scrambled egg and mushroom sandwich

I don’t know where this last week has gone.  Fall is upon us and I am not so sure I am ready for it.  Our first cold snap seemed to come so late compared to last year.  I remember turning the fireplace on one September morning last year because our house had that cold night chill to it.  But this year we still haven’t switched it on.  I still don’t have any pumpkins on my front porch.  We are well into October and I still don’t feel like my brother’s birthday happened.  I love fall, and yet there is something about this season that seems incomplete.

It seems the same way with my life season, too.  To be honest I’m not even sure what season I’m in; I feel like all I am doing is recovering from summer and bracing myself for whatever is to come.  Sometimes I look around and see so much hardship and am amazed that very little of it has touched me.  I feel like I’m hiding sometimes, waiting for the moment when that really hard thing finally finds me; and meanwhile I’m trying to practice thankfulness, but I can’t help looking over my shoulder.  I told a good friend recently that sometimes late at night when I have been thinking too much and am too tired, I start crying because I think about one day having to live my life without my parents.  She told me she does, too, and it made me feel a bit better.

And then we have car trouble and really rough days at work, and it seems like we have all we can handle right now.

And then sometimes the day is full of time with family and time with Gerrit and time with friends and good food.  It is full of beautiful weather and leaves that are just about to change, their tips turning red.  It is full of television that makes us laugh out loud and books that I can’t put down.  And this reminds me that maybe I am bracing myself for something really good.

And in the meantime, we just keep eating.  Isn’t that funny to think about sometimes?  How in moments of great joy we eat, and in moments of great sadness we eat, and in all the moments in between with work frustrations and changing seasons and financial worries and government shutdowns and weddings and babies and busy schedules and lazy Saturdays, we eat.

Scrambled Egg and Mushroom Sandwiches
adapted from An Everlasting Meal

I know this sounds completely bizarre, but think of it like an omelette between two slices of buttery bread.  Really the bread is what makes this, so don’t skip the butter.  It looks like a complicated recipe, but it really is just as easy as sauteing some mushrooms, scrambling some eggs, toasting some bread, and turning it all into a sandwich.  You can do everything in the same pan here to save dishes, or you can use a couple of different pans all at once to save time.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes

Serves 2

8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
Olive oil
Unsalted butter
Kosher salt
Pepper
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan
4 slices good bread

1. In a medium-sized non-stick saute pan, heat about 1 tablespoon oil with about 1/2 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat.  When the butter is melted, add the mushrooms, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper, and saute, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin to release their own juices, about 7-8 minutes.  Scrape the mushrooms into a bowl and set aside.
2. Lower the heat to medium and take your pan off the heat to cool for  bit.  Wipe out any extra liquid.  Crack the eggs in a medium-sized bowl and whisk until smooth.  Then mix in the milk, cheese, and a pinch of salt and pepper.
3. Put your pan back on the heat and add about 1/2 tablespoon butter.  Once the butter has melted, add the eggs.  Gently run a spatula back and forth though the eggs, moving them as they begin to cook.  Cook until they are firm and no longer runny.  They should still be a bit moist though.  Scrape them out of the pan onto a plate and set aside.
4. Increase the heat to medium-high and add a tablespoon or two of butter into the pan.  When it has melted place 2 slices of bread into the butter and cook the bread on each side until lightly golden brown, about 1-2 minutes per side.  Then repeat with the remaining slices of bread, adding more butter as needed.
5. Build your sandwiches.  For each one, spread about half of the eggs onto a slice of bread and top with half of the mushrooms and the second slice of bread.  Serve immediately.