Basic Deviled Eggs

Ingredients:

• 12 hardboiled eggs
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1. Carefully peel eggs.
2. Cut eggs in half lengthwise
3. Scoop out yolks into bowl
4. Add mayo, mustard, paprika, salt and pepper.
5. Smush the yolks and mix well with ingredients.
6. Fill the whites with the yolk mixture.  You can either use a spoon or get a baker's star tip and put the yolk mixture into a bag and pipe it in. 
7. Top with paprika, if desired. 
8. These can be made up to a day ahead of time, keep chilled until served.

Here's what you need:

Peel hardboiled eggs carefully, slice in half lengthwise, scoop out yolk into bowl.

Smush yolks

Add mayonnaise

mustard

salt and pepper

paprika

mix til smooth

Use a ziplock and star tip for fancier eggs or scoop with a spoon.  Didn't get pictures of this for some reason, sorry about that!

More paprika

EAT

Simple Pasta Salad

We love the boxed Suddenly Salad, there's nothing wrong with it and it's easy to make, everyone loves it.  However at the store it was $3.99 a box (Fry's) and we needed 2 boxes for a book club meeting.  So we came up with a copycat recipe.  We made it our own and it turned out pretty darn good!  You can add what you want to yours, but here is a simple recipe to get you started.  BTW, I since found Suddenly Salad at Walmart for $1.69 a box, much better, not sure why it was so high at Fry's...  We will make this recipe lots because it's super simple and economical and great side dish for BBQ's, potlucks, etc.

BTW, everyone at the book club (ages 6-12) ate it up, we had no leftovers!


Simple Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 box pasta (14-16 oz) (we used tri-colored rotini)
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise (we used regular but you might get away with lowfat)
• 1 packet of Good Seasons Italian recipe mix (located by the salad dressings at the store)
• 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup bacon bits
• 1 tsp salt (we like kosher)
• 1 cup cheddar cheese (we like it cubed, but you can use shredded if desired)

Cook pasta according to directions.  In a mixing bowl, add the mayo, the seasoning mix, the bell pepper.  Mix well.  Once the pasta is done, add it to the mayo mix, add the bell pepper, mix well.  Let cool completely before adding the cheese otherwise it will melt (we made this mistake).  It was still very tasty though. 

Here's what you need:

Boil some water for the pasta

Boil according to package instructions

In a mixing large bowl, add mayo

Seasoning packet

red bell pepper

bacon bits or real bacon

After mixing well, drain the pasta and add to the mayo mix

Mix well and once it's cooled add the cheese

Store in fridge til ready to serve!

The Best Way to Hard Boil Eggs

Keep it simple.

1. Start with a large saucepan.
2.  Fill with cold water, enough so there's at least an inch above the eggs.
3. Add eggs, not too many, make sure there's room so they don't bump into each other too much.
4. Bring just to a boil, not a rolling boil, just a few bubbles is all.
5. Turn off the burner, place a lid on the pan.
6. Set a timer for 20 minutes.
7. After 20 minutes is up, add the eggs a bowl filled with cold water (this stops the cooking process and I believe makes them easier to peel).

If you don't peel right away, put in the fridge, before peeling, run the egg under cold water, I think the cold water helps you peel the egg easier once again. 

New Aprons!

Thank you Garrett Girl Creations for these fabulous aprons!  Wow, she whipped these up quick!  Fast, friendly service and great quality!  Maci will be wearing these in upcoming tutorials.  Thanks so much Mary!

The Best Lemon Bars

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 cup all purpose flour

Topping:

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/8 cup all purpose flour
• 1 lemon, juiced
• powdered sugar, if desired for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 cup flour.  Press into the bottom of an ungreased 8 x 8 inch pan.

Bake for 15-20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. 

In another bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup sugar and 1/8 cup flour.  Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice.  Pour over the baked crust.

Bake an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven.  The bars will firm up as they cool.  Top with powdered sugar if desired. 

Here's what you need:

In a bowl, add the butter

flour and sugar

Mix until crumbly

Press evenly into an 8 x 8 inch pan

bake for 15-20 minutes in a 350 degree oven

In another bowl, whisk together remaining flour and sugar

In a separate bowl, add eggs

Squeeze the juice out of one lemon, strain the seeds out

whisk the eggs and lemon juice

Add to the flour, whisk together

Pour on top of prebaked crust

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, top with powdered sugar if desired

EAT!