Please bear with me, but I am going to take a giant step back from the sophisticated recipes I usually present (like Pea Salad and Refrigerator Mashed Potatoes) and briefly journey back to the good old days. (I used to hate hearing my parents and grandparents make reference to the “good old days”. And now, in black and white for all to witness, I am saying the same thing. Yikes!) But, when I was a child (another annoying phrase I find myself using) in the mid 40s and 50s, life was simpler, less frantic, and a mouse was a critter you found in your attic happily building a nest in an old dresser drawer. Some of you too may remember those days (hopefully without the mouse in the attic part). And if you were any kind of a benign rascal like I was in my youth, your worst discretion would have been something like mine. I loved to listen in on my neighbor’s party line conversations. (If you don’t know what a “party line” is, ask a grandparent or someone over the age of 65.) But truthfully, I’m quite sure those of you who don’t even know how to use a dial telephone, can’t begin to imagine how exciting it was to be a 6 or 7 year old listening, unbeknownst, to old Mrs. Taylor discuss her best recipe for deviled eggs or the state of her varicose veins with her good friend Ethel! Pure heaven, I’m tellin’ you! But by now you’re probably asking yourself, what in the name of all things Bell Telephone has any of this ancient history to do with deviled eggs? Well my dear friends, it has everything to do with deviled eggs. Deviled eggs, one of the best taste treats ever invented, are fast becoming as yesterday as cathode ray tube televisions! And I simply can’t allow that to happen. I have to tell you, when I serve deviled eggs to guests as one of several appetizers, they are the first to go. People love them. They practically start purring. And the best part, eggs are cheap. So next time you throw a cocktail party or are asked to bring an appetizer, consider deviled eggs. People may look at you funny at first, but after they bite into one of these babies, their skepticism will melt away as fast as cold butter on a hot biscuit!
- 8 hard boiled eggs
- 4 tsp. minced dehydrated onion
- 4 tsp. white wine vinegar
- 4 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1/3 to ½ c. light mayonnaise
- parsley or paprika for garnish, opt.
Peel and cut hard-boiled eggs in half. Gently scoop the yolks into a small bowl. Add onion, vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper. Mash together with fork until ingredients are well blended and paste like. Stir in just enough mayonnaise to make a creamy consistency that holds its shape when scooped or spooned into egg white. (I use a tiny ice cream scoop for a size consistency.) Place eggs on platter and sprinkle with chopped parsley or paprika. Refrigerate until ready to serve.