When I was 6 or 7 my grandma used to make us these soft boiled eggs. She would mix up the eggs with chopped up toast. She buttered and also put quince jelly on the toast. I wondered how she got the jelly on every little square of toast and I was sure she did each one separately.

I have made these for my family for years and they are the absolute favorite breakfast of all. If you experiment with different types of bread and eggs you will find your favorite too.

Step 1: Ingredients

Jumbo Eggs

Cracked Wheat Sourdough Bread

Lots of butter

Salt & Pepper to taste

Step 2: What Kind of Bread?

I have gone through many different types of bread and my favorite now is San Luis Sourdough Cracked Wheat pillow-loaf bread. I toast it quite thoroughly and tend to use too much butter. They make a baguette style loaf of which two pieces equals one of the pillow loaf style. I have tried their regular sour dough (pictured on top of the three) and it is pretty good. In Philadelphia I tried the Trader Joe's local sour dough and it too was pretty good.

Step 3: What Kind of Eggs

I have gone through many different types of eggs too; the omega type tend to taste fishy. I use "Uncle Eddies" with "no-this-that-or-the-other" pollutants

Step 4: Boil the Eggs, Launch the Toast

I begin toasting the bread first and then carefully put the eggs in boiling water. Carefully? If they crack, the boiling water turns the egg leakage into a mess. To help prevent crackage, I have enough water to come up to the egg's waist-line (half way). With a covered pot, the steam will be the same temperature as the boiling water so they don't have to be swimming, just wading. You may notice the calcium deposits. I only use this pan to boil eggs so no alien odors or flavors enter the recipe.

Step 5: How Much Time?

I use jumbo eggs so the time I cook them just right is based on that size egg. If you don't cook them enough the whites tend to be snotty; cook them too much and the finished dish seems to be dry. My time is 4:10 to 4:20 for jumbo eggs. You want the yolks to be runny and the whites to be getting over their snotty stage. While they are boiling the toast should be cooking. With practice you should be done buttering and chopping the toast just as the eggs are done. I have a pan of cold water right next to the egg pan so I can quench the cooking when the timer goes off.

Step 6: Butter the Toast

When the toast is very dark, almost burnt, for maximum crunchiness, I butter it with Challenge whipped butter...Whipped is easier to butter with and Challenge brand actually has some flavor compared to most others I have tried.

Step 7: The Dog?

Ignore the dog, who, by now, knows the sound of crunchy toast on the bread board.

Step 8: Slicing the Bread

Stack the two halves...Slice in half inch strips; cross slice into half inch squares.

Step 9: Reward the Patient One

Step 10: Stab and Scoop Out the Eggs

I stab the eggs in the middle and slice in halves. This usually rewards someone with a nice chunk of egg shell which my failing eyesight no longer detects. Murphy's law dictates that I don't get the shell.

I use a cappuccino spoon to scoop out the eggs because it is smaller. Alternatively, one could crack the shells and peel but sometimes the eggs stick to the shell in a very annoying way.