So this week’s blog post just so happens to fall on one very special woman’s birthday – Fancy Nancy, my Mother! In honor of the woman (who raised me) behind the chef (ME lol), I decided to dedicate this post to my mother AND her favorite food: EGGS!
My mother is a great cook (although she cares to argue that) and she is an AMAZING baker and artist (hello custom cookies http://eatyourheartoutedibles.com/treats/custom-cookies/). Growing up in a family of four kids, we always had a homemade dinner on the table, whether it be something as simple as “Tuna Grinders” (potato bread, with tuna fish and cheese, melted under the broiler in oven), or the Capanna family Italian staple of Sunday “gravy” and meatballs, or my personal favorite, homemade pizza! My mom always made homemade pizza on either Friday or Saturday nights.
Fancy Nancy (ok, ok her real name is not Fancy, she just always dresses so snazzy and “blingy” that I crowned her with that name) also used to make this god-forsaken “cowboy” stew. As I am typing I realize I have no idea why she called it stew, because it was far from it! It was basically homemade hamburger mac and cheese, but she gave it the name “cowboy” because she would use wagon wheel shaped pasta AND SING (very loudly) “home, home on the range…” while cooking. I kid you not, I wish I could say “lol” or “jk” but then I would be lying, and my mother taught me never to lie. 🙂 Thank God my Mom did not own her costume business back then (as she does now https://www.facebook.com/The-Costume-Closet-1438986909686831/ ) because NO DOUBT while she was cooking and singing she would have had on a cowboy hat, haha.
I believe the real reason she sang while she cooked was to get us kids excited for the dinner. I’m pretty sure my younger brother and sister would eat it, and I ate it, but was def not fond of it – I don’t like foods all mixed together, like stews, shepherd’s pie etc. Anywayyys, I digress (as always). Back to Nancy and her love of eggs.
As mentioned above, my mom can cook, and cook well, but if you were to ask any one of her kids what Mom likes to eat and ALWAYS offers us (and any visitors who drop by unannounced) to eat, at any given time of day, the answer would be eggs. Scrambled, sunny-side up, in a nest (toast), omelet (one of her favs), quiche (another fav), soft-boiled (I think she has eaten two soft-boiled eggs every morning for the past year, no lie), with hotdogs (she used to make this for us when we were kids, with the hot dogs cut up into itty, bitty tiny pieces because my mom cannot stand the thought of us choking!) and hard-boiled.
I really can’t fault my Mom for her love of eggs, they are so healthy for you, full of healthy fat, a great source of protein, and low in calories and carbs! But I can say that now I do not eat too many eggs, because I think at one time, without choice, I was an eggoholic. In honor of my mom and her EGGstreme love of eggs, (ok I’ll stop with the egg puns haha) here is her go-to method for no-fail (EASY to peel) hard-boiled eggs:
HOW TO HARD BOIL EGGS
WITHOUT FREAKING OUT BECAUSE THE SHELLS WON’T COME OFF
(According to Fancy Nancy):
1. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil.
2. Gently add eggs (no more than 7-8, do not want to crowd the pot) into the water.
3. Reduce the water to a gentle simmer – you do NOT want the water boiling after the eggs are in. Allow to cook for 13 minutes.
4. After the 13 minutes are up, drain the eggs, and then gently drop them into an ice bath (bowl filled with cold water and lots of ice!)
5. Let the eggs soak in ice bath for 5 minutes.
6. Drain the eggs and start peeling!
This method was adapted from http://thepioneerwoman.com/food-and-friends/easy-to-peel-eggs/
What is YOUR favorite way to eat eggs, what method are YOU most EGGcellent at? Please share. My mom has a lot of years ahead of her, a new egg recipe would be certain to liven things up!
In closing, Mom, when you were EGGspecting me, little did you know that your “little chickie” (ME 🙂 ) would one day grow up and not be able to make it through a single day without calling you 5 times, and that I would owe everything that I have to YOU. Not only did you physically give birth to me, but every day you breathe life into my soul, hope into my future, and you help keep my business going strong by baking delicious sweet treats for my clients. I am always certain to have a Christmas stocking full of individually wrapped mini gifts, as well as text of encouragement every morning. I hope your birthday is just as happy, bright, and EGGstraodinary as you make every ordinary day for me, and that this coming year is not too fried or scrambled, but rather sunny-side up! 🙂
Happy Birthday Mom, I love you.
Love, Your favorite, most charming, beautiful, intelligent, best cook ever child…haha! Annie 
