My mother in law is one of those rare and gracious people we all want to be when we grow up. While we lolled about in Seattle on our anniversary weekend, she babysat going so far as to share a twin bed with a roaming four year old who couldn’t sleep.
While spreading grace and courtesy (our children behave best for Grandma) and preparing signature meals from her British upbringing, she discovered a lack in our kitchen repertoire.
She immediately set forth to put it right. She shopped Bainbridge to no avail. She checked a few stores in her own neighborhood. Proving very elusive these items were finally found last week on a family trip to Mexico.
Eager for a bit of shopping I persuaded the fam. to join me in a stroll into San Jose del Cabo, a charming little town still decorated for Christmas and the New Year. Strings of lights criss-crossed narrow streets and giant gossamer angels stood at the corners of the town square. San José is filled with artistry; beautiful hand wrought silver, hand blown glassware, textiles, leather.
I love vacation shopping because I can imagine I’m someone else, someone elegant and coiffed; a woman on the cutting edge of fashion. While I flirted with the idea of red python cowboy boots, shiny and wickedly pointy, MIL disappeared into an artisanal tableware shopped and emerged triumphant with a set of six hand-painted egg cups.
You know how sometimes you get something and use it so much that you don't know how you lived without it? Egg cups aren't as handy as a cable modem, but I’ve used them four times in three days so what do you know?
The funny thing is, I’ve always been intimidated by egg cups. Just look at them and you can see they’re an accident waiting to happen; The laws of physics state that rolling items will roll away when you put pressure on them (or maybe that's the law of probability, it will probably roll away when you try to eat it).
Anyway, it seems impossible that the egg will politely stay put while being plundered with a spoon. A sensible egg would make a break for freedom (and end up splatting on the kitchen floor). All well and good when you have a Hoover-beagle standing guard at the breakfast table, but when confronted with an egg cup containing a soft boiled egg as a newlywed, I broke out in a sweat and claimed I wasn’t really a breakfast eater.
(Clearly this was early in our marriage as R did not laugh his head off at such a blatant lie.)
But, look at me now. I love my new egg cups. They’re so pretty and useful. So far I’ve used them as a salt cellar, spice holder, and teensy vase, and of course to hold soft boiled eggs…without a single splat.
6 Minute Eggs
If you’re really organized you’ll take your eggs out of the fridge about a half an hour before you intend to cook them. This allows them to warm up a bit so they’re less likely to crack when you set them in boiling water.
Fill a pan with water and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down so the water is at a simmer. Place an egg in a tablespoon, gently set into the hot water. Cook for six minutes then remove from heat, drain and cover with cold water. This stops the eggs from cooking without cooling them too much.
While your eggs are cooking put a couple pieces of bread in the toaster.
Butter your toast, slice into fingers and arrange on a plate. Place your egg cup in the middle and serve by cutting the top off the egg with a table knife. (This decapitated portion is called the “little potty” much to my children’s delight. Ah the British.). Dip toast in egg, enjoy.
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