Better Than Egg Salad

Birmingham summer. Ninety-four degrees and humidity to match. The kitchen running both AC units. Tuesday at the church. Bernice's Table fed eighty this week. The kitchen team handled it. I am the conductor and they are the orchestra and we are getting better every week.

Calvin preached Sunday on Lazarus. The church said amen. I talked to Marcus this morning at the kitchen window with my coffee. I told him the kitchen was holding. He did not answer in words. He does not need to.

Tomato sandwiches for lunch — heirlooms from the farmer's market, white bread, mayonnaise, salt. The Alabama summer lunch, baby.

CJ called from Huntsville. The grandchildren — Caleb (2), Naomi — are well. Shanice sends her love.

Bernice was here, baby. In the smell of the chicken. In the hum at the stove.

Calvin and I watched the news Wednesday evening. He fell asleep in the recliner. I covered him with the afghan that Bernice crocheted before she died. The afghan is holding.

Mr. Henderson across the street brought me a bag of pecans Friday from his tree. I made a pecan pie with them. I took half of it back to him. He said, Loretta, this is wrong, you took my pecans and gave me back a pie. I said, that is exactly right. That is how it works.

Sunday after service Calvin and I drove past the new sanctuary site. The choir loft windows were going in. We sat in the car and looked. He did not speak. I did not speak. The watching was the prayer.

Calvin Jr. called Tuesday night. He was tired. He had been at work twelve hours. I told him, baby, eat something. He said, Mama, I will. I said, what did you eat last. He said, a granola bar. I said, baby, that is not eating. He laughed.

I stood at the kitchen window with my coffee Tuesday morning. Six o'clock. The light just coming. The yard quiet. Talking to Mama about the day ahead. The talking is its own prayer, sugar.

Doris called Thursday. Three times a week, the standard. We talked about Calvin's health. We talked about Harold's health. We talked about the family. We talked about what I was cooking.

A young woman from the new members class came to me Sunday. She was nervous. She said, Mother Simms, my husband and I are expecting our first and I do not know how to cook. I said, baby, come to the Saturday class. She said, I'm coming. The chain extends.

I made coffee at five Tuesday morning. Strong, with cream, no sugar (the diabetes). I stood at the kitchen window. The yard was still in dark. The day ahead was the day ahead. I went into it.

I sat on the porch Saturday afternoon. The neighborhood was quiet. Mr. Henderson across the street waved. I waved back. The porches are the original social network, sugar. We have been at this since Eden.

I read for an hour Sunday night before bed. The Bible, then a book Doris sent me about the civil rights movement in Birmingham. The book made me think about Bernice in the church kitchen during the bombings.

I have been thinking about heaven a lot lately. I do not know what I think. I know what Calvin preaches. I know what the AME doctrine says. I know what my Mama believed. I am at the age, sugar, where heaven is more than a Sunday school answer. I am working on it.

A new young wife joined the Saturday cooking class. Twenty-two years old. She does not know how to make rice. I will teach her. The chain extends.

Those heirloom tomato sandwiches I mentioned — white bread, mayonnaise, salt — that is the Alabama summer lunch in its purest form, and I will not apologize for it. But when I am feeding more than just Calvin and me, when there are folks at the table who need something a little more substantial, I reach for this egg salad. It has that same spirit: simple ingredients, honest flavor, nothing to prove. After a week of running the Bernice’s Table kitchen for eighty people, the last thing I want on a Saturday afternoon is a complicated recipe — and this one never lets me down.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 22 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

6 large eggs
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Salt to taste
8 slices white sandwich bread
Lettuce leaves and tomato slices, for serving (optional)

Instructions

Hard-boil the eggs. Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water by one inch. Bring to a full boil over medium-high heat, then cover, remove from heat, and let sit 10–12 minutes.
Cool and peel. Transfer eggs to a bowl of ice water and let cool for at least 5 minutes. Peel and pat dry.
Chop the eggs. Roughly chop the peeled eggs — some chunky, some finer. This gives the salad good texture.
Mix the dressing. In a medium bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, mustard, relish, celery salt, onion powder, and black pepper until smooth.
Combine. Fold the chopped eggs into the dressing until evenly coated. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.
Serve. Spoon generously onto white bread. Add lettuce and a thick slice of summer tomato if you have one — and in Alabama in July, you better have one.

Nutrition (per serving)

Better Than Egg Salad — The Alabama Summer Lunch, Upgraded