How do you safely bring ingredients normally stored cold to room temperature? Many recipes call for ingredients that are normally stored cold to be at room temperature at the time of use. One example is a cake recipe, which often calls for all ingredients (milk, eggs, etc) to be at room temperature. 

What is the safe method of bringing these ingredients to room temperature? Do you just leave them out for a few hours?

Alternatively, what is a quick way to accomplish this? Heat them up? Place them in room temperature or warm water baths?
Eggs are actually pretty safe to leave at room temperature anyway; supermarkets don't bother refrigerating them, and you can be damn sure they're not going to risk losing any money through spoilage. I keep mine in a ceramic bowl on the counter top.

In general, simply take the required ingredient out of the fridge a couple of hours before use, keep it away from heat sources and out of direct sunlight.