Labor Day – Try Something Different

Today in the United States it’s Labor Day. Which means everyone takes off work. Oh, the irony!

Yesterday my husband and I went to a barbecue at a friend’s house. Just so you know, this was a REAL barbecue with ribs, pulled pork, and such. When I first moved out to the Pacific Northwest, I got invited to a lot of Fake Barbecues where people only Cooked Out hamburgers and hot dogs. Apparently many people actually call this Grilling. But I’m from the South, and it’s not a Barbecue unless there are ribs involved. Thankfully, I’ve learned to ask over the years so that I am not disappointed.

At any rate, my husband decided that he wanted to take deviled eggs. My husband LOVES deviled eggs, and I have always hated them. First of all, I don’t like mayonnaise. I never have. So when I go to a Barbecue, cookout, potluck, or some other event, I skip right past all of those weird macaroni salads that are oozing with white stuff. I also don’t like cold macaroni, so that’s just a double whammy.

My husband has never made deviled eggs. Neither have I, and honestly, I didn’t want to have anything to do with it. “Slimy and gross” are my normal description of this particular culinary delight. But dear hubby persisted on his own. I did boil the eggs for him.

He wasn’t too sure about the recipe he had found and needed to go to the store for strange items such as horseradish. So we looked up the recipe again to print it out, and as I read it, I realized that it said to bring the eggs to a boil, wait 30 seconds, and remove them.

Can somebody say Salmonella? No wonder I’ve never liked Deviled eggs! Anyway, our eggs had already been boiling for about 12 or 13 minutes. I went ahead and removed them and ran a little cold water on them so the yolks wouldn’t be impossible for him to work with.

When my husband came back from the store and the eggs had cooled, he went ahead and tried to make them. We had a backup dozen just in case these didn’t work.

But you know what? They were the most delicious things I have tasted in a long time. I had 5 or 6 of them at the Barbecue. I had promised my husband I would try them because he put so much work into them. And, of course, I have a rule about re-trying foods every couple of years or so just to see if I like them now. Since our taste buds change over time, this only makes sense to me. Also, when you cook things differently it can completely change whether or not you like something.

Apparently actually cooking the eggs more makes all the difference. Everyone raved about them. Especially me. I couldn’t get over what a difference our “mistake” had made! By the way, that is a picture of them at the top of the page. I should have taken a better close-up, but hey, it is what it is.

So here are the things I learned from the Deviled Egg Incident:

1. Some “mistakes” are blessings in disguise. Don’t give up – things may turn out better than you hoped! Or even better than you’ve ever had them turn out before! (I’m not just talking about cooking here.)

2. Remember to try things every few years. You may be surprised how much you’ve changed over time. I know people who had a fear of heights when they were younger, but then started rock-climbing in their 30’s and 40’s. One of these days I may like some of that weird macaroni salad stuff.

3.Do things your own way. You don’t have to tell people what you are doing or how you do it. Just be your juicy self and live your amazing life.

4. Always, always, always boil your eggs for 13 minutes when you are making deviled eggs. It’s a good number, and everyone will want to know why they are so fantastic. Don’t worry – I won’t give away your secret if you don’t want to tell.

Life is an adventure meant to be experienced.What adventure will you have on this awesome Labor Day?