Broken Water Main and Out of Service Elevators = Take Out and Breakfast for Dinner

So, cooking at our home this week has been a bit put off by an incident which occured in our building early Monday morning.  At around 5:30am, we were startled awake by the fire alarm, which does not sound like a bell, but rather a pulsating, ear piercing noise. Once we realized it was indeed the fire alarm, and managed to get ourselves down the 12 flights of stairs and in to the rain, we were told that it wasn't a fire (it was really and truley a fire last time - ask 704 who had his patio furniture go up in flames), but that the water main leading in to the building had burst.


Better than the fire that happened on the 7th floor in April we thought, but on the way back in to the building one of the kind Firemen let us know that they'd be calling the city to turn the water off, and that they didn't know when it would be back on. As we all shuffled in to the elevators, we could hear the water pouring in to the basement...a great way to start a work week!


When we returned home, the elevators were out of service, and the water was still off. With no way to wash dishes, or even flush the toilet, take out and paper plates were our choice on Monday. The water was turned back on around 8:30pm Monday evening - thank God for plumbers! We've also realized that an emergency kit, including a few litres of water would be a good thing to have on hand. Here is a link to the list published by the Department of Public Safety of what should be in an emergency kit.


Tuesday, we found a lovely note on our door from building management indicating that extensive damage had been done to the elevators and that one of them might possibly be working again on the 30th...today is the 26th...large grocery shops are out of the question for the time being -  I'm not carrying heavy bags of groceries up 12 flights, and Jon has also vehemently indicated that he will not be doing this either - although, it should be noted that in December 2009, Jon did climb the 12 flights carrying a 15 pound turkey...


We had breakfast for dinner on Tuesday. It was sort of a bacon and egg tart if you will, a recipe which I adapted from the September 2010 issue of Everyday Food. (I will link to the recipe when it is available on line).

Bacon and Eggy Tarts
8 slices of bread
1/4 of slab bacon, sliced into lardons (or 6 pieces of regular bacon sliced into bite sized pieces)
6 eggs
butter to grease the muffin tins
salt and pepper to taste

1. Fry the bacon until golden, but not crispy. It will keep cooking in the oven later. Set aside.
2. Using a rolling pin, flatten your slices of bread slightly, and using a large water glass, cut out 8 rounds and slice in half.
3. Thoroughly grease 6 of the cups in a muffin tin and turn your oven on to 350F.
4. Use your half moons of bread to line the greased muffin tins. Usually, each will take two, but use the extra ones to fill in any gaps.
5. Distribute the bacon in each of the "tart shells" and crack an egg in to each.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste and bake for 12-15 minutes, until the egg is just set. Don't over bake, or you'll get a weird film over top which is a bit rubbery, and not so good to eat. If this happens, just peel off that layer.

Sorry there are no pictures this time around, but really, it looked delicious, and it tasted delicious too. This recipe could be easily doubled, and would make a lovely brunch dish. It would probably also be good for kids, since it can be eaten sort of like a cupcake.

Dinner for the rest of the week will probably be similarly simple. We're cooking from the pantry until the elevators are fixed!

Here's hoping for a less eventful next week!

Erin