(gentle upbeat music) (gentle upbeat music continues) (gentle upbeat music continues) (birds chirping) (gentle cheerful music) - I don't know what your mornings are like, but there are times when mine are just crazy.

That's why I really love the chance to just enjoy the quiet part of the morning before the noise, before the rush.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about simple luxuries, those small, quiet moments that kinda feel like a little gift you give yourself.

And today, we're starting right here with a slow morning in the kitchen.

Something that I love to do when I'm in this slow mode is make myself some French press coffee.

Normally, I just do a single serve coffee, but there's something about the slowness and the thoughtfulness of the French press that really makes it worth our while.

So I'm just gonna add my coffee.

I'm using coarse grounds because the coarse grounds really help the coffee to not be so bitter when you prepare it this way.

And then I have hot water here in my pot, and I'm just gonna let those grinds bloom for about 20 seconds or so.

Kinda helps release those oils and that flavor.

Those look nice and bubbly.

And so now I'm ready just to add the rest of my hot water.

(gentle cheerful music) (lid clicking) And I'm just placing the lid.

I'm gonna let it steep for about four minutes before we press it down.

I can smell it.

It smells lovely.

And now I'm just gonna slowly start to press those coffee grinds down to the bottom.

Isn't it wonderful?

Such simple ingredients.

It's just coffee and water, but the way that you make something just changes everything about it.

Oh my gosh, I am ready to start my morning.

I'm pretty sure luxury means different things to different people.

For some, it might be designer clothes or fancy cars, but for me, and apparently for Snoop Dogg, it might just be really good bacon.

So today we're gonna make Snoop Dogg's billionaire's bacon.

I'm gonna start by preheating my oven.

So I love my slow mornings, but I actually hate the cleanup.

So in order to make our bacon a little bit more palatable when we have to clean up, I lined my pan with some aluminum foil and then we're just gonna place a rack for our bacon on top of that and set it aside 'cause next up we're making the yummy, sugary brown sugar concoction that Snoop Dogg has in his recipe.

Just going to take 1/2 a cup of that yummy brown sugar.

We need a teaspoon, but you can adjust for your taste, of red pepper flakes, freshly ground black pepper.

(pepper crunching) (gentle cheerful music) (pepper rattling) And I'm just gonna take my fingers and get that all nicely mixed together.

(gentle cheerful music) Looking good.

And now for our star, the bacon.

So you want the thick sliced bacon, and we're just gonna take some of this yumminess and lay it on a rack.

Mm, the smell of the pepper and the sweetness from the brown sugar is already so awesome.

I like to give the bacon their first little coat, but then go back in and really pile it on as much as I can.

This is all about still just appreciating the moment, and, you know, because it's still quiet in the house and no one's up yet, I can take the time to really appreciate even just making the bacon and getting it going.

(seasoning patters) (gentle cheerful music) All right, this is going in the oven for about 25 to 30 minutes, and it is going to make the kitchen smell wonderful.

(bacon sizzling) (gentle cheerful music) (gentle cheerful music continues) (birds chirping) (birds continue chirping) (gentle cheerful music) I always think a breakfast plate looks a little happier with something fresh on it.

Today, I'm using some beautiful tomatoes along with a few simple ingredients.

So I'm just gonna core my tomato.

We're gonna cut it into wedges.

Look at how beautiful that tomato is.

Oh my gosh.

Nothing like a fresh, beautiful tomato.

I have to tell you, you guys, I just cut this basil from my garden, and year, after year, after year, I have tried to plant basil and other herbs, but for some reason they always fizzle out, like, early on.

And this year, I am getting these beautiful basil plants, beautiful thyme, and chives, and a whole bunch of things that I planted.

So I'm so excited that I get to use them now for my nice, relaxing, slow breakfast.

So let's get these tomatoes into a bowl, and all I'm gonna do is just break off a few of these fabulous, fragrant basil leaves.

Oh my gosh.

Honestly, I wish you guys were here.

It smells fabulous.

And you know what I'm gonna do?

I am not gonna throw away the stalks when I'm finished.

I am actually going to put these in my next little flower arrangement because not only does that make your flower arrangement so fragrant, but what a great use for your blooming basil, there.

And for this, I'm just gonna roll up the leaves, just make some strips, nothing fancy.

But isn't it just amazing how, again, you can take some very simple ingredients like basil and this olive oil, we've got some red wine vinegar here, and it's just gonna make the most delicious little side dish for our eggs.

So to our tomatoes, I'm just gonna drizzle little bit of olive oil.

I'm gonna sprinkle just a little bit of a red wine vinegar, and I've got here some freshly ground sea salt, (salt crunching) (gentle cheerful music) freshly ground pepper that I'm just gonna sprinkle over the tomatoes.

(gentle cheerful music) (spoon clinks) So now we're just gonna give it this nice little stir.

Doesn't that look gorgeous?

Okay, so we're just gonna set this aside and let those flavors really develop.

(gentle cheerful music) (bowl clunks) One of the things I've learned is that making breakfast feel special doesn't have to be complicated.

Sometimes it's as simple as using something with a little history behind it.

I found these egg coddlers at a vintage market recently, and I was instantly charmed by them.

They feel like something from another time, a slower time, which makes them perfect for this morning's breakfast.

When I found these, I really didn't have a clue what they were or even how to use them.

So I have since learned how to make some delicious coddled eggs, (coddler clinking) and that's what we're gonna do this morning.

To get started, all I need to do is butter these up.

And I've got some really, really soft butter here.

You don't need a whole lot, but you just wanna make sure you have enough that your egg isn't gonna stick.

And you know, I love going to little vintage shops and looking through all of the wonderful things, but I particularly love when you find something as darling as these egg coddlers that are also usable.

So I have this collection of vintage coffee percolators that I love, and I love because I actually use them.

And it's just so fun to kinda pretend that you're back in that era of when things were just a little bit slower, maybe, or at least, in my mind, that's what I think of that time period.

So we've got our coddlers buttered, and to each of them now, we're just gonna add a little bit, this is just barely a teaspoon of cream, and the cream's just gonna give 'em this wonderful, creamy flavor.

(bowl clinking) And now, the star, our eggs, one egg in each one.

You could maybe do two, but then they're gonna get a little crammed.

So I just like one egg.

(egg smacking) (shell cracks) We're gonna add a little freshly ground salt and some freshly ground pepper, just a smidge.

And I think this is what really makes them special, is I've got a little bit of Parmesan cheese here, so I'm just going to grate some cheese.

(cheese rustling) (gentle cheerful music) And to me, honestly, part of the fun of these finds in vintage shops is learning about how to use them, you know, looking at some of those old recipes, maybe, and seeing if you can recreate them.

That's just so much fun for me.

Plus the fact that, I mean, I have great friends, and now my daughter-in-law, Amanda, also loves vintage shopping.

So hey, I am totally in seventh heaven when I'm out and about.

So here, I've just got some of my Parmesan cheese that I'm gonna put about, I guess it would maybe be a tablespoon if I can get it in the coddler itself versus on the counter.

This all good.

(gentle cheerful music) Mm, mm, mm.

And last but not least, fresh from my garden, I'm just going to cut some chives on top.

Can add a little bit more when they're finished, but this just kinda gives that little mild, oniony flavor as they cook.

(gentle cheerful music) (chives crunching) But here we are again.

Pretty basic ingredients, you guys, made in a way that's a little special.

So I'm just putting the lids on.

(lids clinking) Here we go.

Don't put 'em on too tight 'cause you'll never get 'em off.

And now to actually make them, we're gonna use a saucepan.

Since I only have two, I can use a small saucepan here.

Put 'em in, and grab some hot water.

Trust me, when I was first making these, I was like, "Eh, I don't need to use hot water.

I can just use tap water."

No, your eggs won't cook the same way.

So hot water that I'm pouring, oh, about halfway up the sides of the coddlers.

And then I have my oven that has preheated at 350 degrees, and I'm just gonna pop 'em in there and they're gonna do their thing for 15 minutes.

And you know what?

If you don't have vintage egg coddlers in your kitchen, no worries.

I'm going to show you how to make the most delicious, creamy, scrambled eggs that are perfect for a slow morning.

So in order to get started, we are going to take six eggs.

And I just have to tell you first, though, this great story about these eggs.

So I was at the dentist last week, and I started chatting with this woman who told me that she raises chickens in her backyard here locally, and she was so delightful.

And then I said, "Hey, I'm doing this episode, this upcoming episode, on creamy scrambled eggs."

And she goes, "Why don't I just drop you off some eggs?"

And so that is exactly what she did, was sent me over a 1/2 a dozen of her fresh little chicken eggs.

So thanks, Adrienne.

I'm sure they're gonna be delicious.

So we're just going to take, (egg smacking) we're probably only gonna use four of them.

And ooh, look, don't you... I love when the yolk is just that wonderful, deep orange.

(egg smacking) We're only gonna take four of them.

Get 'em in the bowl, here.

(eggs smacking) (gentle cheerful music) (gentle cheerful music continues) And to our eggs now, just gonna add, this is just cream.

I'm not gonna go overboard.

Maybe just a teaspoon or so of the cream, and then our freshly ground black pepper, just a pinch or two.

Same with our salt, pinch or two.

We can always adjust later.

And now give that a good whisk.

(eggs splashing) Oh my gosh.

Look at the color of those yolks.

That's fabulous.

Thank you, Adrienne.

You're a sweetheart.

(eggs splashing) Okay, that's looking good.

I'm gonna put my burner now on low because that's the whole point of these eggs is we are just taking it slow.

We're setting our burner fairly low because that's what makes these just nice, and creamy, and almost custardly-like.

Let's get some butter in our pan, eh, just a little bit more than a teaspoon or so.

And I'm on a very low setting here, because we really wanna take our time with these eggs.

(gentle cheerful music) And honestly, these creamy scrambled eggs, they are so good, but they're not necessarily for a quick morning or a quick meal, right?

Because you definitely are going to be standing here and just gently stirring and getting these eggs just nice and creamy.

All right.

(gentle cheerful music) Looking good, I'm just gonna move my butter around a little bit here.

There we go.

And into the pan.

(gentle cheerful music) And literally, you are just going to keep those eggs moving.

It's gonna take probably a good 10 minutes or so, but isn't this just almost, like, a zen thing of, you know, you want a quiet morning, you want something that's just a little bit more special than what you would do on a regular morning, maybe, for your breakfast eggs, and this is the way to go.

This really does become like a custard.

It's just so smooth and delicious.

It is a treat.

So you can almost see the texture kind of changing a bit with these eggs.

When I draw the spatula, you can see the pan now.

And what's happening is the egg protein is kind of relaxing, where when you do quick scrambled eggs, like we all do, I mean, you do it quick, you do it usually on a much warmer burner, and those proteins just kind of seize together.

They're like, "Ah!

What's happening?"

And that's where you get the curdly egginess, and they tend to, like, stick together and make a drier, or even, like, I guess you could call some of 'em more fluffy texture.

But we're getting there.

And again, it's just such a luxurious treat to do this.

You can almost see it, again, starting to firm up here, but these are a much smoother egg than what you're probably used to.

See those really little curds starting to form.

Now really keep an eye on them carefully when they get to this stage, because if you walked away now, all your creaminess is going to be gone.

And just before you think that, "Oh, you know, are they really finished?"

add a little bit more butter to the top to kind of slow it down a little bit and turn your burner off, and then just let the pan do the rest of the heating for you.

Now, I haven't done all of the research on this, but I believe Julia Child made a version of these creamy scrambled eggs as well.

So why mess with a classic?

And look at the beautiful color that those backyard chickens produce.

Wow.

That looks fabulous.

(gentle cheerful music) All right, now, because these are looser, a little creamier than what we're used to with our what I'll call normal scrambled eggs or everyday scrambled eggs, I think these are best just directly on a piece of toast 'cause the toast then kind of absorbs some of that yumminess from the egg.

So I'm just now going to pile our eggs directly onto our piece of toast.

(gentle cheerful music) Mm, mm, mm.

And I have some chives.

And goodness gracious, guys, look at that.

This is another way to make eggs on a slow morning.

(gentle cheerful music) (gentle cheerful music continues) (gentle cheerful music continues) (juice splashing) (gentle cheerful music) For me, this is a simple luxury, just taking a quiet part of the day and making something warm and delicious, and giving yourself the time to really sit and enjoy it.

What a lovely way to spend a little time in the kitchen.

I am so glad you are here.

I'll see you next time.

(gentle cheerful music) (gentle cheerful music continues) (gentle cheerful music fades)