Dedicated with love to my sister Maribel, who taught me how to
make this dish in Madrid, 25 years ago...and I still love it!!!
It was Thursday, my day off, and I was heading to the supermarket to buy
some very needed groceries. It was one of those weeks...I was down to some
milk, ham, mayonnaise ....wilted lettuce...an empty juice bottle...ugh... a couple of
tuppers filled with who knows what from who knows when...two onions and a
bag of frozen ciabbatta rolls.
Ready to open door, I reached for my keys in the drawer of the foyer's table...
But, they were not there! I shouted, "OH, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD...where are my
keys?", then searched frantically in my purse....I searched the house, high and low.
NOTHING!!!!!!!
Well, I was trapped with nothing to eat in my own house. Maybe I can call Sandra
and ask her to bring lunch. I dialed her number, and as she said hello, it went
dead..."OH, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD...I can't believe this!!!". Let me tell you,
I looked for my cell phone's charger high and low, and as my nerves got worse
I noticed I was hyperventilating...OOPS, I needed one of these:
But I didn't find one.... maybe an Ingles' plastic bag will do, I thought as I
looked under the kitchen sink....but it was like this:
I was doomed...suddenly, I had an idea. A good cook can always make something
of nothing and so I decided to forget I was temporarily stranded in my own house
and took the ham out of the fridge...
There was about 3/4 lbs.
As I sliced it ...I thought about
those keys again...afterward I
put it back in the cold, and went
for the onions!
I sliced them into very thin
rings, cried like a fool and
said, "OH, FOR CRYING OUT
LOUD...why are spanish onions
so mean to me!".
I added 1 cup of water, salt and
covered them with plastic wrap
then microwaved for 15 minutes
on high until they wilted and became
translucent.
I strained them and added half a cup
of the liquid.
While still hot, I added the ham,
the Hellman's Mayonnaise and
gave it a twirl to mix well.
OOOPS, the mayo became very
liquid...but , I figured the cold would
fix it. What do I have to loose?
MY KEYS???
Into the refrigerator it went...
As I suspected, the cold made
the mayonnaise really creamy
and yummy! I toasted some
ciabatta bread and VOILA ...
LUNCH!!!!!!!
Once I finished wiping clean my plate with a piece of bread, I felt much better!
Then, it came to me....did I look in Alonso's cart? The one filled with a million
Hot Wheels? I dashed to his room and turned the cart upside down and said
"OH, FOR CRYING OUT LOOOOUUUUD ...there they are!!!!!".
THAT LITTLE RASCAL.... he took MY keys for HIS cars!!!
