The Perfect Egg

We finally got to eat our dinner last night at 10:15pm.  I couldn't let my older daughter go back to the Naval Academy without a last goodbye delicious dinner. I asked her what she wanted for her last evening at home and she said she wanted Eggs Benedict.  Despite the fact I am a very good cook, I have never once made Eggs Benedict.  In fact, I have never once made a poached egg.  Well if Eggs Benedict is the wish of the evening - Eggs Benedict it is!!!  I started earlier in the evening and made a batch of homemade rolls.  I have been told that my rolls are heavenly - and while I can't exactly promote my own rolls as such, as that might sound a bit gloating, they are REALLY yummy! I then went out to the garden and picked fresh zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, onions and red ripe tomatoes. My younger daughter and I then sliced all the veggies, tossed them in some olive oil, a little fresh lemon and seasonings and roasted them for an hour.  I whipped up some homemade hollandaise and set it aside on warm. The next step was to poach the eggs. I was REALLY nervous because the dinner all came down to this one moment. The success of my new dish Eggs Benedict ala Renee - depended on the eggs being perfect. I got the water to the perfect low rolling simmer, slipped the eggs in and in exactly 4 minutes - I was looking at a skillet full of perfectly poached eggs.  I put the roasted vegetables on top of my homemade roll, topped the veggies with the perfect poached egg and then spooned hollandaise on top.  My family was duly impressed. Heck - I was duly impressed.  The dinner was DELICIOUS!  I mean perfect!  Who knew I had that inside me all along?!  My daughter was actually a little miffed because she had to go back to the Academy TODAY and I waited over 20 years before I ever made what is now without a doubt her favorite meal of all time.  She has asked to have that each and every time she comes home AND I am to please make it for her every time I visit her at the Academy. It was really that good.  We ended the evening with one last campfire evening.  We sat out by the pond under the stars and made campfire caramel apples.  Perhaps in another blog I will share my fantastic campfire caramel apple recipe because they are SO good and a lot of fun to make while sitting around the campfire together.  The apples were the perfect end to the perfect meal with of course the perfect egg.  We stayed out until almost midnight and even saw a few shooting stars.  I think we all made the same wish......that it won't be too long before we can all be a Party of 5 once again.