Going to work on an egg

Hubby had a late start at work today so we all ate breakfast together - boiled eggs & toast, as requested by Christopher. I love eggs; boiled, poached, scrambled - however they come, I'm happy. In fact I credit eggs for breakfast every day with a large part in my losing about 4 stone when Christopher was nearing his first birthday.

I initially found boiled eggs hard to get right on our hob - it's electric and therefore the heat can't be turned down quickly. So, if you don't cook on gas and your eggs always turn out hard, rather than 'dippable', try this.

Prick the eggshell with a pin at the round end of each egg (rather than the more pointed end). Place the eggs in a saucepan (not too large or the shells will get cracked as the eggs rattle around). Just cover with cold water and bring to the boil over a high heat. When the water boils, set a timer for 3 minutes. Fill a large measuring jug with cold water. When the timer beeps, scoop the eggs out of the pan and plunge briefly into the jug to stop them overcooking. Pop them into eggcups and lop off the tops. Serve straightaway, with toast.

I have to have Marmite™ on the last bit of toast whenever I eat eggs. It's a habit I picked up from my Dad, and one I seem to have passed on to Christopher. Give it a try. Incidentally, the new Guinness™ version of Marmite™ is quite good. Milder an rather less salty, but good nonetheless. I actually think it tastes pretty similar to the yeast extract you can get from LIDL.

We went out to Owain's Butchers in Aberaeron this afternoon. We chose a fine leg of pork joint for Sunday dinner tomorrow, and some minced beef for later in the week. Also popped a bag of their pork scratchings in for Hubby. God only knows how he stays so slim! As usual, a trip to the butchers' means a trip to feed the ducks with any scraps of stale granary bread we have kicking about. I'll only give granary to the birds as I don't think there's any nutritive value in plastic bread - and at least granary gives them the seeds. We nipped into the farm down the road on the way home for another dozen eggs. Christopher enjoyed chasing the hens around the yard behind the house. I'm not sure that they were having quite as much fun!