Would you, could you, in the rain?

Angela's parents came over to visit this past weekend and I went into a bit of a panic - she thought it was no big deal: just clean to parentally-acceptable levels (which aren't that far from the everyday anyway) and make sure we have seltzer in the fridge. Sounds great in theory, but I started worrying about the menu.

Visits to my family revolve around food - before I've even got my bag off of my shoulder after walking through the door to my parents' apartment, my father starts talking about what's in the freezer, or marinating, or left over from last nights' dinner. For me to show up at a family member's house without there being food (or at the very least, beer) on the table is unthinkably foreign.

All sorts of equivocating on my part went into the thing, but the long and the short of it was, we ended up getting an eight-pound ham and went out to a diner for breakfast anyway. The diner was the plan from the beginning (I had missed that part) and the ham was on sale.

Even when you discount the bone, eight pounds is a lot of ham. The bone will go into split pea soup but the trimmed meat is going to be making its way into pretty much everything this week - sandwiches, pasta sauces, mac 'n cheese, but the most satisfying addition to me is to scrambled eggs.
I don't want to annoy the bacon lovers in the audience but eggs and ham, green or not, match better on a plate than bacon and eggs do - the ham negates the need for both salt and pepper at the table, melds better with onions and cheese, and can be fried in butter without going over the top. Plus, you can cube it; try that with a slab of bacon.


Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups cubed ham
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup shredded american or cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 tbsp cream or milk
• 2 tsp butter
• Splash of hot sauce (Tabasco or Louisiana Hot)
  

• Green onions to garnish

The Gist:

Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add onions and ham and fry until both are lightly browned.

Scramble the eggs in a bowl with the milk or cream; add to the pan. Tip the pan back towards you and scrape the egg away from you so it keeps moving over the heat, cooking slowly. Be patient. Add hot sauce and cheese as you cook the eggs. Keep it moving until the eggs are almost but not quite cooked through and plate immediately - they'll finish cooking on the plate. Top with green onions.

Serve with toast, orange juice and coffee or, if you're like us, just plop the thing down on a table and stick a couple of forks in it. Serves 2 if you feel like sharing.