TT – Do Over – Angie K. Millgate, The Phoenix

Once upon a time, I was involved in a super fun project as a blogger called “Talk Thursday” – or TT. In this ring of bloggers, we’d take turns assigning topics to blog about on Thursday and then we’d all post them. It was fun to see all the different turns that were taken by the bloggers in their individual realms and I really enjoyed doing it.

Then my life got super busy and I didn’t have “time” anymore to participate so I left the ring and there has been a little hole in my heart where that ring used to fit. A few days ago, Cele, the leader of the ring, sent me a note through FB asking if I was ever coming back to TT. Not having previously realized how much I missed my TT Friends, when I read that question, I suddenly knew that the little heart in my hole was due to me leaving TT and I replied with a resounding YES!

So, from here on out – and as regularly as I possibly can – I will be participating in the TT blogger ring. On Thursdays – or maybe on Fridays, like today, since I don’t have school on Fridays – you will find a post that is related to the TT topic of the week.

And here we go… Courtesy of Miss Cele herself…

“Do Over”

In my family, there is a breakfast tradition called “Eggs in the Nest.” This delicacy is one of those things that you either love or hate and there isn’t an in between. It apparently isn’t something you can develop a taste for either.

It is a process of whipping egg whites to stiff peaks – like meringue – and then forming a “nest” upon a piece of buttered toast. Inside the nest, you place the yolk and then you bake it until the nest is a golden brown.

It is one of my favorites, but I honestly have not met anyone outside my core family who appreciates it like we do. Frequently, the response is a groan, rolling of the eyes and an exclamation, “UGH! That is GROSS! How can you eat that crap???!”

Nonetheless, I love it.

For me, there is a lot to love about it. Aside from the delumptious taste of it and the darling presentation, it is tagged with generations of happy memories. But, additionally, it is a ritual to make these Eggs in the Nest and it is not without a lot of broken yolks. The goal is to crack the egg and separate the yolk from the gelatinous clear fluid and do so without getting shells in the whites or breaking the yolk. If you get yolk in the whites, they won’t whip to peaks and the yolk will seep out the edges of the nest, bake hard and become very dissatisfying.

There was one time when I was making this delectability and went through the last six eggs I had in the house before I was able to successfully get a separated yolk. Quite frustrating, but is also part of the fun – seeing how many eggs it takes for me to get two perfect Eggs in the Nest and, pray to God and all that is holy if I only have two eggs that it only takes two eggs to get it right!

Sometimes there are enough eggs for me to have a “do over” again and again and so I do, if I need to – or I do a happy dance when I’m successful on the first try both times. Sometimes, though, there are only two eggs and if one of the yolks break, I just have to live with it. Just like life.

Today, I’m glad there was enough for one do over.