Laura eats all the eggs.

Because Laura and I have so few issues living together (the complete list: Laura's hair, we're both bad at mental math, we stay up chatting until way too late in the evening), we've started inventing them.

Our pretend issue is that Laura eats all the eggs. The fact is that she does, but the falsehood lies in me caring. It all started when I came home one weekend to a near-empty box of 18 eggs we had gotten a few days before. I wasn't mad, I was amazed! I still don't know quite how she managed it.

Laura gets made fun of relentlessly. Here's what our mutual friends had to say about it after I tweeted:

Aside from being useful for baking, eggs are a hot commodity around here as a cheap and filling protein. I've been practically lusting over this recipe ever since I saw it in Gourmet (which is the second, much prettier image above) last January, but lacked the ramekins in which to make it. I used the $0.33 ceramic cups we bought at Ikea, and though they may not be as pretty as the Gourmet version, they certainly tasted delicious.

Eggs with Cream, Spinach and Country Ham
Serves 8
The description from Gourmet was too good not to post: You'll return again and again to this recipe since it can be assembled in advance and delivers serious flavor. The scent of ham gently permeates the eggs, whose yolks can be broken into the rest of the dish or dipped into with biscuits , while the mineral notes of the creamed spinach proclaim its freshness.

1/4 cup thinly sliced country ham, finely chopped
Scant 3/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
3/4 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
10 ounces spinach, coarse stems discarded and coarsely chopped
8 large eggs

Equipment: 8 (6-ounce) ramekins or ovenproof teacups

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.
Bring ham and cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, then remove from heat. Let steep, uncovered, about 10 minutes.
Cook onion in 1 tablespoon butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-low heat, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and season lightly with salt and pepper, then cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add spinach, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper and cook, until spinach is wilted.
Divide spinach, then ham, among ramekins, spooning 1 tablespoon cream into each serving. Crack eggs into ramekins and season lightly with salt and pepper. Spoon 1 teaspoon cream over each egg. Cut remaining tablespoon butter into 8 small pieces and dot each egg with butter.
Put ramekins in a shallow baking pan and bake, rotating pan halfway through baking, until whites are just set but yolks are still runny, 15 to 20 minutes, removing from oven as cooked.