Britta's Letters from her life divided between city-life in German's capital Berlin and life in a Bavarian village

Thursday 2 August 2018

Some Cannot Boil an Egg!





I saw it - and I wanted it.

It will save so much space  - and time - and it  looks so cute!“ 

Though I live on 180 square meters, I bought it.
In the Netherlands I had learned The High Art of Boiling an Egg.
Which implies not just boiling- oh no: boiling the egg for precisely 4 and a half minute - after asking  myself: „Am I -  just now - above or below sea level?" How come that at that point I always had to think of M.F.K. Fisher and her fabulous book: „How to Cook a Wolf“ ?
In Berlin I found a few flies in the ointment of my new kitchen device:
- it takes an awful long time
- the outside which you have to touch to stop the high pitched "stop!"-button gets really hot
- AND: it is not only designed for a dwarf´s kitchen (hope that I do not use a political incorrect word - I’m speaking of fairytale dwarfs) - it also needs dwarf fingers (for my 1.78 m I have astonishing little hands, and they are very capable for everything in craftwork),
- no: it also demands utter precision (also no problem for me - for some time I wanted to become a pharmacist because I like using pipettes and tiny scales).





But worst of all: It cannot boil a soft egg!
Golf balls: yes, thank you: here it manages well.
But soft eggs -  whatever I tried - NO.

When comes the day when you ask yourself:
Is it worth all the efforts?

In this case I decided after three weeks: NO!

(PS: Does anyone remember the hype in the Nineties (I think) about „Feng Shui“?
Change your fate by just moving some things around - and if you want a happy partnership, NEVER buy a single item, always (!) buy pairs.
A single-egg-cooker - I am sure - would have meant „bad Feng Shui“, even a thousand years ago.
Though I cannot verify that - I tossed out all my Feng Shui books a long time ago.

As I will do with that cute little egg-boiler!



14 comments:

  1. I am one of those who cannot boil an egg to perfection. It's either a soft yolk with a runny white (yuch) or a bullet. Yes, I remember all the stupidity of Feng Shui. Real Feng Shui was - like a lot of Chinese things - only understood by the Chinese. In this country it was a fad amongst bored middle class women (and sometimes men) who had too much time on their hands and wanted to re-arrange the furniture to enhance the spirituality in their lives.

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  2. Perfection in whatsoever is very difficult to find or reach - yet I love 'my egg' with soft egg yolk and hard white :-)
    The Netherlanders have an idiom for being passionate: "I can lose my egg into it" (whatever that might mean).
    And yes - Feng Shui: I really wondered about a gay dentist who bought the advice of a Feng Shui specialist (of German origin, hahaha) and spent thousands of Euros to change his flat!

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    1. No, not - the one I'm speaking of lives in Hamburg, not in Bremerhaven. A friend of a friend.

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  3. Midget is the word not allowed anymore over here. The egg gadget looks good for those who like things to look good. For me a saucepan will do and a glance at the clock every now and then.

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    1. Ah - again a word that isn't correct, thank you, Rachel.
      I like a good-looking gadget - but if it doesn't work as promised I feel as with some beautiful people: chic but shallow.
      A saucepan with water takes so long to boil (and I have to glance at the tea too!) - but works best.

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    2. The water is boiled first in the kettle.

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    3. Wow - I honestly never had that brilliant idea, Rachel - will try it tomorrow morning with my dearly loved (and quick working, well-designed) Russel & Hobbs kettle, thank you!

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  4. I was told to add a tablespoon of vinigar in the water to ovoid the egg shells from cracking in the boiling water, but they still crack and the egg white seeps out into the water. I end up with a skinny looking and wrinkled egg.
    Greetings Maria x

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    1. Haha, Maria - I understand: Little white round balls swimming in the water, and inside the egg a watery hole :-), though still something left to eat... I have an egg-prick - under that tiny, tiny device to fill the water in (haha: for a soft egg - or so they say - dream on...) One has to use the underst limit - about three drops of water..

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  5. I bought some of those little plastic things to put the egg in and then boil. That way I don't have to fight to peel the shell off.

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    1. Dear Emma, that is an option - but not for me. I don't want to break an egg early in the morning :-)

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  6. Dear Brigitta, by my rough calculation you are 3 inches shorter than I. However, even I --with my height advantage-- have given up trying to boil eggs. Furthermore, I am embarrassed by how old and tall I was when I learned Feng Shui is not a martial art --although people who have looked into my pump-house workshop have agreed Feng Shui is a martial art as I practice it. I still hope to find a field of expertise that includes boys of five-foot-eleven-inches.

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    1. Hahaha, Geo., first I had to calculate how much five foot even inches are... That is ok! (My friend Christine once asked me: "Can you explain to me why you, as you said, want to look up to a man?!?"
      Good question, still to be solved.
      I have found out a very surprising way to boil the (almost) perfect egg - but will keep that a secret till I need another subject for a blog post - I will not put all my eggs in one basket, as the English so prudently say.

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