When I was a tween . . .

. . . which was, of course, before anyone was called a tween, we lived in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains at 7500 feet in a cute, little mountain town called June Lake.  We moved there -- my mother, sister, and I -- from Austin, Texas.

Why yes, there was some culture shock, why do you ask?

Living in the high mountains takes some getting used to, that's for sure.  For one thing, there's a winter up there and it means it.  My mother insisted that we leave the house on snowy mornings with a hot breakfast.  Every other day, we got Quaker Instant Oatmeal or soft-boiled eggs.

Now, given a choice, we'd have had Cheerios, thank you very much.  Or Sugar Corn Pops.

We weren't given a choice and we'd gag down the hot breakfast and venture out into the snowy day with nice warm tummies for the 30+ minute bus ride to our school.  I couldn't tell you which I liked less at that age.

Fast forward a certain number of years (I've been teaching my students about variables lately so let's just say x years.).  I have managed a minor miracle in parenting.  My kids love oatmeal and eggs, in almost any form.

Only, I couldn't soft-boil (or hard-boil) an egg to save my life.  My husband asked me to make hard-boiled eggs and keep them on hand a year ago to help him (and me) with his efforts to eat more protein and fewer carbs.  I bravely looked up a "recipe" and made them.

It didn't work out so well.  The shells were glued to the egg in a ridiculous manner.  And, uh, crunchy eggs, not so good.  Shudder!

So, I felt defeated for a while but I can't let something as basic as boiling eggs defeat me.  I did more extensive research and tried again.  And, I'm happy to say, I found success.

This morning, I made myself two soft-boiled eggs and ate them with a little butter and salt and pepper.

Oh my heavens were they good.  And, my tummy is nice and warm -- even though it's not snowy out.  In fact, they are predicting we'll hit 99F tomorrow.  Whatever.

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Soft-boiled Eggs
Place cool or cold eggs in a pan. 
Cover with water.
Bring to a boil on high heat. 
When they are boiling, turn the heat off and cover the pan with a tight fitting lid. 
Leave alone for 4 minutes (runny yolk, solid white).  3 minutes if you like runny whites; 5 if you want a more solid yolk.
Serve by breaking off top of egg and scooping the yumminess out with a small spoon into a bowl.  Top with salt and pepper -- and butter if you are being bad!  

Hard-boiled Eggs
Place cool or cold eggs in a single layer in a pan.
Cover with water.
Bring to a boil on high heat.  
When they are boiling, turn off the heat and cover the pan with a tight fitting lid.
Leave alone for 12 minutes. 
Pour out hot water and chill with cold water and ice to stop cooking.
Put into fridge. I put them into their carton again and draw happy faces on one end with a sharpie.
Eat within 5 days.