Instructions: * Note: To sliver an onion, halve lengthwise, then cut into thin lengthwise slices.

In a bowl, beat eggs and half-and-half to blend; set aside. In an 8- to 10-inch nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat, stir bacon often until brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Spoon out all but 1 tablespoon fat and set aside.

Add onion to pan and stir often until limp and brown, 7 to 8 minutes. Remove onion and bacon from pan and set aside. Measure reserved bacon fat; if needed, add salad oil to equal 1 tablespoon.

Meanwhile, in a 1- to 2-quart pan over high heat, bring oysters and their liquid to a boil. Remove pan from heat and let stand until oysters edges curl, 2 to 3 minutes. Lift out the oysters with a slotted spoon (discard liquid), add to onion-bacon mixture, and keep warm.

Return half of bacon fat to frying pan over medium heat. Add half of egg mixture. As eggs begin to set, lift edges from pan bottom to let uncooked egg flow underneath. When eggs no longer flow when pan is tipped, scatter with half the parmesan; then on half of omelet, scatter half of oyster mixture and half of spinach leaves.

Tip pan; with a spatula, fold uncovered half of omelet over filling. Hold pan over a plate and shake omelet onto dish. Keep warm while making second omelet. Season with salt and pepper.

This recipe yields 2 servings.

Comments: For the grand breakfasts served at the Victorian-era Shelburne Inn, local ingredients are the byword. And here in Seaview, on southern Washingtons Long Beach Peninsula, you cant get more local than oysters.

Oysters built the areas first towns during Californias Gold Rush, when new wealth to the south fueled an appetite for Washingtons native bivalves. Today, the peninsulas pristine waters nurture some of the countrys most productive beds of cultured oysters.

David Campiche and Laurie Anderson, co-owners of the Shelburne, serve oysters dozens of ways, but their Hangtown Fry, prepared as either an omelet or a frittata, marks the areas historical connection with Californias goldfields.

The story goes that a Hangtown Fry, a scramble of eggs, oysters, and bacon, was created in Placerville, California (then called Hangtown because of three famous hangings). Campiches version has it that the miners who struck gold simply ordered the most expensive thing on the menu, the Hangtown Fry. In Old San Francisco, Doris Muscatine traces the fry to a condemned prisoners last request, one whose rare ingredients would delay the proceedings.

Whatever the origin, this version of the Shelburnes recipe makes a simple but extravagant meal. For information on staying at the inn (rooms cost $99 to $169 per night), call (800) 466-1896.

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