Discovery

I discovered something new today.

No, nothing as earth-shattering as a New Land.  In fact, what I discovered is something probably thousands of other people already know.

I discovered a “new” way to poach eggs.  And by “new” I mean the way most kitchen-savvy people probably already do it.  I did it the good old-fashioned in the pot of water with vinegar and salt way.

Yes, I did.

I expected them to be awful.  And I expected them to turn out poorly – eggs are so high maintenance, whatever kind they are.  I love eggs.  I just think they are fussy – too little time and they’re runny; too much and they’re hard.  So hard to find that precise moment of perfection…

But the eggs were good.  I mean they were really good.

Now, I have made poached eggs many times over the last several years.  Fab Hub and I discovered them on our honeymoon at a lovely little rustic inn in Vermont.  Well, what we actually had was Eggs Benedict, but the poached eggs are sort of a required participant in that dish.  We loved them so much we started making them at home in our newly-wedded bliss.  But we always used one of those poacher pans with the little removable cups.

Two things prompted my attempt at the good old-fashioned in the pot of water with vinegar and salt way of poaching eggs: curious fascination and moderate laziness.

I was fascinated by the swirl the water trick that keeps the eggs from feathering in the pan.  And I was just not motivated to dirty up and subsequently wash out the little egg cups from my awesome six-at-a-time non-stick poacher.  Of course, the egg cup washing was really not an issue since the Fab Hub is always happily willing to clean up after my messy Self in the kitchen.

So curiosity was the major motivator in the end.  But the discovery was really less of a discovery and more of an uncovering; the technique is not unknown and the results are not remarkable.  The same was true for Christopher Columbus – he was not the first to sail across the Atlantic and he was not the first with knowledge of what we know as the New World.

Our boy Chris got me thinking about how vast the unknown Self is. Or, rather, how vast the uncovered Self is.  We all know our innermost self to some degree.  Some of us know that Self very well; others have yet to get acquainted.  Some have come to know that Self through curious exploration; others through subconscious intuition.  The full potential that lies in each of us already exists somewhere inside from the moment we take our place among those who are.  Like Columbus’ New World, there already is a fascinating and beautiful landscape to be explored and experienced.

We just have to decide that we are bold enough to set sail.