Egg Nests a la Medzmama

Recently, Epicurious.com posted a recipe for something they called "Egg in the Middle".  Looking at the photo, Marash Girl immediately recognized a pale version of one of Medzmama's favorite "breakfast surprises", a dish Medzmama delighted in calling Egg Nests.  Medzmama loved to prepare egg nests often when the extended family was living along the Connecticut River in Smith's Ferry, Holyoke, Massachusetts. Nobody could make egg nests as delicious as Medzmama, because Medzmama made the Egg Nests with her own freshly baked, home made bread. This is how she did it.

She sliced thick slices of her freshly baked home made bread and after toasting  the bread slices lightly in the toaster, she lightly buttered the toasted.  She then had her grandchildren cut holes in the center of the bread using the "hole" cutter from the center of her donut cutter.  She placed the lightly buttered toast (with the hole cut in the middle) on a lightly buttered metal oven tray.  In the meantime, she cracked fresh eggs, and separated the egg yolks from the egg whites, beat the egg whites till fluffy. Arranging the fluffy egg whites around the hole of the toasted, buttered bread, she dropped the still intact egg yolk into the center -- the hole in the slice of bread.  She then placed the tray in 375 degree oven and baked the nests until the egg whites were golden brown and the egg yolks slightly firm but still runny.  She served them hot from the oven, to everyone's delight! (She usually made eight Egg Nests at once, enough for her family of children and grandchildren to eat fresh that day . . . Day old egg nests are not particularly delectable.)

But for all that effort, the kids' favorite were the little round circles of toasted buttered bread that baked in the oven alongside the egg nests.  Those were the most fun!