First Food: Egg in a Basket

by Marisa McClellan, Posted Dec 4th 2007 @ 10:53AM

When I was about six years old, my grandmother gave me a cookbook called For Good Measure: A Cookbook for Children. Already curious about cooking, I loved this book and would often take it to bed with me in order to pore over the recipes. It was out of the this book that I learned to cook Egg in a Basket, the very first thing I made on my own.

The recipe was simple enough. Take one slice of bread and cut a hole in the center of it with a cookie cutter or glass. Heat a small pan and melt a pat of butter. When the butter gets foamy, add the slice of break and break the egg into the hole. Cook until the egg white is set and turn over gently so the other side can cook just a bit. Remove to a plate and enjoy! What the book didn't tell me, that I discovered on my own, was that it was also delicious to toast the cut out circle of bread in the pan as well, because then you had pre-buttered toast with which to mop of the last of the yolk.

I would beg to be allowed to make an Egg in a Basket before school (normally my mom said no and poured me a bowl of Cheerios) and on weekend mornings I'd ask my family if anyone was interested in having one made for them. That approach was often more successful and I'd stand at the stove in the kitchen (with parents watching close by), feeling satisfied and like the short order cook I imagined I'd be when I grew up. I still love this particular dish, both for it's simplicity and for the taste memory that sends me soaring back into my childhood.

What was the first thing you learned to cook? Do you still make it now? Who taught you how to make it?

Filed Under: Cooking With Kids, Ingredients, How To
Tags: breakfast, children, cooking, Egg in a Basket, EggInABasket, eggs, For Good Measure, learning

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Reader comments (Page 2 of 2)

12-04-2007 @11:58PM JoJo said... I think the very first thing I learned to cook was mac-n-cheese from a box with a can of tuna mixed in. And I still eat it today!

the first from scratch thing I made was vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream - I got the recipe from a church cookbook. I remember it so clearly because my brothers, who usually would just kick the c**p out of me were so nice to me so that I would give them a cupcake. and yes, it is a tactic I still use.
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12-05-2007 @1:26AM Fash said... Pirate eyes has GOT to be the best name for these I've ever heard! I am officially re-christening my "toasted eggs" to pirate eyes. Thanks, mateys!

As I said, my mom always called them toasted eggs. I haven't eaten one in years, but you know what I'll be serving up on Saturday morning.

The first thing I cooked on my own was Kraft dinner...also with tuna mixed in. Weird.
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12-05-2007 @10:29AM BernieB said... The first thing I remember cooking would be Grilled Cheese. My aunt had an old-style sandwich press, and my cousin and I used it often =)
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