On Sundays we look forward to enjoying Sunday Brunch. Once we’ve dressed for the day and the dogs have had their walk, we head for the kitchen and prepare a somewhat lavish late morning meal and enjoy some quality time together. It’s a lovely bit of spoiling we allow ourselves.

In the Summer, we try to have as many of our meals on the deck as we can, including brunches – when the weather cooperates, that is. In the winter we often crowd out the orchids and squeeze into the greenhouse among the plants, enjoying our little oasis in the midst of Alaska’s Arctic Steppe. Regardless of the locale, for us it’s about a little time apart from the world that is just ours.

Often we have soft-boiled eggs, made even more delicious by the fact that they’re fresh from our friends Will and Jeremy’s chickens. It used to be a bit of a gamble, getting them done just right, but one Saturday morning last winter we saw an episode of America’s Test Kitchen where they showed us how to cook the perfect soft-boiled egg every time. The key is that you don’t actually boil them. You STEAM them. Quite the culinary epiphany, and we’ve been getting it right every time ever since.

Just put about 3/4 of an inch of water in the bottom of a small sauce pan and put a lid on it. (You do not want enough water to make the eggs float!) When the water comes to a boil, gently put the eggs into the water using a spoon. If using large eggs, cook them for 6 minutes. You might need to adjust the time by 30 seconds either way if your eggs are larger (XL) or smaller (MED) It’s really that easy.

Alongside our eggs we often have baguette and cheeses and prosciutto and fresh fruit and a steaming pot of tea.

Another Saturday morning discovery was on “Martha Bakes.” The Dutch Baby Pancake. This incredibly simple, but oh-so delicious classic goes by several different names, depending upon the country of origin, and the recipes differ slightly, but the basic concepts are the same. You’ll most frequently see them served with berries or jam – more like the toppings for a Belgian waffle than the syrupy concoctions preferred on the pancakes and flapjacks you’ll find here in the US. I like to serve mine with my homemade Rhubarb-Raspberry Preserves. The tartness of the rhubarb seems to set it off beautifully, but experiment with the flavors you enjoy most and see what works for you.

Sundays wouldn’t be complete without a call to Mom and Dad to see how things are going in the great state of Texas, so we generally put them on speakerphone and let them join us for brunch. We hope to inspire you to try your own Sunday Brunch tradition, even if it’s only once in a while.