Almost at the end of leftovers

There is something about Holiday weeks in my family, I still cook as if everyone were home for Thanksgiving- Christmas- Easter - etc. so I tend to have a lot of food left over.

So... meals this week have been interesting. Yesterday morning I could fix a big breakfast since Christopher didn't go to class until noon-ish, so I found myself staring at the refrigerator shelves (I can't be the only one who does that) and realizing there were the makings of a great breakfast there.

When we lived in Iowa, we enjoyed going to a restaurant that served skillet breakfasts. We loved these meals but when I tried to recreate them at home, they never turned out right.

Then one day, we were at a restaurant that served something similar and I had a Eureka moment! No wonder mine didn't look like the original. So... yesterday I pulled out half an onion, half a green pepper, a hand full of leftover mushrooms from a meal last Friday (still useable but looking pathetic), leftover smoked sausage, two remaining boiled potatoes with their skins on... and six eggs. After much chopping, slicing, beating, sauteing, etc. they were done.

I placed the scrambled eggs on the plate and then the rest of the mixture over them. That is what I had missed from the original restaurant meal... the eggs were cooked separately and were at the bottom of the skillet, or in our case yesterday... the plate!

Well, it was delicious and nothing at all shouted out... leftovers. Sometimes I'll guild the Lilly and sprinkle cheese on top but I left it off this time. Christopher will eat just about anything with cheese, except perhaps spinach.

I had a good friend who used to be appalled at how much I enjoyed getting creative in the kitchen. She told me I was the only person she knew who hoped our Heavenly homes had a great kitchen. I think she is willing to only eat of the fruit of the Heavenly trees if it means no cooking.

I don't understand that at all, having spent untold hours (and hours) watching Julia, Jacques, Ina, that cute Taylor, and many other wonderful teachers as they pass on their knowledge of how to create... magic. The chemistry of it all! The art and creativity of taking flour and sugar and butter and eggs and... making a gajillion things from it. Then there is the blank canvas of chicken and fish, the possibilities of ground beef, the aroma of ham slowly baking in the oven... no wonder I hope we have great kitchens in Heavenly homes!

I have to go. Dinner is ready... leftover chicken sliced and added to roasted summer squash "chunks" and potato wedges quartered and roasted until golden brown... yum. The only remaining leftover (?)... bean soup from the ham bone.

Photo: This looks like one of my new skillets but it is definitely not my kitchen (or my old stove). :)