Sunday was the “Celebration of Life” for my Uncle Bob. In honor of his life and, as a public service for those of you who might over imbibe this holiday season, I’m re-posting a piece from 2014.

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Eating, sleeping, taking a bath or just plain goofing off. Those are the things I do and I assume I’m not alone. However, in best-selling novels like The DaVinci Code the characters run amok for days without even taking a leak. Now I don’t think that’s a nice thing to do to one’s characters. So I always make sure to include bathrooms and kitchens in my stories. My inspiration for the kitchen scenes in The Graduation Present came from my dear, sweet (right!) Uncle Bob’s love affair with what he called: “Eggs with Hats.” They were also his remedy for hangovers, along with tomato juice with a sprig of celery and just a wee dash of the hair of the dog (vodka).

During the year I stayed with him I’d often wake at three a.m. to the sound of eggs sizzling and know that he’d risen from the recliner in the living room ravenous because he’d skipped dinner in favor of a post Happy Hour snooze.

Now, Eggs with Hats are quite easy to make. I’ve seen them referred to online as “Toads in a Hole,” but, according to the British, a real Toad in a Hole contains sausage and Yorkshire cream and apparently takes skill to make correctly. Uncle Bob’s Eggs with Hats have only three ingredients and, if a man with a hangover can make them at three in the morning, well, need I say more?

Here’s what you’ll need:

• eggs
• white bread (for the authentic Uncle Bob version – stale Wonder Bread)
• butter
• a shot glass

Prep time: Depends on how much you’ve had to drink.
Cooking time: Depends on how runny you like your eggs.

Steps:

1. Lay your pieces of bread out on the counter. Take your shot glass, turn it upside down and punch a hole through each piece of bread. Fill the shot glass with vodka and add to the tomato juice.
2. Melt butter in skillet (use as much as you want. When butter begins sizzling, drop each piece of bread into the skillet along with cutouts (the “hats)
3. Let crisp on both sides briefly.
4. Crack eggs and drop them into the holes. Let eggs cook till cooked to your preference (runny or solid yolks). Remove from skillet and put the hat on the eggs.

 I was going to include a excerpt from The Graduation Present but figured you’d think I was callously trying to sell books. I’m not. The book has been out of print for quite some time.

Just a public service announcement courtesy of Uncle Bob.