I’ve learned the secret to making perfect hard boiled eggs that peel easily and finishing the novel one may have been working on for years.
First, the hard boiled egg. I’ve tried different combinations of making hard boiled eggs over the years. Sometimes, I’m lucky, sometimes not. It seemed more often then not, when it really mattered, as in Easter eggs and deviled eggs when you really want the egg to peel neatly, it didn’t for me.
Another problem was that if I was lucky enough to have the egg peel, the yolk was greenish and unappetizing looking around the edge. The method I am about to share vanishes that problem too.
Recently, I combined two methods. One I found on http://www.cooks.com and the other was in a magazine. You don’t have to add either salt or baking soda to the water, as other texts call for.
1. Bring eggs to room temp before using.
2. Place sufficient water to cover the eggs in a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil BEFORE placing the eggs in it.
3. Lower the eggs carefully into the water, using a tablespoon. When the water reboils, start timing and reduce the heat so that the water simmers gently.
(Fast boiling makes the egg white tough and causes the eggs to bang against each other and crack.
4. You should start timing the eggs from the moment the water first boils.
5. Hard boiled eggs, large size take 10 minutes.
6. Turn off the heat and place the eggs in an ice-water bath and time them to cool for 5 minutes. The ice water bath will “shock” the membrane in between the egg white and the egg shell, loosening the shell and allowing you to peel it off easily.
7. Store peeled eggs in the refrigerator.
Now about that unfinished novel.
The humble kitchen timer is the most important creative tool in your arsenal. Notice the importance placed on timing in order to get the perfect hard boiled egg.
The same is true in the successful completion of your novel, Melda Maguire , working on her seventh book, insists. Here is what she says to do:
“At some point you sit down and set that timer for 30 minutes. Work on your craft or your project without interruption or distraction. It does not have to be major work — just focused work. Don’t get up from your seat until the timer dings. ”
“Then do the same thing tomorrow. And the next day. And the next day…”
Are you catching onto this?
To look at the financial side of this, she points out you don’t need to quit your job to be an artist or writer. You don’t have to take out a heart-stopping loan in order to get an advanced degree in creativity. You don’t need to move to Paris (but that might be fun).
You don’t need to change anything about your life. You just need to bow down before the humble kitchen timer, every single day.
A little universal truth that applies here is the the world will not clear out a time and a space for your dreams, art and writing. If you wait for things to be perfect before beginning (or continuing) your work (and play), you will die waiting.
Get yourself a kitchen timer and turn it into a creativity timer. What happens next can only be thrilling.
Plus, you can always have a perfect deviled egg waiting for you in the refrigerator when your 30 minute timer goes off. Walah!
Napkinwriter 