by Norma Stamp

Created on: June 08, 2008

We try very hard to teach our children lessons that will make them well-rounded adults. By exposing them to life outside their neighborhood we hope to encourage the spark of learning more about what they have seen. We are also charged with teaching them life skills that will enable them to take care of themselves and others.

When she was growing up, we had the best of all worlds. We lived in rural Ohio where she was instructed to be home by dark when she went out to play. She also went to the theatre, visited Mammoth Cave, screamed at the ATV races, took a ferry to Sea Camp, and rode horses with her 4H group. She learned at an early age how to sort the laundry, pick up after herself, care for pets and feed herself when necessary. However, it seems I left something important out of my now adult daughter's upbringing. I was unaware of this until she called me the other day to ask me how to boil an egg.

How had I missed teaching her the basic life skill of boiling an egg? I told her what I knew and then went looking for my trusty 1967 cookbook to verify the time I had given her. I was so pleased to learn I had given her the correct information. So, with a little help from my red and white checkered Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, I present How to Boil an Egg:

These instructions will produce hard-boiled eggs. That is where the yolk and the white are both solid.

Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water, at lease 1 inch above eggs; rapidly bring to boiling. When water boils reduce heat at once to keep water just below simmering. Cover and cook eggs for 15-20 minutes. Cool immediately in cold water to prevent yolk darkening. To remove the shell from hard-cooked eggs, first the crack shell all over, then roll it gently between palms of your hands to loosen. Start to peel the egg from the large end.

It does appear to be one of those parenting fears that we all have; that you never quite do enough to prepare your children for life outside of your care. But our children do grown and they do survive. When all else fails they call and ask you for the answer. You taught them that too.

She also mentioned that she had never chased down the ice-cream man's truck. I told her that I was sorry but when you live in rural Ohio he just doesn't make it down the back roads where houses are few and far between. But my guess is that it's probably because the chickens just don't have the money.

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