I woke up last Saturday morning thinking that I wanted, no needed, to make this:

I had made an Egg In The Basket before, but thought that with Valentine’s Day coming up I could give my idea of making this variation a go. Sometimes these are also called Toad In The Hole (beats me why), but I’ve nicknamed in this version the Heart In A Hole (at least it isn’t the other way around, huh?). I literally got up and zombiewalked to the kitchen in my pj’s to make this, because I had been thinking about it all the night before, wondering if it would work.

So, I took a slice of bread, which turned out to be multi-grain because there was nothing else in the house. This one is Milton’s multi-grain, which I have an unabashed affection for. I buttered both sides (the world would be a sad place indeed without butter!).

Used one of my heart cookie cutters from this mega collection that I’ve had for many years, and cut out a heart from the middle.

Put a little more butter in a pan (what? Julia Child LOVED butter!) and waited for it to melt.

Set the bread slice in the middle, and carefully broke an egg into the heart shape.

I covered the pan so the steam would allow the top of the eggs to set a little.

Flipped it over when I thought the yolk was sufficiently set and waited for that part to toast a little. I also toasted the cut-out heart itself in the same way.

The final outcome wasn’t as pretty as I wanted it to be, but I’m picky like that. I would have wanted the yolk a bit runny, so I’m probably going to take it out of the pan a little earlier than I did the next time I make it.

It was a hearty (oh puns, I love you so) dish that was as much fun to eat as it was fun to make! I hope you get to eggsperiment on your own, too!