Real fiction

I was a kid that was constantly reading, whatever I could get my fingers on, from my father's extensive Readers Digest collection and his Bertelsmann Book Club books to our small town's library stack, reading my way through anything that looked even faintly interesting.

One of the books that fell into my hands was called The Egg and I which also had a few sequels. I couldn't get enough of these stories that quirkily describe a place that was completely exotic to me. Where ferns grow as big as umbrellas and mushrooms the size of my father's fist (which is a very big one!). Muddy egg farms house hundreds of chickens, thousands of eggs and cake recipes ask for 40 eggs at a time. There are comically eccentric neighbors that smuggle illegal alcohol, and the heroine has to wake up at 4 am to catch a ferry to go to work, and sleeps in her car when the one going home is unserviceable. Spunky skunks and raccoons bug the hell out of the residents. And always rain and more rain, every plant growing so fast that you can practically watch its progress.  

I would never have believed that this was real, until I got married and found myself with a family living on Washington's Vashon Island, the setting of the story. Whenever I visit and set foot on this darling little island, I can't help but feel like I am stepping into a work of fiction.

Vashon just has that dreamy, fairy-tale way about it, especially in the winter, with quiet and misty days and the comforting smells of moss and wet soil. And everything does grow like crazy!

My brother-in-law Steve just walks outside their house and picks plenty of rainbow chard that has taken over an empty flower bed, growing like a weed. He makes an awesome, stick-to-your-ribs kinda breakfast for everyone almost every day. It varies at times, but always involves some hardy sautéed greens, lots of slowly caramelized onions and an ungodly amount of finely chopped fragrant garlic with some fresh eggs from their chickens cracked on top. The cozy kitchen smells delish and the commingling of garlic with a cup of strong coffee works surprisingly well. Nothing fictitious about that!

The Egg and Steve Vashon Breakfast

Serves 2 - 4

1 bunch of red or rainbow chard, removed from stem and roughly chopped to bite-sized pieces

½ small onion, finely sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 TB olive oil

1 sweet potato, diced into ½ inch cubes

4 large eggs

Salt and pepper

Sharp cheddar cheese (optional)

Wash chard and dry well. In a large skillet, cook onion in olive oil over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes or until golden. Add the sweet potato cubes and garlic and cook for about 10 more minutes or until potatoes are barely tender. Add chard to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally until the greens begin to wilt and cook down but are still bright green, about 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Make four small dents in chard and crack eggs into it. Cover and cook until just set. Grate some sharp cheddar over eggs before serving.