When the water boils, allow three and a half minutes for a lightly boiled egg, four minutes for better done, and five minutes for hard-boiled.
POACHED EGGS
Take a pan which is not more than three inches deep, and put in as many muffin-rings as you wish to cook eggs. Pour in boiling water till the rings are half covered, and scatter half a teaspoonful of salt in the water. Let it boil up once, and then draw the pan to the edge of the stove, where the water will not boil again. Take a cup, break one egg in it, and gently slide this into a ring, and so on till all are full. While they are cooking, take some toast and cut it into round pieces with the biscuit-cutter, then butter them. When the eggs have cooked ten minutes, take a slice and slip it under one egg with its ring, and lift the two together on to a piece of toast, and then take off the ring; and so on with all the eggs. Shake a very little salt and pepper over the dish, and put parsley round the edge. Sometimes a little chopped parsley is nice to put over the eggs, too.
POACHED EGGS WITH WHITE SAUCE
Poach what number of eggs you require. Place on rounds of buttered toast. Have ready a nice creamy sauce as follows:
1 tablespoonful of butter; when melted put in 1 oz. of flour. Mix both together, add enough milk to the thickness you require, stirring it all the time. A little cream added greatly improves it; serve with chopped ham, tongue, or parsley sprinkled over the eggs.
SCRAMBLED EGGS
4 eggs.
2 tablespoonfuls of milk.
½ teaspoonful of salt.
Put the eggs in a bowl and stir till they are well mixed; add the milk and salt. Make the frying-pan very hot, and put 1 oz. of butter in it; when it melts, stir it well from side to side, till the bottom of the pan is covered. Put in the eggs, and stir them, scraping them off the bottom of the pan until they begin to get a little firm; then draw the pan to the edge of the stove, and scrape up from the bottom all the time till the whole looks alike, creamy and firm, but not hard. Put them in a hot, covered dish.