I grew up in a town with a population of a whoppin’ 1,000 residents. As children, we would walk the streets freely after dark without our parents worrying about us being harmed. My friends and I would sit up on the curb of the local convenience store or on the bench outside of the post office, drinking our Coca-Cola’s and hanging out. If you forgot your wallet at home and had a cart full of groceries at the store, you could put it on your tab and pay when you got around to it. Everyone knew everyone and you wouldn’t dare do something against the rules or you could bet your mom would be getting a call from someone who spotted you. As a kid, you couldn’t get away with causing too much trouble. Small town living was great, but I always dreamed of the day when I would be unleashed to the big city.
Fast forward several years later and the “big” city that I moved to was Kansas City. I now have 3 children and am often making comparisons to my childhood versus theirs. For example… most of the people I grew up with were with the same classmates from Kindergarten to 8th grade, then joined by other small towns kids in our county for our high school years. My 1st grader is in a great school with 5 1st grade classes. He only had 2 people carry over to his current classroom from his old Kindergarten class. He will most likely have to make new friends each year as he progresses through elementary school. Another example – I lived in the country and we only had access to 3 TV channels. My kids now could watch a different channel on TV every day of the year and still not get through them all.
What made me reflect the most on this topic happened just last week. Growing up in my little small town, my parents paid like $15 for us to play little league softball/baseball. We went to the community center a few weeks before the season started, paid our dues and were on the team. Last week, I found out that our dues for Jacob’s summer baseball team were due. Then, I got a major shock. To play baseball, as a 7 year old boy, the fee is $180. $180 for a kid to play summer ball! Can you believe that? That includes the team T-Shirt and that would be it. Coaches are volunteers, so it isn’t like that fee goes towards supporting the coaches.
This realization honestly made me wish we were raising our kids in a small town setting. Jacob is a good baseball player, but at 7 he has a lot of learning to do. I feel like if I am paying $180 for him to play ball, he needs to be at a strong competitive level and he needs to be dedicated to baseball as a long term sport. At the age of 7, I would hope most kids would still be at the exploratory level… trying to figure out what sport they are good at and enjoy doing! Apparently that isn’t how it is in the “big city”. Parents are, once again, going to extremes to turn sports into something that is more work for kids than fun.
To keep with my goal to make 2009 the year to simplify, I found a small town outside of the city that charges $50 for baseball. I think I am going to drive a little further in order to give Jacob the opportunity to play ball the way I used to… where it was a fun, summer activity. Not something that stressed the kid and the pocketbook!
Speaking of simple, once again, I have a very simple, fun, impressive recipe to share with you! I know that bacon and eggs aren’t difficult to make for breakfast, but this recipe puts a little twist on an old standby and clean up is an absolute breeze. Simple from start to finish!
Big city or small town, simplify your morning by giving these Bacon and Egg cups a try.
Bacon and Egg Cups (adapted from Recipezaar)
25 min | 5 min prep
SERVES 3 , 2 each
- 6 eggs
- 6 slices bacon (for a healthier alternative, substitute turkey bacon)
- 1 ounce shredded cheese
- salt
- Cracked black pepper
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Using a muffin/cupcake pan, line the holes with a slice of bacon, pressing the bacon around the sides of the hole, not on the bottom.
- Crack one egg into each hole (I broke each yolk because my kids don’t like runny eggs).
- Sprinkle with salt, cracked black pepper and cheese.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or longer for crispier bacon.
- Pop out of the muffin tins and serve.
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Yowza! That is expensive. I was doing the math, and even if you adjust for inflation, you were only paying approximately $31 (in today’s money) for softball.
That recipe looks great! Though, for me, it would probably induce a nap. zzzzzzzz
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what a treat!!! who doesnt love bacon and eggs?!?!? 🙂
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My husband and I have this sort of debate, but between ourselves. He grew up in a very small town, but I grew up in the suburbs and lived an existence that resembles your children’s whilst my husband went from K-12 with the same class of people and couldn’t see his nearest neighbor until about three years ago. I guess we’ll figure out our philosophy with children once we have them and *where* we have them, but it’s interesting to see that other people have given this serious consideration.
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Oh, good old days! I grew up in small town just like that until I was in middle school.Then the dreaded cities!
Bacon and eggs, that’s LOVE! HeHe!!
Ummm, what a civilized way to eat breakfast!
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Yummy eggs! I totally agree re: sports. When I taught I had so many students pushed into sports at the expense of fun and education and it was sad to see.
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That looks awesome! I love breakfast but never get much of a chance to eat it-other than yogurt or cereal.
Katies last blog post..Wings, 3 ways, and Blue Cheese Dressing
That is a ridiculous amount of money for little league. Our PAL (Police Athletic League) raises the funds for all the little league teams. But on a happier note–I am so going to make those bacon and egg cups. Delish!
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My mom grew up in a small town and is often annoyed by the romanticization of it. HOWEVER, I grew up in a big city suburb and have raised my children exclusively in smaller college towns, and we love it–as does my mom on our behalf I might add. One example: for the annual tree/menora lighting they had a choir singing, a band playing, free “sled” rides (carriages really with lap blankets), and, most amazing of all to my cynical self, a free visit with Santa with a stuffed animal for each kid. It blew my mind. And I spent the whole night running into people and kids I knew! It was wonderful. I love these kind of community events that I did not grow up with.
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these look so good Kristen. What a great recipe.
Hope you’re doing well.
Mmm, this looks great. I love the presentation!
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I applaud you and your philosophy toward your son’s baseball. It has gotten out of hand.
Love the eggs!
EAT!s last blog post..Dinner #11 of the 12 Dinners of Christmas — Mongolian Sirloin Steak
Kristen- I am sooo trying these for my children. I think they willlove them. How do you find these ideas? Thank you.
Donnas last blog post..Banana Chocolate Chip Bread and Lemon Cake
Thanks for the recipe. We really like our bacon around here!
Mayas last blog post..Stuffed Mushrooms
Wow … that looks so good, and seems very simply, too. I know what we’re doing this weekend (or maybe tonight for dinner)!
Deans last blog post..Devil’s Food Layer Cake with Peppermint Frosting
I love these! Can totally substitute veggie bacon. Not that they need to be saved for a special occasion, but what a fun way to serve breakfast in bed for v-day or a birthday!
This looks divine! We’re on the way to breakfast! 🙂
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I agree on the youth sports issue…parents for some reason are draining the fun out of everything. I know parents who have their 8-12 year olds in sports training clinics to give them a competitive edge. Kids are being forced to choose a sport at 7 years old! Ridiculous. I hope your son truly enjoys his rural summer baseball, he’ll thank you for it one day.
Thanks for the recipe, my kids will love these bacon and egg cups. Who doesn’t love bacon and cheese?
This is a great recipe and would be great for a brunch!!
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I know just what you mean, Kristen. When we first moved to Florida in the 70’s, it was much like what you describe. Kids didn’t need their own Blackberries for scheduling. We all just “hung out”. Of course, these days I don’t feel comfortable letting my child out loose unsupervised. Too many crazies out there!
Love your Bacon & Egg Cups! What a great idea!
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I never bought into the idea of bucolic charm.
I don’t want everyone knowing my business. If friends are the family you choose, the neighbors are the friends you don’t choose.
There are pros and cons to leaving in every sort environment, but for me, the small town life seems suffocating.
At any rate, I’m glad I found your blog. Good writing and perspective.
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These look great Kristen, I love bacon and eggs for breakfast!
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Wow, that’s a chunk of money for a 7 yr. old to play ball! Glad that you were able to find another team for him to play on.
The bacon and egg cup is such a cute idea! And tasty, too.
Why do you torture me so with bacon and eggs? I know what I am having for breakfast tomorrow 🙂
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I love a simple recipe like that! I agree with you… life for kids should be simpler. At age 7, they are still figuring out what they enjoy doing. Enjoy watching him play ball in the summer!
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Love that recipe. I’m going to try it this weekend. Thanks for posting it!
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Oooh, I have become so bored with eggs, this looks fabulous.
Appreciate the simplicity theme, keep it going!
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I’m a novice cook (like, SO novice, I’m not really sure if “cook” is even the right word!) and I figured this was simple (especially since I’m so lazy to make regular bacon/eggs, ha) for me to try, but still make it look cool to impress friends/family. Just tried this one out not even an hour ago! I absolutely love it! Too bad I won’t have an oven when I get back to school next week. 🙁
I’m posting a video right now if you’re interested!
Thanks for sharing the recipe! 🙂
What a great recipe!!!
Please clarify – do you precook the bacon before putting it in the oven or no?
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I make something similar to this where you put ham on the bottom and crack the egg in. Yours looks so much prettier.
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I don’t know… I live in a small town, and our sports fees are also through the roof. And the competitiveness is fierce- in a bad way. Every sport that our high school offers is now offered as a community club from four years old on, and if your child isn’t in the club right away at four, they’ll be behind for forever. Our kids really aren’t interested in sports at their ages, and it’s kind of sad to me that as they get older they might get interested in playing, but won’t be welcome on the team. Of course, it does keep our schedule fairly clear, so for that I’m grateful!
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I grew up in a small town too, where it was perfectly safe for Mom and Dad to just tell me to come home around dark and if that was 9 or 10pm in the summer time, that was alright. They knew they could usually find me playing basketball or baseball at the end of the road anyways.
I don’t have kids to find leagues for but I’m currently trying to find an adult volleyball league for myself and finding out that I’d really rather just play basketball at the end of the road…
That was a ramble… the bacon cups definitely win my approval, they’re made of bacon, how could they not?
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I, too, have been simplifying things for the last little while. In fact, I wrote a series of posts about ending my Perfectionista habits.
It’s difficult to stick to a simpler plan, though. It’s so easy to get in over your head and regret saying ‘yes’ to every great idea.
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Small towns scare the crap out of me, and KC is hardly a big city.
I just wanted to say thank you for this. I made them for my new boyfriend and knocked his socks off! The following weekend we made them again, but we used egg beaters, added some sauteed bell peppers and mushrooms and plopped a dollop of veggie cream cheese in them and it had to have been one of my favorite breakfasts of all time (we served them with a side of pumpkin pancakes). So, again, thank you so much.
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I like your comment about Jacob playing baseball. When I played ball it was a fun, summer activity. Not something that stressed my parents pocketbook!
Loved these! Thanks! Dunno why I hadn’t thought of this before… genius! Will def be blogging and linking back xoxo
Enjoyed these for breakfast the other day….made 3 with the eggs scrambled and 3 without breaking the yolk. The scrambled version was not as good, so I would suggest leaving the yolk intact with this recipe. Great way to change up your standard egg and bacon breakfast.
These look lovely and I can’t wait to try. I wanted to ask…the hubby and I enjoy the eggs more runny, so, if I left the yolk whole, how long would I bake it for? (I can’t see to bake an egg properly…drives me crazy!) Thanks for the recipe!