Whiteley Creek Homestead

Over Labor Day Weekend, Dick and I went to Rollag, a little town near Fargo, where a Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion is held every year. We volunteered in the "Cooks Car" which, in days gone by, was moved from one farm to the next to prepare food to feed all the farmers that came together to help each other during harvest season. It is the box-shaped building in the bottom left-hand corner of the photo.

I learned how to make "egg coffee" on the cutest old stove in a corner of the cook's car. I have never cared for the taste of coffee but, if I was to acquire a taste for it, I think I would drink egg coffee because of its less bitter flavor.

I found this recipe on the Internet from “a former Minnesota kid who grew up surrounded by Lutheran women who cooked for showers, weddings, and funerals."

Egg Coffee

1 egg

1 cup cold water, divided

1 cup regular grind coffee

6 cups boiling water

Using an enamel coffee pot, heat 6 cups water to boiling. Wash 1 egg; break into a bowl, reserving shell, and beat slightly. Add ½ cup cold water, 1 cup coffee and the reserved egg shell, crushed. Mix thoroughly. Add the coffee/egg mixture directly to the boiling water. Boil 3 minutes. If not boiled, coffee is cloudy. If boiled too long, too much tannic acid is developed. Add remaining ½ cup cold water. (Cold water, which is heavier than hot, sinks to the bottom and carries the grounds with it.) You can also pour the coffee through a strainer to separate the grounds from the liquid.