Eggs and Ham

Merry Christmas Eve Day!

My contribution to the family Christmas meal is prepared. I must be getting older - it seemed to be more time consuming than I had planned, but I'm ready now.

Everyone raves about my deviled eggs but I have NO recipe for them. I just add a bit of this and a bit of that, and then I taste. I'm also often asked how I get my eggs to peel so well. I can tell you the egg "trick."

The eggs must be at least one week old. A single layer in a semi-heavy pot is covered with cold water to about an inch above the top of the eggs. I then bring them to a boil, boil for five minutes, remove from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes in the hot water. Then I fill and drain the pot with cold water until it is completely cold.

I tap the bottom of the egg against the kitchen sink and then tap tap tap it some more to crackle the shell. I then run cold water the entire time as I remove the shell at the bottom and keep peeling down, letting the water run under the shell, which loosens it from the egg quite well.

Click on photo for larger view...

I slice the eggs with an old cheese cutter that has lost its roller. It's a neat way to slice evenly and easily.

After mashing the yolks and adding the ingredients shown above, I use my spatula to fill the mixture into a freezer zip loc baggie and snip off the end so I can easily pipe the mixture into the halves. A topping of paprika makes them pretty!

What would eggs be without ham? This is an easy-to-clean-and-keep-moist method of roasting a ham. After it is finished baking, I can snip off the end of the oven bag to save the juices before removing the ham onto a platter to be sliced. Split pea soup will surely be the next project.