Egg Coffee

My Aunt Rebecca, Becky or Beck depending on the day, the situation, or who was around, made the best coffee in the world. She was English, my Uncle Earl, as it turns out was primarily French. They were married for more than 50 years and were social kingpins in Marquette, MI. From time to time through the years my family, then when I married, my wife and kids would visit Aunt Beck and Uncle Earl. They were good folks.

Their lifestyle was very structured. My Uncle Earl owned Pendall's Drug Store in Marquette, he was a pharmacist. Aunt Becky ran the household. She played golf, she played bridge, and she and Uncle Earl enjoyed a full rich social life in Marquette. But oh could Becky make egg coffee.

When we ate dinner at their home Aunt Becky would ask as dinner was ending how many cups of coffee would each person enjoy after dinner. Then she would  disappear into the kitchen. When I was older I invited myself back to the kitchen to watch the preparation. The best I recall she mixed one tablespoon of coffee per cup into a well beaten egg mixture. Then she set it in a pot and it steeped. She used a fine tea strainer to keep the grounds out of the coffee and poured a deep amber liquid that made coffee an art form in her home.

I have been unable to repeat it. However, we have a French press coffee brewer and it looks like it would work in there. So, we shall see. In the meantime, whenever I have a good cup of coffee I think of my Aunt Becky, but it is never as good as her's was.