Last Friday evening, Don and I picked up our two dozen farm-fresh eggs from the great folks at The Family Garden in New Douglas, IL. It’s always such a happy event—not just because I’m getting top-quality, enviro-friendly eggs practically delivered to my door, but because I love seeing Jackie Mills and her daughter for a few minutes, catching up on what’s happening out at their farm and connecting to this wonderful web of sharing food and caring for the Earth. The fact that I’ve been able to purchase these eggs all winter should make me a very grateful person. And, I am…
But it occurred to me that I’ve been sort of focused recently on what I don’t have. I don’t have the Land of Goshen Community Market (won’t open until May). I don’t have fresh tomatoes or spring sunshine. But that can be a defeatist attitude. Focusing on what I don’t have will just create more of what I don’t have. If I focus on what I do have with gratitude, more of what I want is sure to come my way. Like these eggs…
Another gift I am incredibly grateful for came just a little bit after the holidays. My friend Deb got me a subscription to Cook’s Illustrated for Christmas. I’ve been devouring (pun!) the first two issues and in the latest one there’s a fabulous recipe for my eggs. This is a winner and won’t these be pretty on the Easter brunch table? See if you agree.
Ingredients
- Six large eggs, hard cooked and peeled (See my comments at the end of this post about cooking methods.)
- Three tablespoons mayonnaise (I really detest store-purchased mayonnaise, so I make my own when there is time; however, for this recipe I substituted my favorite Windcrest Dairy Greek Yogurt—worked great!)
- One tablespoon minced fresh parsley, plus more for garnish, if you wish
- One and a half teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- One teaspoon Dijon mustard
- One teaspoon curry powder (Green Earth Grocery, my local health food store, carries the best hot curry powder in its bulk section. Wouldn’t be without it!)
- Pinch cayenne pepper (I also gave a light little sprinkle of Himalayan Pink Salt to the eggs before serving.)
Instructions
- To slice the eggs, lay each egg on its side and sweep the blade cleanly down the center, lengthwise. Wipe the knife after slicing each egg.
- Transfer the yolks to a small bowl; arrange the whites on your serving dish.
- Mash the yolks with a fork until no lumps remain. Add the mayonnaise (yogurt in my case) and use a rubber spatula to smear the mixture against the side of the bowl until a thick, smooth paste forms, one to two minutes. Add the minced parsley, lemon juice, mustard, curry powder and cayenne. Mix until fully incorporated.
- Transfer the yolk mixture to a small heavy-duty plastic bag (or a pastry bag with desired tip). Press the mixture to one corner and twist the top of the bag. Using scissors, snip half an inch off the filled corner and squeeze to distribute the yolk mixture into the egg white halves. Garnish each with a parsley leaf and a little Himalayan Pink Salt, if desired.
Notes
The cook time refers to the total time it took to hard-cook and cool the eggs. See the end of this post on my comments for cooking methods.

One thing about the above recipe, Cook’s Illustrated ran the recipe as part of an article on the best way to hard cook eggs for flawless, easy peeling. I tried the method that placed cold eggs via a steamer basket into boiling water, then covered, reduced the heat and cooked for 13 minutes. At the end of the cooking time, per the recipe, I quickly immersed the eggs into an ice bath for 15 minutes. They were the most easy-peel eggs ever, but, to me, they seemed over-cooked, with that tell-tale greenish ring just forming along the edge of the yolk. Perhaps I need more practice with this method. In the end, they were delicious, so perhaps the method is moot.
If you are like me, you grew up taking cold water containing cold eggs to a boil, cooking one minute, then placing a lid on the pot and turning off the heat to let the eggs steep for 10 minutes. It’s an almost foolproof recipe for perfect hard-cooked eggs, but sometimes they are really hard to peel and can end up looking sort of battered. What’s your hard-cooked egg secret? Love to hear about it.

We are so lucky to get fresh farm eggs delivered right here in town. Many thanks to The Family Garden, where chickens roam free and happy and lay incredible eggs.
Also, if you are interested in learning more about my idea of focusing on what you have rather than what you don’t have, check out sources for the Law of Attraction. The Law states that like attracts like. So if you focus on all the things you have and love, you’ll get more. It is that simple and that difficult, all at once. What great things do you attract into your life… always good to share.
I add a bit of apple cider vinegar and a bit of oil to the water with the eggs and the peels slide right off.
Darlene: This is a great tip! I’m going to try it next time I make hard-cooked eggs. Thanks so much for sharing.
I also run cold water over the eggs until the water is cool. This makes the egg contract, I think – anyway – made 7 hard cooked eggs last night and all slid right out of their shells!
Darlene:
Thanks so much for your continued participation on the blog. Your tips and thoughts are really appreciated!
I love ‘Cook’s Country’ and ‘America’s Test Kitchen’. Love the recipes, even though they can be fairly labor intensive. Everything I have made with their recipes has been delicious. I also enjoy their TV show on the ‘Create’ channel.
Me too! I was thrilled to receive their beautiful publication as a gift. I highly recommend it–full of tips, great recipes and accompanying video how-tos at their website. Thanks for sharing your comment.