Perfect boiled eggs

Once upon a time I was so annoyed by my boiled eggs that I went out and found how to make the perfect boiled egg. I wanted a method that would not crack the shell and that would create less mess, use less energy and, of course, not make my yolk black (or green for that matter). And although I found the perfect method it was still not good enough for my daughters. They never liked eggs even before they knew what eggs were. My oldest would not eat cakes or quiches or anything with eggs in it when she was very little. And I mean so little that she didn't know what an egg was! After a lot of effort we managed to get them to eat eggs. Some times we just feel that they need a bit of protein and this is our quick fix. Up until recently one of them would only eat them scrambled and the other fried!

I still like my boiled eggs so I decided to make a few for dinner. I was feeling tiered so I only cut up two eggs. I figured only me and my husband were going to eat them so why spend the time and effort to make more.

So I was a bit surprised when the girls asked me to pass the boiled eggs. Since they were interested I passed them over and, after asking if it was okay to eat the whole egg since there were only two (they can be super sweet some times), they devoured them. I was okay with that. I trotted back to the kitchen and procured two more eggs for us adults.

I asked my kids, why now. What made them even want to try the eggs? The answer I got was that "well when they look that good how can we not like them". I mean I know people say that you eat with your eyes but this is a bit extreme. Going from "do I have to?" to "can I have more?"

So because of this surprise, and because Easter is around the corner, I figured I'll just share my egg boiling/serving method.

To boil your eggs place them in a saucepan so that the eggs are in one layer on the bottom. It's best if there are enough eggs to cover the surface. Pour in cold water until it covers the eggs + 1 inch or 2.5 cm. Put on high heat without covering and bring the water to the boil. Once it boils remove the pan from the heat, put the lid on it. Let it stand for 6 minutes. With a large egg this will give you an egg that is halfway between a soft boiled and hard boiled egg. For a hard boiled egg leave for 10 minutes.
Remove from the water, cool (to stop the cooking process), shell and eat.

Chocolate chunk cookies (soft)

This blog entry is written so that in the event that I lose my piece of paper with the ingredients on it I can reproduce my favourite cookie. It would be a waste if after weeks of work I lost the recipe!!
So please forgive the lack of information.

Ingredients:

125 g Butter, Kerrigold Sußrahm (really important)
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp. Sugar*
1 tsp. Goldsaft (molasses)*
1 lrg. Egg
1 cup Flour
1/2 tsp. Baking soda (Natron, sodium bicarbonate)
1/4 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp. Salt
4 1/2 oz or 125 g Chocolate chunks (Rittersport each piece cut in half)
3/4 cups Dried cranberries
3 oz Walnuts

* Substitute with 3/4 cups US American style brown sugar (which is not the same as any other countries brown sugar as far as I can tell).

Method:

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add egg and beat until well combined.
Add Flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and mix until combined (over mixing will make the cookie taste yucky).
Fold in chocolate chunks, cranberries and walnuts.
Cookies can be either 1 tbsp. of dough (small) or 2 tbsps. (normal). Make heaps and place in the fridge to rest and harden about 1 hour.
Set fan oven to 160 C.
Take dough out of fridge. Roll dough balls to make them evenly shaped. Press down lightly so that the edges are also a bit thick thus preventing them from burning.
Place 2 inches apart and bake for 12 - 15 minutes depending on your taste.

Notes:
Even if they are crispy when they come out of the oven after a day they become soft.