By Josh Resnek
When my stomach begins rumbling about 11:30 a.m. while I’m writing at my desk in my study on deadline day, I walk from my study to the kitchen.
Reflexively, I open the refrigerator door.
I look inside.
I am wondering, what the hell can I dream up as a treat with near to nothing inside the refrigerator?
Good question, isn’t it.
I make a quick decision. I boil two eggs.
I love eggs. I love boiled eggs. I love egg salad – now and then – more then than now.
While the eggs are boiling, I toast up two pieces of Pepperidge Farm Very Thin white bread. There is a tiny bit of Hellman’s Mayo in a nearly empty container inside the refrigerator. I grab it. I take a spoon and scrape out what remains. I put it on a small plate.
It takes about 8-10 minutes to boil the eggs. I take both eggs, peel them and then place them on the plate with the mayo.
At the same time, I have taken a half slice of bacon (which I am not supposed to eat) and place it on the stove in a frying pan over a medium gas flame until it is cooked to a crisp.
I put the crispy bacon bits on the small plate. I chop them with a knife. I chop up a small bit of white onion…and then I take a fork and crush the eggs, the bacon, the onion and the mayo into a lovely kind of wet yellow and white mess.
Then comes the thin toast.
I take a larger plate, place the toast on it, pile and smooth the egg salad onto the toast, cap the sandwich, and then slice it in half.
Perfecto!
Luckily, I hadn’t eaten all the Italian green olives with pits I bought at Whole Foods the day before. I place a small number of those on one side of the sandwich.
I take a handful of perfectly ripe, red cherry tomatoes, called “Flavor Bombs,” cut them in half and place them on the other side of the sandwich.
Then I go to the kitchen closet where we keep sugar, pasta, flour and all that stuff and pray someone in my house hasn’t eaten the bag of Market Basket potato chips I bought days ago.
Sure enough, they are there. And they aren’t stale!
I sprinkle a small handful on the plate.
Voila.
Lunch is ready.
About this time, I am dying to bite into the sandwich.
But I wait. Self control is important at a crucial moment such as this.
I pour some ice cold Coca Cola into a favorite glass that I like (I need a special glass to sip Coca Cola out of).
Now I am ready.
I return to my study – the plate in one hand, the drink in the other.
I sit down behind my desk. I put the plate down…I bite into the sandwich, then I eat some green olive and tomato and finish off the treat with a few potato chips and a sip of Coke.
From absolutely nothing, I have produced a satisfying lunch for myself – and you can do the same!
How many times have eggs saved my lunch!