A Good Egg

Since my whole family decided to follow the Zone Diet, we've been going through eggs like crazy.  I've been hard-boiling just about every other day.  I thought I'd pass on what I've learned on how to hard-boil a perfect egg because the only way I knew how to do it was boiling it to death like my mom did...then I found a better way!  

I only put as many eggs in the pan as will fit on the bottom and cover completely with water.  I cover them and bring them to a boil.  As soon as they're boiling, I turn the flame down to simmer, leave the cover on, and set the timer for 15 minutes.  Once the timer goes off, I drain the hot water out, immediately cover with cold tap water and then plunge handfuls of ice into the pan.  The cold water keeps the yolks nice and yellow and the ice causes the egg to shrink away from the shell so they peel easily.  I can't tell you how many years I struggled with peeling eggs.  But the ice works every time!  Of course all of this only works if you remember that you actually PUT a pan of eggs on to boil, unlike me the other day who proceeded to take a shower and forget all about them!  Yep, that's right, eggs exploded, water boiled away, and the kitchen smelled just dandy!

Easter dinner at our house means deviled eggs.  Everyone seems to love my deviled eggs, especially my kids, so I'm passing on the recipe.  It's really nothing stupendous.  All I do is add Miracle Whip, Seasoned Rice Vinegar, Mustard, and Pepper to the egg yolks.  Yep, that's it.  There's something about the Miracle Whip and rice vinegar that just gives them a good tang - better than regular mayonnaise and regular vinegar.  I can't really tell you amounts because I just plop a little of each and keep adding until it's right.  Sometimes I stir in a little bacon, sometimes I don't.  I prefer them sprinkled with a little dill, rather than paprika, but you can do whatever you like.

 Happy Cracking!
~Mary