Pancetta, egg and toast cups … and a mystery unveiled

By Katherine

I like my eggs like a marathon-runny

I was intending to surprise Greg with a great Sunday brunch when he foiled my plans and awoke early. Actually, I foiled my own and slept in. All was not lost, I put him to work on baked grits while I made these lovely bacon, egg and toast cups from Joanne over at Fifteen Spatulas. The only change I made was using pancetta, because we had four thick slices in our fridge that needed to be used. My only suggestions for those who try this at home, and Joanne has an entire video on this that’s worth a watch, are to watch your cooking time and if you have an old muffin tin put a tiny bit of grease on the bottom to help get the cups out. (The bacon on the side will slide out easily enough as you can imagine, but the toast may need help if you don’t have a nonstick pan.) Ovens can vary quite a lot. Our cups were done in 13 minutes, while hers took around 20. Our oven had been on awhile, because we baked the grits first. All but one of our egg yolks was still runny, so we consider that a huge success.

Speaking of Joanne: She recently accepted the seven links challenge and passed it onto the Rufus blog. Nia, of Photography of Nia, did awhile back too. Greg accepted the challenge awhile back and his answers are here. To the best of my knowledge, he still doesn’t have a favorite color. But Joanne posed another question on Facebook.

Who is Rufus?

Ah, to answer that let me take you back to Camelot, a bar in San Marcos, Calif., in December 2000. Greg and a bloke I worked with were making a wager: Which middle name is worse? French or Rufus? Not knowing, Greg was trying to win the honor of having the worst middle name, I voted for French and against Rufus. Yep, I voted against the man I’d marry three years later. He still won by a landslide. So there you have it. Rufus, a family name by the way, is Greg’s middle name. Little did he know when he started the guide that no one would know that. We figured only family members would read it. Let’s face it, Greg’s Food and Spirits Guide just wouldn’t have the same ring.

Also a special note to Just a Smidgen and Jereme’s Kitchen for singling the site out for the Versatile Blogger Award. Our previous picks are here. And thanks to Fati’s Recipes and Happy Domesticity and A Cap A Day for the Liebster Awards. We’ve grown past 200 subscribers, one of the requirements to accept the award, which makes us very thankful. But we did accept the award previously. In any case, it’s quite flattering to get such messages when we log on, especially considering the quality of the blogs who passed them on.

Update: Just got word that Serious Food for the Soul also gave the blog The Versatile Blogger Award. Check out the blog and the Facebook page.