family time
Recipe: egg salad
Jeremy’s parents visited with us earlier this week for a few days. It’s been a while since I’ve seen them because we haven’t been able to travel with Kaweah to their house for the past year. Jeremy drove out to their place last October to do some IT work for them (because he’s a good boy), but I stayed with Kaweah in Crested Butte. We agreed that their energetic male dogs would have been too much for our frail, old girl. Whenever they come to Boulder, we always go out at least once for dinner. Jeremy and I try to find a place they haven’t been to before. Not a difficult task as Boulder has so many great restaurants from which to select. This time, they chose Frasca.
duck egg spring salad with browned butter vinaigrette
the pasta course (that’s my iced tea – i was designated driver)
When Mom first walked into the great room, Kaweah was lying in her bed. She doesn’t even get up when Jeremy and I come home anymore. But as soon as she saw Mom, she struggled to stand and walk over to her. Jeremy’s mom was the one who picked Kaweah out for us. Mom kept her for 2 weeks: potty training her, getting all of her shots and vaccinations, and loving on her. Then Mom put Kaweah on a flight from Albuquerque to Syracuse where we picked her up – my in-laws’ gift to us on our anniversary. I watched as Kaweah leaned against Mom’s leg, tail wagging as much as it has in a year, receiving ear rubs and sweet hellos. Old as our pup is, she has not forgotten. I haven’t seen Kaweah show this much affection for anyone in quite some time. At the end of my in-laws’ stay, Jeremy was carrying Kaweah back into the house when Mom paused to say good-bye. She kissed her on the top of her head many times and gently hugged her neck. I know Mom knew this was probably the last time she’d see her grandpup, but I’m glad she got to see her.
Wednesday morning, I drove up to our local ski hill for a date. There was no new snow and I’m not even sure the mountain dropped below freezing overnight (gah!). But it didn’t matter. No lines, blue skies, bright sun, and my good friends were there with their 3 year old son.
sweet little felix and lovely nichole
felix and his dad riding the lift
mastering the pizza wedge
felix shredding the bunny slope!
It was on this mountain over 6 years ago that I met Nichole. I was just starting chemo and we were in an advanced telemark program together. No one makes me laugh so hard on the ski lift as Nichole. So it was really special to get together with her family and watch/photograph them teaching Felix to ski. I’m always in awe of their parenting which is firm, but full of love and incredibly fun. As Felix’s energy wound down, I stayed with him while he had a snack and told Nichole and Luke to take a lap together. Felix explained to me that snow is his favorite thing and that ice isn’t so bad, oh – and he likes water too.
i asked felix if he crushed it on the slopes and he said, “cwushed it!”
selfie with my homeboy (iphone)
All signs point to spring. A favorite local trail has closed for the next three months to protect migratory birds and calving elk. I have mud on my ski boots (*sob*). The winds don’t feel as menacing anymore. The aspens in our yard are starting to fuzz out and I saw forsythia blooming in Boulder. I’m seeing a lot of pastel colored candies, decorations, and egg-dye kits in the stores. Can you believe the first time I ever dyed eggs was in my 30s? It was with my friends’ two little boys and I dare say I had as much fun as they did. I also dyed a batch for an Easter-themed client shoot last year, which left me with a bunch of boiled eggs. Boiled eggs are awesome, because I love me an egg salad sandwich.
eggs
cover with cold water
Boiling an egg is one of those incredibly basic cooking skills that you assume everyone has. I never thought twice about it at sea level, but moving to mountains forced me to scrutinize what I was doing wrong. For years, nearly every batch of eggs would stick to their shells and be torn apart when I peeled them. I’ve been following Elise’s method for the past four or so years and have enjoyed beautiful hard boiled eggs that peel easily. No gray ring around the yolk and the white is intact and lovely.
salt, pepper, olives, mayonnaise, dijon mustard, green onion, boiled eggs
peel the eggs
chop the eggs
Egg salad is one of those super easy things I learned to make as a kid. You can fancy it up as much as you like or get a little ghetto. And it’s personal. Everyone has their favorite add-ins. Black pepper, green olives, celery, dill relish, sweet pickle relish, diced ham, bacon, mustard, Tabasco sauce, salt, crushed potato chips, green onions…
i like the garlic-stuffed olives
place it all in a bowl
mix together
season with salt and pepper
Nestled between two slices of bread, the egg salad is transformed into one of my comfort foods. It’s so simple and yet immensely satisfying. I’d love to hear how others enjoy their egg salads and what special ingredients you like to toss in there to make it your own.
on a ciabatta roll
creamy, eggy, happy
Egg Salad
[print recipe]
4 eggs, hard boiled, peeled, and chopped
3 tbsps mayonnaise
1 tsp dijon mustard
8 green olives, chopped (I like the garlic-stuffed olives)
salt to taste
pepper to taste
To boil the eggs: Place eggs in a medium saucepan. Cover with enough cold water to have at least 1 inch of water above the eggs. Set the pan over high heat and bring to a boil. Boil for one minute. Turn off heat and cover the pan with a lid. Let sit for 12 minutes. Drain the hot water and run cold water over the eggs.
Make the egg salad: Mix the eggs, mayonnaise, mustard, and olives together. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.
more goodness from the use real butter archives
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deviled eggs |
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chinese tea eggs |
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soy sauce eggs |
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baked eggs |
April 10th, 2014 at 2:29 am
Thanks for the lovely recipe and photos (as always).
I love egg salad too but I can’t break the habit my mum had of always making a curried egg salad. Just add some curry powder and use yoghurt instead of mayo if you wish. Then take it from there with chopped chives, apples or anything else that takes your fancy.
April 10th, 2014 at 6:24 am
Ohhh…the story of Kaweah & your mother-in-law…tears. I, too, know a 3 year old Felix, but she is a she, so it’s kind of funny to hear Felix as a boy’s name again. Egg salad…same as yours except capers instead of olives, and half mayo & half fat free Fage. Good stuff!
April 10th, 2014 at 6:30 am
I like that you added olives to this!! Egg salad is a fav in our house :)
April 10th, 2014 at 8:22 am
Yummy to the tummy. I’ve not tried green olives. A must do!
Kaweah’s, endeared to me, as with so many other followers of your beautiful blog. Our doggies are our best friends. Their’s and our love knows no bounty, is ageless and one of life’s greatest gifts. Thank you for sharing her journey.
April 10th, 2014 at 8:23 am
I meant to say boundary, Jenzie…
April 10th, 2014 at 9:01 am
Aw it’s so sweet that Kaweah remembers your mother. That’s so nice, and their goodbye is so sad, it breaks my heart! I don’t eat eggs anymore but that looks so freaking good. And the lettuce on that sandwich looks beautifully enticing. I’ve never been seduced by lettuce before, but consider me wooed because it looks scrumptious.
April 10th, 2014 at 10:16 am
I’m moved that Jeremy’s mom got to see Kaweah again. That’s just. <3
As for egg salad, I don't like anything in it, really. There was a great (GREAT, SO GREAT) Japanese-French bakery near my house in Orange County called Cream Pan (if you visit again soon, ask about it!) and I would sometimes pop in there just to pick up their egg salad sandwich from the cold case. Plain as it could be – nothing but eggs, mayonnaise, salt and pepper, as far as I could tell, but it was somehow magical. I don't know what they did to it, but man. I miss that place so much.
April 10th, 2014 at 12:12 pm
I love egg salad! I put some hot sauce along with the mayo, as well as avocado and cilantro. Sometimes I make it with curry, or Old Bay is really good, too!
April 10th, 2014 at 5:28 pm
Egg salad, man. It really is the greatest. :) I usually make mine with lots of fresh chopped dill and some thinly sliced radish. Those olives are a great idea–they must bring in such a great richness and tang!
April 10th, 2014 at 6:18 pm
I agree with Tara about the curry powder. I love it, and so do the 17 four-year olds in my preschool class who share “tea time” with me every Friday. I took an egg salad sandwich to school EVERY DAY in 7th grade. Yes, really. Every day.
April 10th, 2014 at 6:23 pm
Every time I see your blog posting in my newsreader, I’m afraid of what I’m going to read about Kaweah. I dread the post when you announce her passing. This blog posting had me in tears, and crying as I read it out to my sister. Dogs are amazing, that she remembers her grand mom, and made the effort to get up and greet her, oh, just tugged my heart strings. Pets are so much a part of our lives, so heartbreaking when the end comes. :-(
Also, if you reply to this, you have two properties in Colorado? And split your time between them? I only started reading your blog sometime in the last year, so not sure of the back story there.
Enjoy your blog, even though I don’t have much time for cooking these days! :-)
April 10th, 2014 at 8:18 pm
Salted capers.
April 11th, 2014 at 4:55 am
Love sweet pickle chopped with s little sweet pickle juice, lots of chopped celery, mayo and pepper on a great roll. Sigh…..if ONLY our wonderful pets lived as long a humans……..we even feed our squirrels and birds and carefully watch over each one. And with our kitty and all of them, we have quite a family in our retirement.
April 11th, 2014 at 6:21 am
Sorry, Jen, I am an egg salad purist! Just Mayo, eggs, salt and pepper. I love green olives, maybe on the side? Always dill pickle on the sandwich. Love your blog, it makes my day!
April 11th, 2014 at 6:38 pm
Yum. I love egg salad. I, too, make my eggs the Elise way. But, I don’t chop them — I put the peeled eggs in a bowl and “cut” them with two forks. Then I add vidalia onion, celery, sweet pickle relish, 1/2 mayo, 1/2 yogurt, and salt and pepper. I dip into a bowl of it w/ celery stalks, green olives and cherry tomatoes on the side.
Fixing this tomorrow!!
April 12th, 2014 at 6:14 am
I like finely chopped onions and pickles with horseradish and just a touch of mayo. Not a big mayo fan, so it’s got to be just enough to moisten. Oh, and NEVER, NEVER “miracle whip”. That stuff makes me gag. :)
April 12th, 2014 at 2:38 pm
Interesting the many ways of making egg salad. I grew up with Miracle Whip. Didn’t know there was such a thing as mayonnaise until I got married and sent my husband to the store for “mayonnaise.” He came home with mayonnaise. We had always called Miracle Whip mayonnaise. Just like ham salad. I was an adult before I knew that “ham salad” wasn’t made from bologna (what we called minced ham).
Your story about your precious Kaweah brought tears. I could so visualize your mom loving on him. So wonderful that she got to spend some special time.
April 12th, 2014 at 3:37 pm
I like wasabi on my egg salad. Mmmm
April 13th, 2014 at 12:08 pm
Mmmmm olives in egg salad!
Pets never forget. xo
I thought you pierced the eggshell with a pin! That worked once for me. Honestly, the perfect food is next to impossible for me to reliably cook.
April 15th, 2014 at 9:46 pm
Tara – oh yes, a curried egg salad sounds lovely too. I always think of that in tea sandwiches.
Kristin – Yum, I love capers too!
Katrina – :)
Margie – Kaweah’s journey is slowing down, I’m afraid. But she’s still with us and she’s still very cute!
Lisa – ha ha!! Wow, who knew the power of a good leaf of lettuce? ;)
Melissa – There really is something wonderful about plain old egg salad. It’s almost sweet (and not with miracle whip – ewwww). Sometimes simple is best :) xo
Peggasus – awwww yeah, HOT SAUCE!!
Eileen – there are so many awesome combos for egg salad. It could be anything, really. I’ve never tried fresh dill before, but that sounds so intuitive!
Andra – awww, that is so darn cute! Love tea time, but especially with little kids! How fun :)
Holly – While we are very sad to see Kaweah in her twilight years, she is still happy and comfortable, just very feeble and not especially mobile. We aim to make sure she is happy to the end. Yes, we bought a place in Crested Butte last May, but our primary home is still in the Front Range.
Magpie – :)
Joyce – I think it’s a blessing that most pets don’t outlive their people. I’d much rather deal with the sorrow of their passing than the heartbreak of their fear and anxieties losing their person and not understanding what happened.
Gourmade – thanks! :)
Bette – Mmm, more like an egg mash, but it still sounds great!
farmerpam – oh, I hate Miracle Whip too. Plegh.
Josie – Aww, yes. I’m glad Kaweah could visit with her grandma one more time.
Marina – oooh, that sounds great!
jill – I used to do that, but discovered that I could just follow the boil and cover method with the same results (because I forgot to pierce them once).