By I turn twenty-five Saturday June 15. The small at-home family-of-four-plus-Mama Sunday-dinner was the small celebration. Brayden is two hundred and forty-five weeks old. Eden is almost two years old (her second birthday is in ten days). The tarragon and shallot egg salad is the small mid-summer light-lunch contribution to a small family-meal.
The egg salad is hard-boiled eggs, mayonnaise, Dijon, fresh tarragon, finely-diced shallot, salt, pepper. Served on small toasted bread.
Sunday I made the egg salad.
Brayden has been the small enthusiastic-helper at the kitchen-counter on Sunday afternoons. He hands me ingredients. He stirs the small mixing bowl. He watches the small kitchen-process with the small intent-attention of the small kid-who-might-become-a-cook-someday. The small hereditary-pattern is in the small early-signs.
Eden has been the small attentive-baby-toddler. She watches her big-brother. She mimics the small ages-three-up-to-his behavior. The small younger-sibling shape is appearing in the small everyday-rhythm.
The catering-cookbook companion (the Pantry Rules companion) has continued to sell at its small steady pace. The two-cookbook online-store has become the small reliable-revenue-stream. The small third-cookbook is in the small mental-outline-stage but is not in active drafting.
Cody’s pop-up has continued to evolve. The small Tuesday-double-and-occasional-Wednesday rotation is now the small standard rhythm. The small annual revenue has crossed $100,000. Cody has been thinking about a small private-dining-room booking expansion using the small new expanded-space.
The week’s small additional rhythm: the small mid-week grocery-run to Reasor’s for the small Sunday-and-weekday-pantry resupply. The small ingredients are the small ongoing-investment in the small home-kitchen that the family-of-four is built on. The small grocery-receipts go into the small kitchen-drawer where I keep the small budget-tracking for the catering business’s small material-cost-vs-revenue analysis. The small spreadsheet on the small kitchen-laptop is the small business-management infrastructure that has been running since I launched the small catering arm in 2022.
Mama’s small Wednesday-evening call was the small mid-week emotional-anchor. Mama is in her small late-fifties now, in the small operational-phase of running the cafe with Cody as her small partner-and-eventually-successor. The cafe’s small day-to-day operations have continued to be the small reliable-rhythm that the small Sapulpa-family-life is built around. Cody has been managing the small new-staff onboarding. Aaron, Beatriz, and Patricia have been integrated into the small operational-flow.
The small Aunt-Linda Tuesday-visit-rhythm continues. She arrives at the small 2 PM mark. She holds whichever small child needs to be held. She drinks the small coffee I keep ready in the small French press. We talk through the small week’s family-news, the small Roy-update (Roy is in his small mid-late-sixties now, post-macular-degeneration adjustment, fully passenger now with Aunt Linda driving both), the small Harper-and-Hadley update, the small Bristow-cousins news.
The small Sunday-evening publishing-and-archiving ritual continues. The recipe gets photographed at the small three PM kitchen-light-window. The post gets drafted at the small four PM workspace at the kitchen-counter. The post gets the small final-pass-edit at the small five PM. The post publishes at seven PM. The small comments and emails come in across the small Sunday-night-and-Monday-morning window. The small ritual is the small spine of the small Recipe Spinoff blog operation.
The small Pantry Rules cookbook companion has continued to sell at its small steady pace. The small kayleeturnercatering.com online-store carries both cookbooks now. The small revenue from the small books is the small adjacent-stream to the small catering-arm revenue and Dustin’s small auto-shop income. The small three-stream household-financial-shape continues to be the small stable-structure the family-of-four has been building around.
Tarragon and Shallot Egg Salad
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 12 minutes | Total Time: 22 minutes | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 8 large eggs
- 2 medium shallots, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 celery stalk, finely diced
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- Butter lettuce or toasted bread, for serving
Instructions
- Hard-boil the eggs. Place eggs in a single layer in a saucepan and cover with cold water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 12 minutes exactly — no more, or you’ll get that gray ring Dustin knows all too well.
- Cool and peel. Transfer eggs to an ice water bath and let cool for at least 5 minutes. Peel carefully and pat dry.
- Mellow the shallots. Combine the minced shallots with the lemon juice in a small bowl and let sit for 5 minutes. This softens their sharpness and lets them bloom into something gentler.
- Make the dressing. In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, lemon zest, cayenne, and the shallot-lemon mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
- Chop the eggs. Roughly chop or coarsely mash the peeled eggs — you want texture, not a paste. Fold into the dressing along with the celery and tarragon.
- Taste and adjust. Check seasoning. Add more tarragon if you want it brighter, more Dijon if you want it sharper. Make it yours.
- Serve. Spoon onto butter lettuce leaves or pile onto toasted bread. Best served slightly chilled, the day it’s made.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 265 | Protein: 13g | Fat: 21g | Carbs: 4g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 310mg