Slow-Cooker Hard-Boiled Eggs

The week after the wedding and everything feels different. Not changed — different. Like the light shifted two degrees and now the shadows fall in new places. Kevin is married. Amber is pregnant with twins. The Mitchell family is expanding, multiplying, becoming something bigger than the wreckage Danny left behind. We are not the family of a man who drove away. We are the family of a woman who stayed and three kids who grew up and chose better. That's the story now. That's the one I'm telling.

Terrence came over Tuesday night after the kids were asleep. I told him everything about the wedding — the chapel, Mama's mascara, Amber's twins, the sound Lorraine made when the chaplain said "I pronounce you." He listened to all of it and then he said, "Your family is something else, Sarah Mitchell." I said, "We're a mess." He said, "You're the best kind of mess. You're the kind of mess that keeps showing up." The kind of mess that keeps showing up. That might be the most accurate description of the Mitchell family ever spoken. We are absolutely a mess. But we show up. Every time. For everything. In lavender dresses that don't fit and navy dresses from consignment shops and Army dress uniforms. We show up.

Atlanta is in three weeks. May. Meeting his mama. I've been thinking about what to wear, what to bring, what to cook (because you don't show up to a Black mama's house empty-handed — Lorraine taught me THAT much). Terrence says his mama, Gloria, is a retired teacher who makes jollof rice that "will change your life." I said, "I'm bringing cornbread." He said, "She'll respect that." Cornbread as a peace offering. Earline's cornbread as a handshake between families. No sugar. Cast iron. The recipe that has opened every door I've ever walked through.

Chloe won third place in the science fair. THIRD PLACE. Out of forty-seven projects! The vinegar cleaned the pennies best (obviously — acid dissolves copper oxide, which Chloe can now explain with the confidence of a tiny professor). She got a ribbon. A RIBBON. It's on the fridge next to Jayden's fire truck drawing and a photo of Elijah — wait. There is no Elijah yet. It's on the fridge next to Jayden's fire truck drawing and my dental hygiene certificate and a coupon for Kroger that expired in January. The fridge is a museum of our life. Every artifact matters.

I made Mama's meatloaf this week — the one with the ketchup glaze and the hard-boiled eggs hidden inside like edible Easter eggs. It's an ugly meatloaf. It looks like something that happened to a loaf pan. But it tastes like 1998 and being eleven and standing on a step stool and Mama showing me how to mix the meat with my hands because "a spoon can't feel when it's right." A spoon can't feel when it's right. Lorraine Mitchell, accidental philosopher. Intentional mother. The woman who taught me everything with her hands.

Those eggs — the ones Mama tucked into the center of the meatloaf like a surprise waiting to be discovered — were always my favorite part of making that recipe with her. She’d hard-boil them ahead of time, and this slow-cooker method is exactly the kind of low-fuss approach she would have loved: no watching a pot, no timing drama, just eggs that come out perfect every time so you can get back to mixing the meat with your hands the way it’s supposed to be done.

Prep Time: 2 min | Cook Time: 2 hr 30 min | Total Time: 2 hr 32 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

6 large eggs
Water (enough to cover eggs by 1 inch)

Instructions

Arrange eggs. Place eggs in a single layer in the bottom of a slow cooker. Do not stack them.
Add water. Pour in enough cold water to cover the eggs by at least 1 inch.
Cook on high. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours 30 minutes. Do not lift the lid during cooking.
Ice bath. While the eggs finish cooking, fill a large bowl with ice and cold water. When the cook time is up, transfer eggs immediately to the ice bath using a slotted spoon.
Chill and peel. Let eggs rest in the ice bath for at least 15 minutes. Peel under cool running water for easiest results.
Use in meatloaf or serve. Eggs are now ready to be nestled into the center of your meatloaf before baking, sliced for deviled eggs, or served however Mama intended.

Nutrition (per serving)

Slow-Cooker Hard-Boiled Eggs — The Secret Inside Mama’s Meatloaf