And I simply cannot stress this enough....

Down a couple of posts from this one is the Ziploc Omelette recipe that Carol brought to CousinFest '09, courtesy of her friend from church who owns the bed and breakfast. Susie and I agreed that this is a brilliant way to cook a number of omelettes at the same time -- they turn out of their plastic bags perfectly cooked and perfectly shaped.

I was so impressed, I decided to make them for our dinner yesterday evening, our first dinner post-Fest. A trip to the grocery for the week's food supply was necessary anyway, and say what you will about Aldi being kind of charmless and grungy-looking (I won't even try to deny it), they have some pretty good deals on produce. I bought a bag of Vidalia onions, a carton of lovely mushrooms and two robust and fragrant green peppers for about four dollars. Those items, plus cheese and some lean ham were destined for four two-egg Western omelettes topped with hot salsa.

I also bought quart-sized freezer bags at Aldi, a necessary requirement for the boiling part.

I made a couple of modifications to the recipe, including three tablespoons of milk and half a tablespoon of melted butter to the plastic bag, but other than that, I did everything just like Carol's friend's recipe instructed: put in eggs, smoosh to scramble; add ingredients, smoosh a little more; remove as much air from bag as possible; place bag in boiling water for around eighteen to twenty minutes, turning the bag over in the water at the halfway point.

Except for one thing.

I ever the thrifty cheap-o, DID NOT BUY ACTUAL ZIPLOC FREEZER BAGS. That box of bags at Aldi said "quart-sized" and "freezer" and I thought, well, there you go!

It turns out that you should also look for the word "Ziploc" if you ever intend to make this recipe. Unless, of course, when you remove your Ziploc omelettes from the pot of boiling water, you'd like to consume them with a garnish of melted plastic bag along with them.

So last night, the girls and I had to go into warp speed mode, chopping more green peppers, mushrooms, onions and ham -- thank heaven the cheese was already shredded or I probably would have lost my mind -- and I got out more eggs and scrambled them fast. The veggies didn't really have time to cook properly, so we ate our eggs with crunchy vegetables, which gave me a stomach ache later.

Ziploc. Ziploc. Ziploc.