By Easter at Steve and Patty's. The twins are thirteen months old and old enough to understand, vaguely, that colorful plastic eggs are objects of interest, which is all you need to know for your first Easter egg hunt. Steve had hidden the eggs in the backyard and I watched Owen and Nora walk among them with the expressions of small archaeologists encountering artifacts whose purpose they are beginning to intuit.
Nora picked up an egg, opened it, found a Cheerio (Patty's decision, a practical choice), ate the Cheerio, replaced the egg in the grass, and moved on to the next one. Owen picked up an egg, shook it, found it acoustically interesting, and carried it around for the rest of the hunt without opening it. He still has the egg. It is on his bookshelf. I left it there.
Babcia Rose was at the table in her usual spot. She is ninety now, she turned ninety in January, and she is sharp and present and made the Easter pierogi herself and refused to let Patty help with the actual folding. She allowed help with the boiling. This is a distinction she makes with conviction. The folding is hers. The boiling is negotiable.
I sat next to Babcia Rose at dinner and she told me, in the mix of Polish and English she uses when she wants to make sure I understand, that I was a good mother. She did not elaborate. She did not need to. Babcia Rose does not offer compliments speculatively. When she says something like this she has been watching and thinking and arrived at a conclusion and she is telling me the conclusion. I said thank you in Polish, which is one of the sixteen Polish phrases I know, and she nodded and went back to her pierogi, which were perfect, as always.
Babcia Rose had the pierogi handled — she always does, and she always will, right up until she decides otherwise. My job at Easter dinner is to fill in the table around her, and deviled eggs have become my contribution: simple enough that I can make them while keeping half an eye on toddlers investigating the backyard, and good enough that they disappear before the second round of pierogi. Owen was too busy with his acoustic egg to care about the edible kind, but the rest of us were not.
The BEST Deviled Eggs
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 27 min | Servings: 12 (24 halves)
Ingredients
- 12 large eggs
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Paprika, for garnish
- Fresh chives or parsley, finely chopped, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Hard boil the eggs. Place eggs in a single layer in a large saucepan and cover with cold water by 1 inch. Bring to a full boil over medium-high heat, then remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 12 minutes.
- Cool and peel. Transfer eggs immediately to a bowl of ice water and let sit for at least 5 minutes. Peel the eggs under cold running water and pat dry.
- Halve and remove yolks. Slice each egg in half lengthwise. Pop the yolks into a medium bowl and arrange the whites on a serving platter.
- Make the filling. Mash the yolks with a fork until no large lumps remain. Add the mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper. Stir until very smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
- Fill the eggs. Spoon or pipe the yolk mixture evenly into each egg white half. A piping bag or zip-top bag with a corner snipped off gives a cleaner look, but a spoon works just fine.
- Garnish and serve. Dust lightly with paprika and scatter chopped chives or parsley over the top. Serve immediately or refrigerate, covered, for up to 24 hours.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 120 | Protein: 6g | Fat: 10g | Carbs: 1g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 160mg