EASTER EGGS AND OTHER STUFF

When the kids were still home, there was always a ton of hard boiled eggs that got colored and hidden on Easter morning. When you have that many eggs, you need a way to use them up pretty quickly so they don't spoil. I mean you can only eat so many Easter eggs before you start to choke whenever you look at them.

Since Easter is a few weeks away, I thought I'd concentrate for the next few blogs on quick, easy recipes to use up those eggs and treat your family to some special meals too.

There are four basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter. There is a fifth taste that doesn't fit into any of those categories. It's the taste that makes aware there's something missing in your food. You know it when you taste it but you have no idea what it is. Why do some people's food seem to just have that certain something. It's called umami and there are several things you can add to recipes to get this effect.

One of my grandsons loves to cook so I taught him about umami. I swore him to secrecy when I taught him how to do it. He calls it our secret ingredient.

This recipe has umami. If you're not familiar with that term, google it.
I'm starting with the most obvious recipe this week:

DEVILED EGGS

INGREDIENTS:
Hardboiled eggs
Mayonnaise
Prepared mustard
worcestershire sauce
Green olives stuffed with red pimento

Peel hardboiled eggs and cut each one in half from end to end.
Scoop out yolks into a small bowl.
Mash yolks well with a fork.
Mix with enough mayonnaise to make yolks stick together.
Then add:
1 Tablespoon prepared mustard
One shake of worcestershire sauce
Mix well. At this point the yolk mixture should be creamy. If it's too stiff, add a little more mayonnaise.
Fill each egg with the yolk mixture.
Place a green olive (with red pimento) in the middle of each stuffed egg.
Sprinkle eggs lightly with paprika.
Refrigerate immediately.

Want to share a few things I've found out. I rarely recommend products but recently I've discovered a couple of things I wanted to share. I seem to be the last one to know about things, so y'all might be aware these.

Zip Lock bags is making a special bag for freezing. You can buy a kit that comes with a stupid little gadget that will pump all the air out of the bag in seconds. My oldest daughter bought me one and I love it. I used all the bags and have now bought replacement bags. I like to buy meat in larger quantities because it's cheaper. This keeps the meat from getting freezer burned.

Last night I stopped by a Harp's market out of my area, just to pick up a few items before I started the hour trek home. I went past a cooler and noticed something that appeared to be home canned. I went back to look and it was called Farmer's Garden garlic dill pickles. They're put out by Vlasic. I've been craving my homemade garlic dills and was looking forward to canning some this summer. I was waiting until closer to canning season before I ran the recipe.

When I got home I immediately opened the jar and cut off a small bite. OMG! They taste just like my home canned pickles! I ate some more. Then I got up this morning and ate another one. Try these if you like good garlic dills.

A household tip I had forgotten about that I want to share. If you get blood on clothing, pour a little peroxide on it. It will bubble the blood right out.