Making Deviled Eggs

My mom offered to have us over for a BBQ to celebrate labor day. I said, "How about I bring wine... and... deviled eggs?" She said, "What a great idea!"

I called my husband to tell him I was making deviled eggs for the BBQ. He said "Oh, no. Okay, I'll make them."

What you have to understand is that my husband is a chef. He does all the cooking in the house, mainly, I think, because he has major control issues over the kitchen. Whenever I try to cook, he hovers. He tells me to use chicken stock for the noodles, add this spice or that, turn the flame up on the stove, decrease the settings on the convection oven... you know, do it his way. Finally, he gets so frustrated, he kicks me out of the kitchen and takes over.

Most of the time I don't mind. The kitchen is his domain and I'm not much of a cook anyway. I'd rather putter around in the craft room, start the laundry or play a game with my daughter. But this time, I really wanted to make the deviled eggs, dang it.

So I said, "What do you mean 'oh, no'? Deviled eggs are easy! I'm going to make them" (Of course, I've never made deviled eggs before but I was sure I remembered my mom making them in a flash.)

He said, "No way, honey. You need to use a Robot Coupe, you need a pastry bag, you need a binder to make the oil of the mayonnaise stick to the eggs. There is a certain way to boil the eggs to make sure the yolks don't turn gray or else your filler won't be bright."

What he said went way over my head so I just said "What are you talking about!?!" I was at work and did a quick google search on easy deviled egg recipes. Kraft Foods had a good one. "It says right here that all I need is mayonnaise, grey poupon and paprika."

He said, in his favorite patient-chef-voice "Honey. You need to have a smooth, consistent filler. You have to add extra flavor besides just mayo and mustard. You need to pipe the filler into the eggs. I'll take care of it. I'll make the eggs."

I said in my favorite your-driving-me-crazy voice that always makes my friend at the desk next to me laugh out loud, "Honey. I'm sure my mom did not have a Robot Coup or a pastry bag when we were growing up. I'm certain that it doesn't need to be this difficult. I'm going to make the eggs, I'll take care of it."

So we went around like this for about another 10 minutes before we were both exasperated but he agreed to stay out of the kitchen and let me make them. I was pretty excited and boiled the eggs just like the Kraft Foods website had instructed. I started to peel them and, I couldn't believe it, the shell did not peel easily from the egg white. In fact, on some of them, whole parts of the white stuck to shell, there was no way around it.

I called my mom. She said "Oh, I hate when that happens. Sometimes if the eggs are too fresh, they just don't peel right." Geez. I couldn't believe on this day of all days, we had the freshest eggs in town.

So, I patiently took my time, running the eggs under cold water as I peeled and most of them looked just fine. Once the eggs were peeled, I was having a lovely time. My husband and daughter were away and I had relaxing acoustic music on. The yolks came out without a hitch, the filling tasted great and I actually took my husbands advice and piped the filler into the eggs by cutting a corner off a plastic sandwich bag. (I ended up using mayo, hot and spicy mustard, celery salt and fresh ground pepper for the filler... paprika on the top, of course.) I placed the finished eggs on a cute plate that my daughter made at the pottery camp a few weeks ago. Then, so that the plastic wrap wouldn't stick to the eggs, I took two of the eggs that didn't peel very well, cut them in half, placed them on the four corners of the edge plate and stuck a couple of skewers in them.

The finished product looked delightful, I must say. We had a great time at the BBQ. Everyone enjoyed the eggs not to mention the rest of the yummy food. How fun!

Summer Fun Series: Family Barbeque

In my mind, a summer just isn't complete without a family barbeque. I'm sure in some families this is not the definition of summer fun, but I'm lucky enough to be blessed with a great group of relatives who all live close by.

I think that anything cooked on a grill equals GREAT FOOD - especially when your host gets creative by sauteing fresh veggies in a pie platter. Add that with cole slaw, scalloped potatoes, deviled eggs and yum! That's my idea of good fun.

Our family recently gathered after not having seen each other for several months, some folks over a year. It shocked me to see how much the kids have grown - one newborn now a sweet, grinning toddler; another growing so tall she's nearly a teenager; and one with such long hair, he looks like a California surfer! We talked about Disney World trips and tips, real estate endeavors, and a war against basement copperheads. We updated each other on work, home and balancing life amongst chaos!

And through all of this chatter, all of this catching up, all of this laughter, it was so interesting to me how the thread of family history weaves it's way into just about everything we discussed. One word, one reference, one look can spin you off into memories from which you can hardly return.

There was one moment that was particularly interesting... we were sitting as a group and talking about my grandfather. My younger cousin leans over to me and says "I really wish I could have known pappy, I've heard so many great things about him." And in that instant a flood of memories tumbled into my mind - how he used to sing a little jingle on his guitar with his handlebar mustache to make my sister and I laugh, how we used to play in his wood paneled art studio covered with framed articles featuring his paintings, how we would fall asleep on the gold carpet of the living room floor by nightlight, comfortable and secure, listening to the quiet ticking of the clock.

All of that in one moment - one flash, like lightening illuminating miles and miles of breathless and beautiful evening sky.

It's fascinating when you actually think about it - in most cases, you're family members are the ones who know you the longest and the best. I have always, and will always, enjoy discussing family history - little snippets of memories here and there that piece together a deep and rich tapestry of my family history. My daughter is more engaged in stories about my childhood than any movie I've ever seen her watch.

There is just something about learning about people who are related to you, shaping who you are and where you've come from. It's grounding in the most basic of ways.

And so I relish the family bar-b-ques, the friendly faces, the shared laughter and the scrumptious food and drinks. It's like blossoming in the summer sun!