Which came first – the turkey or the egg? In this case it was the turkey.

It was the morning after Thanksgiving and we were dribbling into John’s parents’ kitchen in search of our traditional breakfast fare – leftover turkey dressing, or maybe a slice of Grandma Ginny’s soon-to-be-world-famous apple pie.

But I had something different in mind: An egg.  Last summer when we were on vacation at Lake Tahoe, my father-in-law demonstrated “the perfect soft-boiled egg”. He had a new method he had learned from some expert chef with years of experience in test kitchens. I watched him do it, but there were a few gaps in my memory and I needed a refresher course.

This time I decided to take notes and pictures, and now I will never forget Grandpa Frank’s perfect soft boiled egg method. (With due credit to that unnamed chef who worked all those long hours with uncounted eggs in the test kitchens.)

You can do any number of eggs at the same time. That’s what’s nice.

Put about a half inch of water in the bottom of a pot and bring it to a boil.

While the water is coming to a boil, run a little warm water over the eggs so they’re not super cold. (If they’re too cold there’s a risk that they will crack when they come in contact with the boiling water.)

When the water is boiling, put the eggs in. The water will not cover the eggs. Put the lid on the pot and let the eggs boil (or steam) for exactly 6 minutes.

That’s it!

Run the eggs under cold water for about 30 seconds, which will stop the cooking process, but will keep the eggs hot.

Grandpa Frank advised that we should put the toast down in the toaster when the eggs were at 4 minutes. That way the toast and eggs would both be ready at the same time.

Voila! Every one of the eggs was soft-boiled to perfection!

So which came first? The turkey, of course. But I am thankful for this foolproof way to make a perfect soft-boiled egg!