Mini-Frittatas

First, I have to thank everyone who bought a copy of The Diva Digs up the Dirt. Your purchases sent it to #31 on the New York Times bestseller list for mass market fiction. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all my readers! Thank you, thank you! I'm still a little giddy about it even though I've known since Wednesday.

Clearly the electric company did not realize that I was in celebratory mode because on Thursday, I woke to no electricity. Thank goodness I've been trying out cupcake recipes for my next book. I had orange juice and cupcakes for breakfast. In my defense, the cupcakes were mocha and contained coffee . . .

fill 1/2 full

Power outages in the summer aren't all that common, but it brought these mini-frittatas to mind. I had made French toast a million times for my friends and was ready to try something new. These are a fun variation for breakfast. They're also terrific for breakfast on the run because they're neat to eat (no crumbs, great for car trips), full of protein for energy, and pack easily in a bit of tin foil that can be thrown out. I think they would be great for picnics and days spent on the water because they taste as good cold as they do warm.

they puff in the oven

and fall when taken out

The addition of garlic powder in my scrambled eggs always reminds me of this story.

Many years ago, I lived in an apartment in New York City with two roommates. One of the roommates had an older brother who also lived in the city, and he had a good friend who came over to our place for dinner one night.  As the evening progressed, he had a little bit too much to drink, and we knew it wouldn't be safe for him to drive home, so we put him up on the couch.

Well, he had the nerve to pay each of us girls a visit that night. One after the other, we kicked him out of our rooms. At one point in the middle of the night, everyone was awake and arguing about whether or not to send him packing. By morning, we were still steaming mad at him. Seeking revenge, we added plenty of powdered garlic to the scrambled eggs -- and they were terrific. We still laugh about how our passive act of revenge backfired on us because we loved those eggs and always added powdered garlic after that. I still do! Maybe the real revenge is that I can remember the garlic, but not his name . . .

Mini-Frittatas

makes 12

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 1/2 cup mushrooms, diced
9 large eggs
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400.

Grease the wells of a cupcake tin well with olive oil.

Cook the onions and mushrooms in one tablespoon olive oil until soft. Remove from heat and divide among the 12 cupcake wells. Whisk the eggs well with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Pour over the onions and mushrooms dividing among the cupcake wells, filling each about 1/2 full.

Bake 10 minutes.