Monday, June 28, 2010

The weekend, briefly

Grocery shopping! Cleaning! Cooking actual food! Baskets and baskets and baskets of laundry! Although I actually can't take any credit for the laundry, because D did all of it. Basically, we were busy and now we can actually live like semi-civilized people again.

loose leaf tea
{loose leaf tea}

I fortified myself with tea on our balcony, which I realize looks a little bit like a rainforest from this angle. Sadly, it isn't.

balcony tea
{balcony tea}

We tended our little balcony garden, which means I randomly try things like attacking the soil with a pair of garden shears in an attempt to break it up a bit. I think that's called aerating. Otherwise I may have dead herbs next week. Pretty much 50/50.

tomato plants
{tomato plants}

But the biggest news of the weekend is that I finally got up the courage to attempt to poach an egg sans egg poacher. I know, I know. It's basically just sliding an egg into hot water and letting it sit for 4 minutes. Sometimes the simplest things seem scary. In desperation (poached eggs are one of my favorite foods), I took a deep breath, followed Deb's instructions and then proceeded to eat poached eggs for the rest of the weekend.

poached egg on black beans
{poached egg on black beans}

poached egg on toast
{poached egg on toast}

poached egg on toast
{poached egg, perfect}

I feel pretty accomplished. And full.

24 comments:

  1. Looks like you perfected the egg! Congrats!

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  2. a man who does laundry? can you share him with us?

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  3. so impressed with your egg poaching abilities! it sounds rather simple when you describe it, but i've always been far too intimidated to try it on my own.

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  4. Impressive poaching skills! I'll have to try them with the black beans, that looks delish!

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  5. poaching eggs is NOT as easy as it sounds. i still have issues with the matter.

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  6. i'm too scared to try poaching an egg on my own! bravo to you. i promise to make an attempt... sometime this year.

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  7. yup, way ahead of me over here with the egg poaching as well.

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  8. Poaching an egg is the best thing I ever learned how to do in the kitchen. It's my very favorite way to eat eggs. Plus I'm really picky my eggs, so it was pretty important for me to learn to do it.

    Also, that tea is really pretty! I love the color of it.

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  9. I just poached my first egg thanks to your post! I think I overcooked it slightly so I'll have to try again for breakfast tomorrow but it was still yummy! THANKS! :)

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  10. Well done, R! A perfectly poached egg is a marvelous thing.

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  11. @ Julia - Well, I did the laundry for all three years while he was in grad school, so I definitely have two more years of credit before I have to start helping again. Also, I have more underwear and can thus hold out longer in a laundry siege.

    @ everyone - so glad I'm not the only one afraid of poaching! I was so self satisfied and excited when I did it, and then I thought "oh my god, I'm going to put this up and everyone is going to be shocked that I haven't been poaching eggs for years because it's so easy"

    If you haven't tried it yet, try it. My only advice (beyond Deb's) is to let your water boil and then lower the heat. I tried to poach an egg in water right before it hit boiling and it clearly wasn't hot enough, because everything just dispersed in the water. Yuck.

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  12. Yum! A perfectly poached egg is a thing of beauty.

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  13. you have inspired me to attempt a poached egg.

    @Julia @Rachel I'll take a man who cooks/washes dishes over a man who does laundry any time. just saying.

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  14. Isn't it funny how poaching an egg makes us all so afraid? And once you figure out how to do it, it feel like no big deal. But it's one of those everyday luxuries, I think. Something about it feels special.

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  15. I have never poached an egg. I don't think I have ever eaten one either. I have been afraid of them. Who knows why. I do love them hard boiled, though!

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  16. poached eggs are the best. while fried eggs (i feel) lend themselves to mayo, ketchup, bacon, and all of those "roll around on the ground because you're so full after breakfast you think you might burst" foods & condiments, i feel poached eggs are perfect on a piece of naked toast, with only a little salt and paprika sprinkled over. and a lovely cup of tea, of course.

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  17. i, too, need to attempt a poached egg one day. that tea looks lovely; can you share where you found your tea ball? ours just like it died & the one we got from martha just doesn't live up.

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  18. ah, poached eggs! my dad always used to make them for us for breakfast. i will have to try to make these...soon!

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  19. Now I want to try poaching an egg for breakfast tomorrow morning. I've heard adding a tiny bit of vinegar to the water helps keep the egg together, but I have no idea if it's true.

    My (current) favourite way of eating eggs I discovered via Alton Brown (I don't know why they're called "Man Eggs," though.) Delicious, fast, and super easy.

    @esb - I completely agree on the washing dishes part. I'm usually the one that cooks, since I enjoy it, but I'd much rather do laundry than wash dishes.

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  20. @ amy - I wish I could remember where the tea ball came from, but I can't! I'm guessing I got it at the Japanese market, because that's usually my go to place for tea accessories. Such a good selection.

    @ Kristy - Yes, I did add a dash of seasoned rice vinegar. No idea if it helped, but I had it and I figured it was worth a try.

    @ ESB, Julia, Kristy - he does dishes too, but our dish situation is usually pretty mild. I have a dish compulsion that makes it impossible for me to walk past a sink with a dish in it and he respects that and helps out. I can't focus if there are dirty dishes in the house and we don't have a dishwasher, so almost everything gets washed immediately after use.

    Laundry on the other hand? I hate doing it in our dingy shared laundry room and I can hold out for a looooong time. As long as I have clean underwear I'll just dig stuff out of the dirty clothes basket and keep going.

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  21. Mmm poached eggs are the best! Perfect weekend food. I hope your herbs will pull through and I'm glad your feeling a little more civilized, it must be hard getting back to reality after a lovely trip.

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  22. YUM I just finished my dinner and now I suddenly have a strong urge to poach an egg and have it over toast. Mmm... I know what's happening for breakfast tomorrow. :)

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  23. The tea and egg are my definition of perfection.

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  24. your weekend pics are amazing Rachel.
    love the tea...mmmm, can almost smell it brewing. and that egg is perfect!

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