We eat a lot of eggs. Some days we’ll go through a dozen easy. Mostly scrambled. Sometimes over easy with buttered toast. I often will boil up a dozen eggs and keep them in the refrigerator for teenage muscle maintenance snacking….but lately I’ve let my egg boiling duties slide. My son asked me if I would resume my duties. I have many duties, and boiler of the eggs is number 14,999. I know I know…tell the kid to boil his own dam eggs. He does scramble his own eggs every morning…he’s a good kid. So any way as usual I digest……..
Ha! well yes of course I digest…but really now I digress!
Noah asking me to boil eggs got me thinking of how much I really love a good soft boiled egg. Insert dreamy fuzzy screen in your mind and go back with me…back to Germany 25 years ago, to the days of my soft boiled egg virginity.
Yes I did just say egg and virginity in the same sentence…get a grip.
It was while living in Germany that my host family introduced me to this lovely delicacy called the breakfast egg. Fruhstucks eier. Soft boiled egg. There it sat waiting for me at the breakfast table. A table set for breakfast, novel idea isn’t it? A place to sit and calmly nourished ourselves before heading out in to the world. There was no kitchen island that we would lean against and sling back our instant breakfast or hang over our scrambled eggs hurriedly shoveling them into our mouths. Oh Lord NO! We sat. We breathed. We ate our breakfast. Taking less than 10 minutes, not a huge commitment. Where have I gone wrong with my kids…I so need to implement this into our mornings. What a beautifully relaxing way to start your day. I digress again. Sorry.
Soft boiled eggs are a lovely thing. In my home in Germany I learned how to make them and eat them properly. It’s high time I share this with my family! So last night I showed them how to make a soft boiled egg and then how to eat it….with one exception after all was said and done I realized that we had stood around the kitchen island the whole time. No one sat. We hovered and slumped over our eggs. We’ll hafta work on this…..
Soft boiling an egg is super duper easy. First fill a pan 1/3 of the way up with water, a dash of salt, get that boiling. Secondly, carefully place eggs in boiling water. Thirdly set your timer for 5 minutes, immediately after dropping eggs in boiling water. When timer is up remove pan to sink and run cold water over eggs until there is no more hot water in pan. Voila. That’s it!
I realize this process is about 4 minutes longer than a scrambled egg, but hey use that 4 minutes to make yourself some toast, pour a cup-a-Jo, clip your nails, alot can get done in 4 minutes, and then at the end you have a beautiful breakfast!
Remove egg to cup give it a generous rap on the top of its noggin. You don’t need these cute little cups to eat soft boiled eggs…don’t let this stop you man…keep on keepin’ on.
Then peel off the top third to half of the shell.
Well Hello there Mr. Piggy! Now take your knife or a spoon and gently peel back the cap revealing……..
this amazingly buttery goodness.
You should have heard the moans and groans as my kids hovered over their eggs last night. “Why is this so much better than any other way you make eggs?” my son asked. “Because it takes time…and you put more thought and love in it”, I answered.
This morning Cece and I ate a proper soft boiled egg. We sat. We savored. And then we were ready to face the world! My son is right there is nothing like a soft boiled egg. They are surprisingly buttery and fabulous; quite literally a smashing way to eat an egg!
Mr. Pig kept photo bombing Mr. Roosters shoot last night.
Then this morning he was being all bashful. Guilty Pig!
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Soft Boiled Egg
Eggs
salt
water
a pan
Cooking directions: place a pan of salted water on stove, bring to a boil, gently place eggs in boiling water, set timer for 5 minutes, remove pan to sink, run cold water over eggs until there is no hot water left in pan.
Eating directions: Remove egg/ or eggs from cold water give a rap on one end to crack the shell, peel back 1/3-1/2 of the shell, slice off top of egg revealing the yolk. Scoop out with a spoon. Dipping buttered toast sticks into yolk is also a favorable choice.
Enjoy!
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NOTE: Just incase you didn’t catch this egg boiling tip in the comments, I thought I had better add it. My sister (Kraut….I know it’s a funny name, just go with it!) reminded me that a tiny hole should be pricked in one end of the egg to avoid the egg cracking and seeping out of the shell while cooking. To do this gently cradle the egg in one hand and with a stick pin gently poke a hole in one end before gently dropping the egg into the boiling water.
Also in case you missed it my Seestor reminded me of the cute little egg snuggies that the my German family uses to keep the eggs warm until your butt arrived to the table. Ahhhh the mammories…. Love all your soft boiled egg stories! Keep them coming ; D
Have a super D dooper weekend! Luvya, Sheila XO
Shiela Shiela, you make me laugh, I love reading your posts. I am a huge fan of the soft boiled egg, however, I haven’t made one in eons. You’ve inspired me. Maybe I’ll have one for lunch.
Where did you get those cute piggy and rooster egg cups? I think my kids would adore them. It’s all in the presentation right? Although they really do enjoy most things I make. 🙂
Chellie Chellie Chellie how are you my dear?! I think you dropped off my google reader! I need to ck up on you girlfrand. Thanks for stopping by. xoxox
OMG – so glad you posted this. I was just thinking of soft boiled eggs the other day (I’ve been eating a lot of the pre-made hard boiled variety these days) and I also lost my soft boiled egg virginity in Germany!!! 😉 With you! LOL! They are truly the best. And in Germany they even wore little snuggly hats to keep them warm while they waited for you! (The eggs, not the Germans). You need some of those hats for your pig and chicken!
OMG! I totally forgot about the snuggies…see you need to be my editor! I forget the really good detail ; ) You comment made me laugh out loud really loud! loveyou Seestor xoxox
I am a huge lover of soft boiled eggs. My sister got me the pig cups for Christmas, and my husband didn’t know what they were. I have to confess that I haven’t made them for him yet. This weekend, I promise! 🙂
I’m going to hold you to you promise to make SBE this weekend! So fun that your sister gave you the same cute little egg cups! love it. Enjoy your weekend and thanks for stopping by ; D
I promise. Now that I’m thinking about it, I can’t stop! Tomorrow morning… 🙂
Ok, so I made them for my husband, he’s officially addicted! We’ve had them twice since then. Thank you for reminding me, it will be a new staple breakfast in our house!
You always crack me up, Sheila! My grandma collected antique egg cups. She probably had at least a hundred of them. I remember her getting them all out and she would let my sister and me pick out our favorite one, then she would make soft boiled eggs and we would eat them in our egg cups. It’s one of the (too few) nice memories I have of my grandmother. I told my dad about this once, so this year at Christmastime, he snagged a couple of Grandma’s egg cups and gave them to my sister and me as mementos. I was too young to remember how she made the eggs, so this post is perfect! Now I just have to remember where I put the egg cup during our move. . .
Love food memories. Thanks so much for sharing that with me. So sweet. We gotta hang on to the good “remembories” (as my little one says). xoxox Enjoy your soft boiled eggs this weekend!
I too fell in love with soft boiled eggs because of my visit to Germany. I started collecting egg cups about a year ago but unfortunately my family doesn’t hold the same love for soft boiled eggs to get much use from the egg cups. Mine have never quite turned out like my German family so thanks for the directions. I do remember Britta always poked a pin hole in the bottom of the egg before boiling them. I know what I’m having for breakfast tomorrow 🙂
Cheryl
See I’m not the only then ; ) My German sister added a comment about poking a hole in the egg…I forgot that tiny detail. I will go bk and add it in. I have had mine crack and seep out a bit, but it’s never a big deal, jut doesn’t look quite as pretty.
Thanks for sharing your story.
Sheila
As a child, I remember my father used to make soft boiled eggs! That was his breakfast specialty, although he didn’t serve them in egg cups! Come to think of it, he probably never even saw an egg cup. I will have to make some this weekend in his memory.
Thanks,
Kathy
I hope you do! Enjoy ; )
Cute story! and piggy! And yummy recipe – brings back memories for me as a kid!
Everyone seems to have a softboiled egg connection! Bought my piggy and chicky at Marshalls ; D Do you have Marshalls stores?
Hi Fritz
I loved to read your story. And what a perfect timing. Last week we were baby sitting the two hens of my friend and every day we would go feed them and the kids collected their first egs directly under a hen. So we saved them for todays saturday breakfast. They will be some special soft boiled eggs. Hand picked!
Just one little thing to add to your soft boiled egg experience: We the germans have in our kitchen drawer a little thingy you might call an egg pick. It makes a little hole into the egg so the shell wont crack while cooking. But you can also just take a needle and hold the egg firmly in the other hand than you prick into the larger end (not the pointed one) of the egg just a tiny hole. At this end there is an air bubble which will extend in hot water and might crack the shell. Thats why we do this. But dont worry even the frenche her dont know this, they just hope for the best each time they make their oeuf coco.
Love Kraut
Hello there! xoxox
Good tip! I will go back and add that in. Did you see what Carla added? I forgot about the cute little egg covers to keep them warm. Ahhhh my heart belongs to Deutchland! Miss you. Love you! Fritz
Haven’t made soft-boiled eggs in ages! I don’t have the cups, so normally I crack them and put them in teacups to serve. Love your farm animals! Sunday morning is bacon and egg breakfast for hubby and I. He loves over easy eggs very lightly over and very runny. Yumm. Thanks for this reminder!
Lovely tradition! Saturday mornings (unless they are busy with sports) are our big breakfast mornings. We love us some bacon! Have a great week.
Craving right now!
Make yourself one or two girlfriend! You deserve it ; ) xoxox
I so wished you had chicken’s Sheila….there is NOTHING better than fresh eggs. I have been purchasing them from a parent at my school whose daughters 6th grade class (Blandford School) raises chickens. Unfortunately, I have to beg, borrow and steal to get them on a regular basis :((. If eat2gather had her own chicken farm, this friend would be very, very happy!!! Love your cute holders!!
Well I kinda do…I’ve given you eggs silly! From my in-laws ; D When I get extra I will share…but we go through so many that is rare. Love ya Big D ; )
And I was so thankful when you did!!! But, if you had your own, I could sneak over in the middle of the night and raid the chicken coop!!! HAHA
Now it would be worth building a chicken coup just to see that!
I love reading your posts, I want to be part of your family 🙂
You totally brought me back to being a kid and eating soft boiled eggs with my grandparents for breakfast every morning. We lived with them so it was truly every morning. I loved dipping & spooning all the egg out, the toast cut in strips, all of it. We eat a lot of eggs here too, but I have yet to make them like this!!
Aggie, I can’t wait to meet you! I think we will be like long lost seestors! xoxox Sheila
You forgot one more thing – soft boiled eggs should be eaten with buttered Danish or German ryebread – and a little salt on top of every spoonful to be really perfect. “Kraut” is not so bad, “Unkraut” wäre doch viel schlimmer!