Breakfast

I was munching down my breakfast this morning and thought about the process of getting it from the kitchen to the tummy. So much of what we do in there is now by rote. In putting it all together in my mind, I realized what a production had occurred to make a simple eastern omelette and a toasted English muffin.

Now, I’m not going to go into how the English muffin is made. That is just overkill. Besides, it came from the market in a buy one, get one free purchase. But still, it requires some work just not much thought. Look at the knife that was used to cut it. Maybe the muffin was advertised to be fork-split. I don’t trust that. I want two pieces of equal size and width, and that requires a reasonably sharp, serrated knife. Then to toast it to perfection, a toaster or toaster oven is needed. I don’t own a toaster. The toaster oven has so many other uses that I chose to have one in my kitchen. I’m considering a change, though. Maybe it is the age of this small appliance of mine, but it doesn’t toast like I want it to. Anyway, all that to make a simple toasted English muffin. I bet you never gave it that much thought.

I like omeletes. And although an omelette is different from an Eastern, they have similar characteristics. Eggs and meat, and that is all that is required, but not all that is desired. The omelette has some veggies and some cheese in most cases. The variety is endless. The Eastern is more simple. Ground ham and an egg. If you want it to be a Western, then grate in some onion. It sounds so simple, but when deconstructed, it is not. The ham was something that was taking up room in the fridge. Hauling it out, some I chunked up for a casserole, I some left on the bone for pea soup, and some got ground up for ham salad, and Easterns and Westerns.

The grinding of the ham needs the help of a chopper of some kind. I used my food processor. Smaller batches do up well with the mini chopper, but this time it was a larger portion. Purists might put it on the chopping block and hand chop. I’m not so inclined. Rather, I’m lazy. I don’t mind when I can put the bowl and blade in the dishwasher. I hate to hand wash that appliance.

So once we have the ground ham and the soup is on to simmer, it’s time to make the Eastern. How much ham depends on the number of eggs. I simply mix the two in a coffee cup. It’s closest at hand. One egg is enough, and about an ounce of ham, but I was hungry today. I used two eggs and a heaping spoonful of ground meat. Melt a little butter in a fry pan or skillet and drop it in over medium heat. Give it a flip when you see the egg is starting to come together, but do not stir. If you stir, you have scrambled egg with an addition of ham. Our family puts this egg disc on toast with a healthy smear of ketchup. I opted to eat it on a plate with my English muffins. And yes, a little ketchup. I do not make my own ketchup but have thought about it.

So my simple breakfast is only simple thanks to the advances of products for the kitchen. We can complicate it by making ketchup or English muffins, but for now, I’m happy. Should I mention the home-made apricot jam on the muffins?

What are you having for breakfast?