Sunday morning breakfast has always been special in my family, but as the gourmet revolution has progressed, the meaning of special has changed a bit.
When my father took over the kitchen on Sundays for the breakfast ritual, we feasted on waffles smothered in butter and Mrs. Butterworth's syrup served with big helpings of bacon or sausage. Believe me, this was a big improvement over Kelloggs cereal with cold milk. But now I am responsible for the weekly ritual and the food world is a much different place.
Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you want to look at it) the day before Sunday breakfast is the day of the biggest Farmer's Market of the week at the Ferry Building. 
For reasons closely related to fascination (well, okay: obsession), I often find myself wandering among the vendors on Saturday morning. Though I rationalize that the expedition is a good excuse to take the three miles round-trip walk, I am pretty certain that if I walked three miles in some other direction I'd be better off.
Take yesterday, for instance. I ended up standing in front of the Far West Fungi stand, contemplating the white truffles (from Oregon for $3 each) and the "Autumn Black Truffles" (from Europe @ $47.50 per ounce). And while I am standing there staring at a pile of truffles worth a few grand, I am thinking about Jacques Pépin's newest cookbook, Fast Food My Way, and his recipe for Scrambled eggs with mushrooms and truffles.
So, one thing lead to another and after tramping around the city in search of a truffle shaver the items on the right turned up on the dinner table. Actually, the truffle shaver was called a chocolate shaver at Sur La Table, but the only difference seemed be a slightly different shape, and $25. (If anyone knows how these two items -- both made by INOX -- really differ, please leave me a note).
An abridged version of the recipe, which is classically French, requires sautéing some chopped shallots and mushrooms in olive oil and butter. Next, the eggs, beaten with a dollop of sour cream and salt and pepper are added and scrambled with the vegetables over low heat (to keep them soft).
The egg mixture is presented in a cup made from butterleaf lettuce seasoned with salt, olive oil and finely chopped garlic. And last (but certainly not least), finely shaved truffle slices are added as a garnish. It was delicious. And the best part of all is that there is a good part of the truffle left over! What should I cook next? This is a problem I don't often have, but now that I own a truffle shaver, I guess I'll have to experiment more. There is no use letting such a fine kitchen implement rust in the bottom of the drawer, is there?
