Put Your Eggs in One Basket

I would eat them in a box. I would eat them with a fox. I would eat them here and there. I would eat them anywhere. Yes, those eggs are green. They come from my sister, Carol's hens in Indiana and they were delicious.

Eggs are the perfect food and they are even more perfect in the summer. Simmering them does not heat up the whole kitchen and they come in their own container. Egg salad makes a terrific summer dinner, cool and creamy, packed with protein. Deviled eggs make you the popular guest at any picnic.

Here's the basic recipe, which can be increased easily:

Deviled Eggs

6 peeled, hard-cooked eggs, cut in half ,lengthwise, with the yolks removed. Mash yolks with fork. Stir in 1/4 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 tsp. ground mustard. Salt and Pepper to taste.

We gas up our eggs at home with vinegar, horseradish and sometimes Wasabi. We top them with freshly chopped parsley or crisp, homemade bacon bits, as seen on the photo on the left.

What's the secret to those pretty piped eggs? Mashing the yolks when the eggs are freshly cooked, still at room temperature. Also, using a large pastry tip will prevent any yolk lumps from getting lodged in the tip's decorating edges. We've never seen pre-cooked, cold eggs produce lump-free filling.

One more tip: Keep the whites clean by placing the garnish in the palm of one of your hands and sprinkling the garnish with your other fingertips, like fairy dust.