I HAVE SIX HARD-BOILED EGGS. NOW WHAT?

Beyond the obvious grabbing of the salt and pepper and digging in, I use hard-boiled (hard-cooked) eggs mainly for deviling, potato and macaroni salad, egg salad sandwiches and garnishes. We'll get to some of the others later, but since it's spring and asparagus season, one of my favorite uses for cooked eggs is the following:

ASPARAGUS ON TOAST

(makes one serving: multiply accordingly)

1 or 2 hard-cooked eggs (use two if this is a main dish, one for a side dish)

1 slice of good bread, toasted

6 spears of asparagus

1/2 cup white sauce

So let's start backwards, with the white sauce. Put 1/2 cup of milk, 2 teaspoons of flour, and a pinch of salt in a microwave-safe cup or bowl that holds at least two cups so it won't run over. Stir until all the flour is mixed in and then microwave on high for one minute. Stir again and re-zap at 30 second intervals until it thickens up. Add 1 teaspoon butter, stir and set aside.

Asparagus needs to be bent until the tough base snaps off and you're left with the nice tender stuff. Depending on the quality of your spears, the tough part might be 1 inch or many. Just go on, grab both ends and bend it -- the asparagus knows! Put the asparagus and 1 teaspoon of water on a microwave-safe plate, cover loosely with wax paper or another plate and zap for about two minutes. You want it to be just barely tender when you stick it with a fork.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...put the bread in the toaster and slice the egg(s) as neatly as you can. Or, chop them up if neatness is an issue! Butter the finished toast and slice it into strips.

To assemble all this put the toast strips on a plate, lay the asparagus across them, spread on the white sauce and garnish with the eggs. All this takes about as much time as it takes to explain the process and you have dinner for less than $2.00.