I’m Jennifer Heftler and I’m in a relationship with breakfast.
By day — and a lot of times by night — I’m a television producer. It’s a career I adore. It’s given me stories and adventures and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. But it is a relatively “in person” kind of job.
And then March of 2020 came Covid and work slowed. Thankfully for me it didn’t stop, but we all found different ways to fill our stay-at-home time.
I’ve posted my breakfast for over 1,000 days without a break and it’s taken on a life of its own.
Some friends meditated. Some friends adopted sourdough starters and raised them as their own. Some friends took up painting or learned Spanish or did jigsaw puzzles or kept the Amazon delivery person very very busy.
For me, I realized I had that lovely 45 minutes to an hour that I used to use for commuting, that I could now use for cooking.
So I made breakfast.
For fun, I posted them every day on Instagram. I was quite timid at first, but now I’ve posted my breakfast for over 1,000 days without a break and it’s taken on a life of its own.
I have always loved cooking and eating and learning about the history of food. I have more cookbooks than I have years left in my life to cook. Many many more. And I find when I’m stirring or chopping or dicing I’m focused on that, and not my problems or the problems of the world. Which was — and is — very needed.
What I found was that the whole project was really a good amalgamation of a number of things that make me happy.
- I love breakfast. It is my favorite meal of the day.
- I love photography. I studied it in Japan during college and it fills a visual creative need for me. I really enjoy plating and getting the shots right.
- I love writing. I’m lucky that I’ve gotten to make a living using this love. But writing about food has been a new adventure!
- I love exploring the world through food. Different cultures, eras, aesthetics.
I also learned a lot about how people feel about food, about breakfast, about “rules” concerning food and breakfast, and how they really really really like to tell you why they’d never eat whatever it is you posted that day. I often have to stop myself from reminding them I’m not actually asking them over for a meal.
I have a very snarky inner monologue. Aside from “think things, but don’t post them,” other things I’ve learned have really helped me in life too. I’ve always been the kind of person who tries something new and if it’s not nearly perfect first time out of the gate, I’m probably out. But as I played around with my breakfasts I found that it took me about three tries at a recipe to really understand it and begin to master it. I’ve extrapolated that into life as well.
Paradoxically, I don’t really use recipes. I’ll read four or five recipes of something I’m wanting to try and then kind of morph them together. IMHO it’s the best way to understand different flavor profiles and learn the science behind certain techniques. Based on that philosophy I often include “Not Really A Recipe” notes in my posts so people can see the basic steps, but play with the details to their liking.
In reading comments about my posts I see how many people are intimidated by cooking, and I hope what I’ve been able to show is that you should play with your food! There is no absolute in cooking. If you like how it tastes – it’s right! (If you’re thinking “baking has rules!” yes, you’re right. Gold Star! But you can still experiment.)
I didn’t realize I had a “Project” until we rounded the corner into the home stretch of Covid Year One. It occurred to me that other than necessary bodily functions, I’m not sure I’ve intentionally done anything every single day without a break for this long.
So a Project this has become!
Now I almost can’t stop. How can I break this chain? Besides, I still have two dozen eggs in the fridge I need to get through.
This March 12th will mark three years. Which astounds me!
Breakfast Onion Rings with Eggs
I celebrated “National Onion Ring Day” with breakfast onion rings with eggs. (In the United States, the date is June 22). I do love onion rings. I don’t make my own onion rings because, truth be told, I hate to fry. It’s too messy, and no matter how careful I am, droplets of grease are everywhere. I hate cleaning greasy things in inverse proportion to how much I love onion rings. So, I let others make them, freeze them, bag them, and then sell them to me. I used them in these breakfast onion rings with eggs, cheese and peppers. They are fun to make in different sizes, large and small. Small ones are fun and very easy to eat by hand.
They also make great appetizers! (Eggs – the perfect food!)
Ingredients
- •Several breaded onion rings, homemade or from a bag of frozen fried onion rings
- •1 large egg
- •60 ml (1/4 cup) diced red bell peppers
- •60 ml (1/4 cup) diced hatch chilies or other chilies of your choice
- •60 ml (1/4 cup) sliced scallions
- •60 ml (1/4 cup) grated or shredded cheese of your choice
- •Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- •Vegetable oil, for greasing skillet
Preparation
Whether using home made onion rings or purchased, air fry them until almost done. You don’t want them too too done since you’re about to cook them again.
In a mixing bowl, lightly beat the egg, then add the bell peppers, hatch chilies, scallions, and cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Put rings into a well-greased hot skillet. You’ll want to put them flattest side down. Start by putting just a spoonful of mix into each ring and let it almost set; what you’re doing is creating a seal at the bottom. The goal is for the egg mixture not to leak too much; it will, but you’re trying to keep it to a minimum.
Then spoon in the rest of your egg mix into each ring. It will leak. Don’t touch the leaked filling until the end. If you pull it away too early, more leaking will happen. Let it be. You can cut the extra egg off when you serve. (But eat that cut-off extra egg! It’s yummy!)
