One of the many highlights of writing Felt Like a Foodie is the communication I have with my readers. I get Facebook posts telling them that I made them laugh. I get comments on how they tried a recipe and just loved it! And then I get some emails that are let’s say a little more explicit. (Explicit as in detailed, not as in naughty but I do get those too.)

Apparently there are things that I find important to include in a recipe, like exact measurements, that some people just feel are unnecessary. Case in point, my annual deviled egg recipes. Since year one of Felt Like a Foodie, I’ve written about creative variations for deviled eggs around Easter time.

In previous posts, I’ve gotten so exact as to the measurements for one egg. ONE EGG!!!! To quote one of my readers “Felt Like a Foodie, who the heck makes one egg? And who the heck wants to do the math for more than one egg? Seriously, is this the best you can do??” (Um, yes.)

Just so you know, I hear you. Personally, I like math. It is fun and I forget not everyone likes to add and multiply like I do. But I can also see how it is pretty easy to add ingredients to an egg filling and taste it. You don’t have to measure everything down to the last smidge of salt. (I sort of thought this was fun but then again lately I’ve been hanging out with a stuffed monkey.)

“Why don’t you tell your readers something useful like the best cooking method or an easier way to peel an egg? (Because most people know how to do this already.)

So to make some of my readers happy, let us start out with the basics….How to make a hard-boiled egg. There are hundreds of methods and every one of them is the best according to the author who wrote it.

First, I poke a hole in the bigger end of the egg with a clean tack. When you put the egg in the water, you will see the air escape when it heats up. This is a good thing so don’t freak out. Heat causes air to expand so by allowing some of the heat to release while they are cooking, you lower the risk of the egg cracking while cooking. (There is nothing more scientific that I can add to that but Ta-Dah.) Also, the eggs sink in the water and they don’t dance around as much when the water starts boiling, which will help prevent extra cracking.

Next, fill a saucepan that is big enough to hold your eggs in a single layer with water. Add your eggs. Place on high heat to boil. Once boiling, cover and remove from heat. Let them sit undisturbed for 15 minutes for extra large eggs or 12 minutes for large eggs. While the eggs are cooking, prepare an ice bath.

Ding! Place the cooked eggs in an ice bath….Immediately!!!!!!! When the eggs are cool to the touch, peel them.  (This is how to properly shock an egg.  When I first learned to cook and was told to shock the egg, I lifted up my shirt.  It did nothing for the eggs but my chefstructor asked me for my number after class!)

There are other tricks I’ve read like use an old egg or make sure the chicken who laid the egg name is Henrietta but I can neither confirm nor dispute the validness of those claims.

So now your eggs are cooked and you need some fillings. It is KILLING me not to get all technical and tell you exact measurements. I will give you one equation that seems to work for me. For every six eggs, add ¼ cup of mayonnaise.

If you want to make multiple flavors, you can separate them out from there and add more seasoning. I would not add any salt or vinegar until you decide what your flavor profile is going to be for all of your eggs or maybe just ONE EGG!!!

If you need some suggestions, feel free to go back to my previous posts Deviled Eggs (2012), Deviled Eggs (2013) and Deviled Eggs (2014).

This year I made six variations that I didn’t measure a thing. Yep, I am that wild and crazy. I did play it safe and add my ingredients slowly and I tasted frequently to make sure that I wasn’t ruining the filling.

I also concentrated on ONLY using ingredients that were open in my fridge so I didn’t have to go out and buy little bits of everything like in past years. (This was another request from a reader for me to use “normal” pantry ingredients. Of course, she didn’t say it had to be her pantry so I’m not sure if she will like these options.)

Are you dying of suspense to know what I added into the yolks and mayo? Okay, I’ll tell you.

Summer Sausage: Finely chopped summer sausage, stone ground mustard, a smidge of pickle juice with pickle garnish.

Franks: Frank’s Hot sauce, blue cheese crumbles, chopped green onion with a piece of blue cheese on top.

Peppadew Pepper: Chopped peppadews with just a dash of the brining liquid. Top with a thin peppadew ring on top.

Red Pepper Hummus: Red pepper, hummus, drizzle of olive oil and a sliced kalamata olive on top.

Kimchi: Finely chopped kimchi with a dollop of Gochujang on top. (Gochujang is a spicy Korean condiment. It is the next best thing to Sriracha.)

Chipotle: Chopped chipotle peppers, chopped green onions and slivers of the dark green onion tops as a garnish.

Hell Raiser: Add Sriracha until your eyes water. This is the one I would make for Earl’s college friends when they dare each other to eat something spicy.

My favorite this year was tied between the kimchi and the summer sausage. The red pepper hummus one was a little sweet for my taste so I would probably add more tahini next time. Too bad I didn’t measure things exactly.

Hope everyone has fun making their eggs this year. Let me know what fun creations you tried this year and if you want you can tell me your exact measurements.. I’ll do the math!