You know you're living the camping high life when you start the day with a scrumptious breakfast (we call it a "bird's nest" and I'm sure there about 20 other variations of it).
We recently camped at Butano State Park, which is about an hour's drive from most spots along Silicon Valley. We took a few side trips to Bean Hollow State Beach (gorgeous) and San Gregorio (funky), along with dinner one night at Duarte's Tavern (disappointing...the hostess yelled at me after they lost our reservations).
Butano State Park is ideal for family camping because the campsites are super kid- and parent-friendly. The walk-in sites require that you hike down a small hill to your spot, but once there your kids can play and roam in a very contained area. And the best part? You can easily keep an eye on them while they're exploring in the forest under the towering redwood trees (and searching for banana slugs).
Also? No mosquitoes.
Back to the bird's nest. They were made under the watchful eye of the power couple known as Mom's Pizza Dough and 1000watt Consulting.
Let's review the goodness, shall we?
First, prepare the "nests" by taking a small glass or cup and using it to press out holes in bread. 1000watt dude discovered the best bread for this recipe a Whole Foods hamburger bun. The trifecta of perfect density, being easy to cut and the addition of honey as an ingredient gives the bird's nest a nice taste. It also helps the bread brown evenly (my opinion).
photo credit: charlene prince birkeland/crazedparent.org
Next up, heat a frying pan with a little bit of olive oil. When the pan is nice and hot, drop in the bread and then crack the egg into the hole. When it looks like the egg white has settled and cooked a bit (the egg white will look gel-like on front side but you can see the cooked whites), then ever-so-carefully flip the bird's nest.
Voila!
After the eggs are cooked to your liking, then enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. My favorite part is that very first bite where the egg yolk oozes out just enough so you can dip the bread into it.* Yum!
*We usually cook the egg yolks completely for the kids otherwise we risk cries of "Ewww! Gross!"
Other dispatches from the test kitchen:
This post originally appeared on crazedparent.org.
