8 Step Breakfast

A recipe in the art of enjoyment.

Before You Begin

Breakfast begins with the sky — the moment darkness melts to blue and the air becomes charged with sunlight. Undecided and fresh, it carries the shock of a white page and the cold stillness of a morning swim.

You Will Need:

Cafetiere

Saucepan

Bowl

Spoon

Spatula

Whisk

Coffee Beans

2 Organic, Free Range Eggs

2 Slices Whole Wheat Bread

Milk

Sugar

Butter

Salt and Pepper

Step 1

Open a window or the top half of a stable door. Let the air pour into the foyer and fill the kitchen. Only after you contemplate grabbing a jumper can you reach for the cafetiere.

Step 2

Grind whole beans with names that roll off your tongue like Columbia, Nicaragua, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, and Costa Rica. Place them like three sand dunes at the bottom of a cafetiere. Heat a kettle to boil.

Step 3

Take out the milk, the sugar, two eggs, two slices whole wheat bread, a mug, a bowl, a spoon, and a whisk. With an egg in each hand, feel the smooth shell and hold its weight in your palm. Place your right over the bowl and crack it on the edge. Pull it apart, still with one hand. Now do the other. Set the smaller broken half of the shell within the larger broken half and throw them in the bin. Add a drop of milk.

Step 4

Steam should be shooting upward from the kettle and dispersing like a charm of finches. Remove it and pour it into the grounds in one steady stream. Watch the granules rise and churn over themselves, dissolving into the water and pushing upward a smell of bitter chocolate and earthen heat. Let it steep. Smell and forget the time.

Step 5

Return to your bowl. Take a whisk to the eggs and milk, keeping your wrist in one place but flicking it like a conductor. Once the yellow and white have blended, put the saucepan on low heat along with a slab of butter. Tilt the pan so the butter skims the surface, quickly then slowly, like a duck landing on a lake. Once the fat begins to sizzle, pour your mixture into the pan.

Step 6

Abandon your eggs temporarily to strain the cafetiere. Do it slowly so the granules settle and the coffee does not bubble out the spout. Find your mug, milk, sugar and spoon and pour the coffee. Add milk and sugar as needed.

Step 7

Attend the eggs. If you prefer them wet, fuss them with the spatula so they break and do not lump. Keep this up constantly and remove as soon as they glisten but quit running. If you prefer them airy, leave for longer and flip them over themselves so they remain in a lump. Be careful not to leave too long as they will become rubbery.

Step 8

Place your two slice of whole wheat bread into the toaster. Taste your coffee. Lift the eggs onto a plate and apply a bit of salt and pepper. Listen for the toast to jump and add it to your plate. Apply butter to your toast and take your plate, silverware and mug out the stable door to a place where you can eat and drink in the morning air and know you’ve given your day a worthy start.