! Bought and paid for!" and  "I'm a proud person, I'm not vain. I look at it like it is - if you've got the money and you're going to be out there, you owe it to people not to look like a dog if you can help it."  When she was asked if she would ever run for president, she remarked "We've already had too many boobs in the White House."  

Because of Dolly's brilliant promotion of her breasts and well as her music, an appropriate dessert to celebrate her birthday is the popular Sicilian specialty, Le Minni di Virgini (Breasts of the Virgin), a cream-filled breast-shaped pastry with nipples (cherries), Also called Le Minni di Sant'Agata, they are served on the Feast of St. Agatha on February 6th who is the patron saint of Catania, the capital of the Sicilian province of the same name. Agatha was martyred by having her breasts cut off,.

Le Minni di Sant'Agata were featured in Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's novel about the changes in Sicilian life and society during the Risorgimento titled, Il Gattopardo (The Leopard.) when they were served at a party to Prince Don Fabrizio  Salino  who noted that the "shameless 'virgins' cakes shaped like breasts looked like a profane caricature of St. Agatha" since many of the paintings of her show Agatha holding a plate with her breasts.. Don Fabrizio muses  "St. Agatha's sliced-off breasts sold by convents, devoured at dances." Unfortunately, that scene was deleted from the beautiful 1963 film adaptation by Luchino Visconti with Burt Lancaster as Don Fabrizio.

A perfect pairing for Le Minni di Virgini would be The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. with Dolly at her sassy best as the owner of one of the great US brothels

 
 

Le Minni di Virgini
(Breasts of the Virgin)

   
Filing Ingredients Pastry Ingredient
1 cup milk
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp almond flavoring
3 egg yolks
2 TB flour
1 TB unsalted butter
pinch of salt
4 candied cherries cut in half 		1 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
4 cups sifted flour
3 TB sugar for sprinkling formed pastries

 

 

    
Filling Instructions    

1. Place the milk and half of the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat.
2. Combine the egg yolks and almond flavoring in a bowl and whisk until light in color. Add in the flour and the salt, mix to combine.
3. When the milk just begins to boil, remove from heat and remove vanilla bean. Very slowly dribble the hot milk into the yolk mixture
    stirring all the time. When about half of the milk has been added. place all of the yolk mixture into the saucepan over medium heat. 4. Using a spatula or a whisk, mix the pastry cream as it heats, making sure to reach all of the corners of the pan when you stir.
5. Bring the mixture to a boil. Let boil for about 1 minute, stirring constantly. The mixture will be thick.
6. Remove from heat and add the butter. Place into a bowl and cover directly with plastic wrap to stop a skin from forming on the
    cream. Chill and use within a few days.
7. Put cherries aside for assembly.

Pastry Instructions

1. Cream the butter and sugar. Stir in the egg yolk Add the flour and work the dough with your hands until well blended and smooth.
    Chill until firm.
2. Preheat oven to 425º F.
3. Divide the dough into seven pieces and roll them into rectangles about 6"x4"x1/4". Place 3 TB pastry cream on one half of the
    rectangle. Put the halved candied cherry in the middle. Fold the other half over it. Seal it well and then cut out a circular shape
   about three inches round with a glass or pastry cutter and shape into a cone Sprinkle with sugar.
4. Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Serves 7

© 2011 Gordon Nary and Tyler Stokes