By Easter week. Chloe is at the age where she understands that Easter means two things: Jesus and chocolate. She has not yet figured out how these two things are connected, and honestly, neither has the rest of Western civilization, so she's in good company. Mama took the kids to Easter service at Cornerstone on Sunday, and Chloe wore a yellow dress that Amber sent from Chattanooga and Jayden wore a tiny polo shirt that he got chocolate on within fifteen minutes of arriving because someone at the church gave him a Cadbury egg before the service even started.
I worked Easter morning — holiday shift at Waffle House, which is always interesting because you get two types of customers: the ones who just came from church and are full of grace, and the ones who are hungover from Saturday night and are full of hash browns. Both tip well. Easter is a good day at the Waffle House. I made $87 before noon. I put $40 toward books for the fall semester because I'm a woman who plans ahead now. Planning ahead is new for me. For most of my life, the plan was "survive today." Now the plan is "survive today AND put $40 in the book fund." Growth.
We did an Easter egg hunt at Mama's. I hid twenty plastic eggs in her apartment and yard — some with candy, some with quarters, one with a dollar bill that Chloe found and treated like a winning lottery ticket. Jayden found three eggs, ate the chocolate from two, and sat on the third. His Easter strategy is unconventional but effective. He ended up with chocolate on his face, his shirt, and somehow in his ear. I did not photograph the ear chocolate. Some moments are better left undocumented.
Amber called to talk about wedding planning. She and Darren have set a date: August 2018. That's sixteen months away, which in bride-time is approximately thirty seconds. She's already looking at dresses, venues, caterers. She asked me about flowers. I said, "Amber, I work at a Waffle House and go to dental school. I know nothing about flowers." She said, "But you have taste!" I said, "I have taste in cornbread." She laughed. She's going to be a beautiful bride. Darren is going to cry when he sees her. I'm going to cry when I see him cry. We're a family of criers. It's genetic.
At school, Dr. Whitfield announced that peer tutoring starts next semester. She looked at me when she said it. The look said: you. I'm ready. I think I'm ready. I want to help someone the way Tanisha helped me — not by giving answers, but by sitting next to someone in a parking lot and saying, "I don't know either, but we'll figure it out."
I made deviled eggs for Easter — Mama's recipe, which is Earline's recipe, which is just: boil the eggs, mash the yolks with mayo and mustard and a little pickle relish, pipe them back in, sprinkle with paprika. Simple. Perfect. The kind of food that tastes like a holiday even when you eat it standing at the counter on a Tuesday. Chloe helped pipe the filling and got it mostly in the eggs and partly on the counter and entirely on her dress. The yellow dress is now a yellow-and-deviled-egg dress. Amber will understand.
So here it is — Earline’s deviled eggs, the recipe Mama taught me, which her mama taught her. There’s nothing fancy about it. No sriracha, no avocado, no truffle oil. Just eggs, mayo, mustard, pickle relish, and paprika on top. It’s the kind of recipe that doesn’t need improving because it was already perfect when it was handed down. Chloe’s yellow dress may never recover, but at least she’s learning the family recipe early.
Earline’s Deviled Eggs
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 12 (24 deviled egg halves)
Ingredients
- 12 large eggs
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- Paprika, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Boil the eggs. Place eggs in a single layer in a large pot and cover with cold water by one inch. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat, then remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 12 minutes.
- Ice bath. Transfer eggs to a bowl of ice water and let cool for at least 5 minutes. This makes them easier to peel.
- Peel and halve. Peel the eggs and slice each one in half lengthwise. Gently pop the yolks into a medium bowl.
- Make the filling. Mash the yolks with a fork until smooth. Add mayonnaise, mustard, pickle relish, salt, and pepper. Stir until well combined and creamy.
- Pipe the filling. Spoon the yolk mixture into a zip-top bag, snip off one corner, and pipe the filling into each egg white half. Or just use a spoon — Earline would not have judged you.
- Finish. Sprinkle each egg with paprika. Refrigerate until ready to serve, or eat them standing at the counter like a person who earned it.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 130 | Protein: 7g | Fat: 10g | Carbs: 1g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 180mg