Larry and I share a love for eggs. Okay, I’m not that crazy about scrambled or fried, but both of us love hard and soft boiled and poached eggs. And baked eggs. Expecially when the eggs are uber-fresh like these are, out a friend’s flock so you know the hens and how they’re treated and fed. There’s something wonderful about the non-uniformity of fresh neighborhood eggs. Shells are different colors and sizes. Some yolks are practically neon orange, while others are screaming yellow. No matter, they all taste great.

We first had this at our favorite little cafe in Reno. The owner unapologetically and regularly uses recipes from magazines, and this one came from Bon Appetit. It works great for dinner too, and served as our simple and low-key Christmas Eve dinner for just the two of us. The toasted English muffins, flavored with a bit of bacon grease, are placed in ramekins. Then they’re topped with spinach that’s been lightly sautéed in the bacon grease and it goes into the ramekin as well. The final topping is a carefully cracked egg and crumbled bacon (and a drizzle of cream!), and the whole thing is placed under a flame to cook the egg and become this wonderful all-in-one breakfast dish.

• Baked Eggs with Bacon and Spinach (Bon Appetit, September 2010)