Spring is Here, well almost...

It's going to survive! Last spring, we bought a blueberry bush, and since we have deer roaming our yard, we thought it was a good idea to place the bush in the back porch since its only access is through the house and no wild animal can get to it. While we were in the front preparing the soil and container, Maddie and Buddy managed to eat most of the bush. We thought it wasn't going to make it, but look, buds! Even tons of snowfall (or tree-eating dogs) can't keep this little bush from sprouting.

I wish I had a good blueberry recipe to share with you, but instead, I have another spring like food to talk about...ham! We went over to Stephanie's for dinner, and along with the ham, we made scalloped potatoes, beans, and to finish it off, berries and cake topped with whipped cream and mascarpone cheese. The kids were in top form and we were having so much fun, I had forgotten to take pictures, boo. So instead, this morning, I made Dale a skillet breakfast from the leftover ham.

I used potatoes from my farmers box last week. I boiled the potatoes for a few minutes to speed up the cooking, and when I was slicing the potatoes, I found they were slightly purple/reddish inside. I don't know what kind they were, but they had a nice bite to them plus they tasted very good. Michael says it was hard to distinguish between the pieces of ham and the potato. Both were cut in small cubes, but I thought that was a good thing.

I didn't have much vegetables left in the fridge, not even an onion. It's a forgiving recipe so throw in your leftover vegies. I used a couple of shallots and an almost crinkly red pepper (I paid $2.50 for the red pepper, ridiculous! I had to use it..). I had one small avocado and I ended up placing it in on the top and it was really yummy. I threw in the cheese at the last minute, and it made the dish creamy and delicious. This dish could've benefited from having some mushrooms, green pepper, maybe tomatoes? I wouldn't even mind a combination of spinach, mushrooms and bacon.


Potato and Ham Skillet Breakfast

4 or 5 medium red potatoes
1 cup cooked ham, cut in cubes
1/2 c. red pepper, diced the same size as ham pieces
1/2 c. onion, diced the same size as ham pieces
1/4 c. aged gruyere, diced the same size as ham pieces (or your choice of cheese)
eggs
salt and pepper
onion powder
dried chili pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

Boil potatoes (I prefer with skin on) until just soft, about 10 minutes. Drain and cut in cubes.

Heat olive oil in large skillet. When very hot, add potatoes and do not stir to allow one side to be nicely seared and brown, about 3-4 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and onion powder. Give one shake, and remove potatoes and place in a bowl.

In the same skillet on medium low heat, add the ham for one minute. Add the shallots and green pepper for 1-2 minutes. Return the potatoes in the skillet, and top with cubes of gruyere. Season if needed, add chili pepper if you want some heat.

In a separate pan, make sunny side up eggs.

To serve the dish, scoop the potato mixture in the center of a plate. Add the sunny side egg on top of the potatoes. Serve. If you're Michael, put a few, maybe more, shakes of Tabasco on the eggs. Enjoy!