Teggs and Kippers

I think everyone has a happy place.  It is a place you can mentally go when stress takes over or you need help falling asleep at night.  I have two happy places.  The first is on a beach, in a beach chair, listening to the ocean, digging my toes in the sand, and sipping on a cool drink.

My second happy place is a cabin hidden up north in Canada.  A place you have to drive on a dirt road for an hour just to get to.  My extended family has been going to this cabin for almost 30 years to fish, eat, play cards, and enjoy eachother's kooky-ness.

I have only gone the past two years, but they are experiences I will never forget.  It is a place you can swim in clear, cold, clean river water and soak in a wood burning sauna to warm up.  You wake up to the sound of the loons as you pack up your fishing gear to get the morning catch.  You play hard all day so you eat heartily at night.  And when the sun goes down, you feel like you are being swallowed up by shooting stars.

It was at this magical place that I learned the art of teggs.  My Uncle (and Godfather) Ed was the king of breakfast in Canada.  The first morning we were there he knocked on my door and yelled "time for teggs and kippers!"  I could have slept for at least another hour, but I was so intrigued by the breakfast call that I pulled myself out of bed.

Teggs turned out to be a cross between toast and eggs, and kippers were sausage links.  Where their name originated, I will probably never know.  All I did know is that both were delicious!

In order to bring a piece of this happy place back home with me, I occasionally make teggs for Mr. PT and I.  They are incredibly easy, fun to look at, and even more fun to eat.  And of course, they are just down right good for you.

Start with a piece of whole wheat, all natural bread (I like Nature's Pride).  Lightly butter both sides (use butter or margarine, just try to avoid those partially hydrogenated oils).  Tear the middle out to create a small, egg size hole.  Do not tear it out completely, but let it flop over on top.  Put the bread on a non-stick skillet.  Crack an egg inside the hole and season with red/black pepper and garlic powder, if you like.  Cook until you feel that the underside is toasted (about 3 minutes).  Flip the egg and cook the other side to your desired egg consistency.  I like my egg yolks runny, so I only leave it flipped for about a minute.  Press down on the bread with a spatula to help with the toasting.  This also helps the egg whites fully cook.  Flip again, flop on a plate, and you have teggs!

Cooking teggs makes me think of Canada, with its cool mornings, warm afternoons, and starry nights.  It makes me laugh remembering all the crazy times I have had with my family there.  It makes me smile that my husband and I shared that experience as a newly engaged couple.

Find something that takes you to your happy place.  Do it at least once a day.  The only person that controls your happiness is you.  So do something nice for yourself today.