Kippers and Marmalade on Toast

There's a hole in my roof. I had to wait for a roofer to come and have a look at it. I took the opportunity to have one of my favourite breakfasts: kippers.

Well one kipper to be exact. Normally I would eat my kipper with a slice of brown bread, but I was short of brown bread today so I had white bread toasted and covered in marmalade. There's a cliche about marmalade and kipper but I've forgotten exactly what it is.

There's a very Scandinavian fishermen feel to any smoked fish for breakfast. It's the kind of breakfast a giant blond named Lars or Magnus with a rugged face would sit down to beside his uncannily beautiful and well behaved, eugenically selected children. In the meantime Freya his wife, who once starred in an insanely boring pornographic movie, smokes up another batch in her Nordic woolen wear.

My girlfriend doesn't like kippers and possibly doesn't like the fact that I like kippers. They are quite strong owing to their smoked and oily nature (smoked herring). I've been told that my skin smells of kippers after eating too many of them, but I suspect it's either my breath, or the entire house that smells. Neither of which are really all that desirable when you think about it. I don't care. I'll be dining on my trawler with my fishermen friends all the day bobbing along on the ocean waves, happy as a seal.

No Nutella

Never. Never, I tell you.

Homemade Muffin and Coffee from the Train Station

Threw away the muffin as, although it was delicious, I had literally bitten of more than I can chew for that time in the morning. Plus, I'm not a fan of chocolate in the morning. It feels very German. God knows grandpop didn't fight a war so we would end up eating chocolate instead of eggs in the morning.

Might try Nutella tomorrow.

Eggs Florentine (A.K.A. Mostly Butter, A.K.A. Egg with a Side of Egg Sauce)

The Breakfast of champions list goes; eggs Benedict, eggs Florentine, poached eggs on toast. As it happens that's also the the order of how unhealthy they are for you.

Sunday morning's breakfast.

The Hollandaise was a little tart (insert your favourite joke about those lefty liberal Dutch here), this was probably due to the large sized half a lemon I used. I also forgot to add cayenne pepper, and ballsed out on pouring in all the melted butter.

I'm aware of a story that the 'Florentine' bit refers Catherine de Medici of Florence and her predilection for spinach at the court of her husband Henry II of France. I'm not sure if this story is true. I don't care, for all intents and purposes: this is an American dish.

Two 500mg Paracetamol Tablets (Taken with 355 ml of Water)

Pills and liquor; I've turned into Betty Ford.

A walk

No breakfast today, just like those high powered professionals and anorexics. Walked to the train station too.

I did manage to accomplish quite a bit of work this morning however, plus purchase a meat thermometer at €7.75 (+ 21½ % VAT). There was a digital version which was over twice the price and needs batteries. People just love a digital read out.

Double Poached Eggs, Two Slices of White Bread Toast, and an Inch and a Half of Water in the Laboratory

Apparently there was a leak in the lab last night. It wasn't discovered until six in the morning by the cleaners. They mopped up an inch an a half of water from the lab corridor, two professors' offices, an office full of postdocs (who sadly couldn't swim) and our other lab. They did a good job. There's almost no evidence of the leak except for damp carpets in the offices and a few puddles underneath machines that they couldn't wet-vac under.

Luckily, we keep all the cables off the floor. I.e. there was a safety audit a few weeks ago and we were told to tie the cables up off of the floor.

As for my 'Adam and Eve on a Raft,' it was hearty and satisfying, although I did overcook one egg. No silly fruit nonsense this time. The toast was white bread, which is girlie bread, but I'm confident enough that it won't turn me into a homosexual.

It's easy to cook eggs; it's very easy to overcook eggs. You need to keep an eye on the time. I overcooked an egg on Saturday when I had a poached egg on a potato farl. An interesting variation on last Wednesday's Poached Egg on Toast. The potato bread was recommended by Dr Griff Griffington (in private communication). I wasn't sure if potato bread could be toasted in a toaster, since I've only ever heard of it being fried. It toasted well, although it took a little longer than wholemeal bread.

There are several methods for cooking poached eggs. This is a massive over complication of one of the simplest things to cook. If you're tempted to buy a fancy egg poaching device then perhaps you should consider saving your money and purchasing a big dashing girl's blouse to wear.