So nothing went as planned tonight.  I wasn’t aware that, in order to make Eggs in Purgatory, I’d have to travel through the depths of hell.

Maybe I’m being a little dramatic.

Everything was going fine until I had to open cans of organic artichoke hearts.  They were those cans with the tops you peel off.  I HATE THOSE.  Whoever thought that putting a peel top on a can would be easier, obviously never used a can opener.  It’s not rocket science.

I opened the first can without incident.  BUT, I had this feeling that something was going to go wrong.  Cut to me opening the next can.  Being so careful… and then RIP, SLICE, there’s my finger bleeding.

Thanks stupid can.

To top it all off, I haven’t had a tetanus shot in over 10 years…  And my health insurance is… well, it might as well be non-existent for all that it covers.  Cross your fingers that I don’t get Gangrene or some other terrible disease as a result of this.

So was that the worst of it?  No.

I absent-mindedly started heating a pot on the stove, which I thought had water in it.  Ten minutes later, I checked to see why the water wasn’t boiling.  MAYBE BECAUSE THERE’S NO WATER IN THE POT, IDIOT.

My pot is now discolored, had metallic flakes peeling off it, and may be un-salvageably (no, I’m not sure that’s a real word) damaged.

Awesome.

Because I had been boiling non-existant water for ten minutes, my whole time schedule for dinner was thrown off.  I had it all timed perfectly, to be ready right before KC got home at 8:30pm.  Because of my mental lapse, we didn’t eat until 9pm.  Extremely annoying.

What’s a girl to do in situations like this?  Well, I did the only thing I could think of:

I started drinking.

Because when things get tough, the tough get tipsy.

The one thing that did come out as planned was the actual dish, Eggs in Purgatory:

Here’s my plate:

I had that x 2, basically.

Because I was eating my frustration.

And I was starving since I didn’t get to eat dinner until 9pm.

Ok, so the recipe:

To a large shallow pan over medium heat, add olive oil, a large chopped onion, 1 tsp. red pepper flakes, 2 tsp. minced fresh thyme, and salt and pepper.  Sauté until soft, 5-10 minutes.  Add 2 minced garlic cloves and artichoke hearts (the recipe says one bag frozen artichokes, thawed.  I used 2 cans — drained and rinsed) to the pan and stir for 1 minute.  Add a 28oz can of diced tomatoes.  Bring to a boil, then simmer covered for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring water to a boil (the water part here is key).  Add salt and 8oz red or yellow potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes.  Cook for 8 minutes, then drain.  Add potatoes to the rest of the ingredients and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Transfer contents into a 13 x 9 glass baking dish.  Using a spoon to make holes, crack 8 eggs into the dish.

Cook all this at 375° for 10-20 minutes, until eggs are set.  (The recipe I have says 12-16 minutes.  Mine took 20 minutes).  Check the eggs with your finger to see if they’re set — they may look raw still when they’re actually fully cooked through.

This dish is healthier than traditional baked eggs, and it’s gluten-free and vegetarian (if you’re ovo-lacto).  If you want to make the dish heartier (but less healthy), you could always add bacon or sausage to the dish.  Linguiça and diced green chile peppers might be a nice kick as well.

I used all organic produce (surprise!) for this recipe — I think it’s especially important when you’re dealing with canned goods (ex: the artichokes and diced tomatoes).  If you’re going to used canned anything, it should be the best quality possible, don’t you think?  I’ll take that silence as a “Yes.”

Well, I hope your night went more according to plan than mine.  I’m off to drag KC away from his work laptop — night!