29 January 2012

breakfast

Sunday & Monday mornings are my breakfast days. I don't have to wake up at 5 am to catch the train. I can sleep in & take the time to make those proper breakfasts you see in the movies but never actually have in real life. 




One Monday morning I decided to tackle my fear of eggs & make some for me to eat. Now I love the look of eggs, photographing them, baking with them but eating them, no. I used to make eggs for ... well for him ... all the time for breakfast. I loved making them, delivering the breakfast in bed. So, obviously I haven't cooked any eggs in a while.....
 I thought I should give it a go. I made myself a baked egg. Something I have never done before.







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I didn't include a recipe because I didn't use one, & you really don't need one either. But here's what I did for my take on breakfast.


For the seasoned sweet potatoes:
Cut up a sweet potato into small pieces, left the skin on & threw it in a fry pan with olive oil. Seasoned with salt & pepper, then threw in the herbs I had on hand. Sage & thyme. More salt. More pepper, add lots then get the potatoes really crispy. 


For the baked egg:
I whisked one egg with a bit of heavy cream. Then added salt, pepper, slivers of asparagus & thyme. Poured it into my tiny Le Creuset dish, then broke one more egg on top. Then just put it in the oven, probably at 350, that is my standard temperature for baking most everything. The one temperature that I know my oven will work at. Baked it until it had gotten just a bit brown on top.


Add some toast, good butter, blackberries & a nice cup of tea. I also added in some orange juice & iced tea in little jars but I like my beverages. 

And the result. I ate the baked egg, the whole thing. But I'm not going to do it again. I tried. Fuck eggs. I love to photograph you, but I hate the way you taste.
Despite the egg, it was a lovely breakfast, the potatoes were great. A perfect start to your day when you are just craving some winter comfort food.







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The photos came out a bit golden, I liked it, so I kept it.




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I caved. I tried to be a proper adult & wait to open my birthday present from, the amazing blogger Athena Plichta, until Wednesday. But since the day it came in the mail, I have just been staring at it, craving to open it. So last night I did. OH MY GOD. Best present ever! Seriously, I was so happy. It is a book, a cookbook on making cheese. The exact cookbook that I have been looking on at Amazon for months, but never actually bought. And a dough whisk. It's beautiful. WOW. So happy.




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38 comments:

Christine said...

Oh my gosh, what gorgeous photos, styling, and beautiful golden light! Happy birthday :)

Natashia said...

Lovely photos... makes me want to eat breakfast again, cos well I ate it 2 hours ago... And I love that you drink Lady Grey! It's my favourite. Happy Birthday!

Daniella said...

The eggs sure do make for great photos, lol! I might try this. I'd love to know where you got that cute little teabag tray? It's exactly what I need!

Melanie J Watts said...

I don't agree, I love eggs :) and thanks for the fabulous, easy idea.

Anonymous said...

I cannot start my day without a big plate of eggs, I may just have to try this!! I love your food styling <3

Callie Grayson said...

I love eggs! But I can't stand the tast of eggs whites. So I completely understand. I have to have them poached or baked as you made. I can't believe you ate the whole thing and you dont like them. That's like me trying to drink a glass of milk, yuck. I don't even try it makes me gag. So I have to give you kudos for eating them :)
Great post styling!!
Xx
Callie

Athena said...

Heh, you caved! Happy early birthday, glad you liked the gifts (sorry for the sucky packaging). I love how these photos came out, just perfect. I personally love eggs but only scrambled and hard-boiled. Oh and I made bread today and used tea as a prop... I have a similar shot as yours above :)

Unknown said...

happy birthday!! my husband doesn't really like eggs, so whenever i make them he covers them in siracha or salsa. Just a thought! :) Lovely pictures, very lovely

pips said...

This is lovely... Happy birthday!!!!

blues said...

tasty photos!

Marie de Btz said...

Hello, in France we call those eggs, "les oeufs cocotte".
It's super easy to cook but you don't have to miss the oven part. You have to bake at "bain marie" (I don't know if there is a translation!), 10 minutes in the oven.
We cook only 1 egg, with heavy cream, salt pepper and after everything you have in the kitchen (very good with blue cheese, or mushroom, or herbs or with a "truffe".
Sorry for my english, but thanks for your blog !

Irene said...

Yum. This looks amazing. Happy birthday :)

Jenny said...

Happy Birthday for Wednesday! I absolutely love your photography, the golden light makes everything look so homely, I would love to wake up to this on a sunday morning, I might have to get my boyfriend to read this post

Mary Bergfeld said...

Your eggs made for a beautiful photo. I hope you had a great birthday. This is my first visit to your blog, so I took some time to browse through your earlier posts. I'm so glad I did that. I really like the food and recipes yo ushare with your readers and I'll definitely be back. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

Anonymous said...

What cheesemaking book is it? Rikki Carol's is my go to

Unknown said...

Nice! Love your breakfast :)

Twinks said...

Julie Marie, wishing you a wonderful Birthday on February 1st!!
- I can take or leave eggs. But your pictures make me want to try an egg baked like that. Looks so scruptous. I like frittata especially...with lots of cheese, artichokes, garlic, and herbs. love, Grandma Twinks xoxox

Georgia said...

yum, yum. yum...

georgia
http://swonderfulgd.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Lovely photos!! Your last line about eggs made me laugh!! Happy b-day !

Erica said...

Beautiful photos!! I love all things Le Creuset, and your mini casserole is adorable.

Christina Topf-Boman said...

You can come over and cook eggs at my house anytime!! You know where I live.....
c:)

kitblu said...

I'm with you. I eat eggs for the protein but I have to doctor them beyond all recognition to eat them. Melted cheese on top with salsa on the side helps my taste buds survive the taste of egg. I believe bain marie that one commenter mentioned means to put the egg dish in a water bath so you basically steam it in the oven.

First Look Love * said...

Delicious!

Kaitlin said...

This is the most beautiful breakfast ever. Too bad you didn't like the baked egg, but you definitely photographed it well!

I used to cook eggs and potatoes every weekend with my ex... We split on good terms, and I still like them (and him!), but eggs are longer the same. Not quite as enjoyable, I guess. I don't like them for breakfast anymore. Funny how a person can change stuff like that.

Mo @ Howl Madly said...

What a beautiful breakfast!! I love the mini casserole dish!

AllThingsYummy said...

I've never eaten an egg that wasn't scrambled. I should be brave and try it a different way but something about the ooze of the egg freaks me out a little bit. People seems to love it though so i really should give it a try.
Your photos are beautiful.

Pru @ Perfecting Pru said...

You really are just like Julie in Julie & Julia! The photos were beautiful. I used to hate poached eggs but had them at Christmas and loved them. Still hate soft boiled eggs though! Yuck!

Cookie and Kate said...

Gorgeous photos! I'm picky about my eggs; they have to be scrambled.

Sarah said...

Happy Birthday!

Your photos are lovley and I agree about the eggs, i can eat them in cakes, and if i'm in the right mood perhaps just the yolk but i'm always a bit iffy about them! thanks for the lovley post!

Ashley said...

I'm laughing about the "fu*k eggs" part. Love it! Although I have a hard time understanding because I'm pretty obsessed with eggs. ;) The photos in this post are stunning. Everything is placed perfectly, but at the same time looks really natural. I am jealous of your wood table!

Chloe said...

:) You are the best! I can't believe people get on your case about spelling and grammar. Sheesh. You're one of the only people I know in this genre of blogging that isn't like, "oh, I'm so thankful for this, and that" or "look at my baby", "oh, my baby ate solid food today", "my baby burped", "I live such a blessed life", etc, etc, etc. Sure it's nice to be grateful for stuff, but people who blog like this (& with perfect spelling) present such highly edited versions of their lives and leave everyone else feeling incompetent in their wake. I love hearing you write about real stuff, hating eggs, and tending heartbreaks, family recipes without any of the overly saccharine garbage on the side. (I obviously am on a soapbox a little bit here, haha).
Keep it real girlfriend!
P.S. Someone better have gotten you a new computer for your birthday! I always try to send those subtle hints to my family via my blog. They don't usually work, but here's hoping!! :)

the vanilla bean blog said...

Julie, these photos are just stunning. Every post your work gets more and more amazing. So.beautiful.

And I always want to make myself extravagant breakfasts but never do. I should.

Happy Birthday!

Rosita Vargas said...

Delicioso ...y fotos preciosas ésto lo digo por todas sus recetas,me he maravillado,abrazos y abrazos.

Kajka said...

Great idea for decoration :) Love the saucer for a tea bag. And i'm sure i'll eat it all :)

Lauren from Baklust said...

I'd be interested to know which book you got, too. Been wanting to try cheesemaking myself. :)

Effie said...

Gorgeous! I love those turquoise plates - where did they come from??

Vintage Style Downunder said...

Wow.. you cook the most delicious food, take the most amazing photos..I've enjoyed following you.. I get caught up in the moment with you, the cosy morning, the crispy potatoes, the delicious berries and iced tea...then got unexpectedly slammed with the 'f' word...really disappointed with that.. Just sayin. (maybe you talk like this more often in your blogs, but I hadn't noticed before..maybe I skim over too much and just drool over your pics and recipes..but I read the whole posts when I can)I agree it's great that you keep it real..but there's a line.

Anonymous said...

Too bad the images are so small. And the flickr page is private...