Let me start by telling you this fact:
last night I had a little too much red wine.

Now that that’s admitted I can tell you this little story … I am curious if this sort of thing has ever happened to you.

For various reasons we have been in serious “fridge clear-out” mode in our home all week. Thusly, without eggs, milk, yogurt (gasp!), cereal or any of the other standard breakfast items stocked in our house, we have been eating oatmeal for the last several mornings. When I woke up this morning, with the before-mentioned slow-to-process-wine-head, I just couldn’t bear another bowl of oatmeal!

But what else is in the house???

I stood, groggy, with a slight headache, looking around the kitchen. Ugh! The cupboards were fairly bare except for grains, crackers, nuts and that damn oatmeal. Forget it! Until in the corner of the counter I see a 4-day-old half-loaf of bread which I had been too lazy to dispose of yesterday. YES! Toast! My savior!

I use a knife to saw through the stale bread, put a little water on it (this will soften it when warmed) and pop it in the oven to toast right up. But what fixings??? We don’t even have butter!

Hey, wait a minute … there were leftovers from yesterday’s work/studio lunch. Thank goodness we had a big meeting that we had to cater. Yes, yes, there they are in the fridge! And to think I nearly threw them out! Very small bits of turkey, cheese, greens, one tiny tomato, half of an avocado. Oh and how about the old small spoonful of peanut butter which is in the very back behind the maple syrup? And thank goodness for honey!

Yes! Now we’re talking! I ate like a King.

Thank you, strong coffee and happy toasts. Leftovers save the day! And my aching head!

—MAV