In an unusual turn of events, the Fancy Fibers Farm has taken in a few boarders!  These two were not particularly flourishing in their prior home, so their owner decided to relocate them all the way from Arizona to Texas.

This past Wednesday, in the late evening, I met a wonderful animal hauler named Tor, in the parking area of our local Valero station (is this starting to sound like a drug deal to anyone else?).  He climbed up to the second level of his animal hauling trailer and handed down two very sweet animals:

A Shetland ewe named Cocoa…

and a colored Angora wether named ZZ Top.

These animals belong to my friend Karen of One Planet Yarn and Fiber who loves fiber animals but has no land of her own.  You can follow her fiber fun (City Girl’s Fiber Farm) on the One Planet blog.

Welcome Cocoa and ZZ Top to the Fancy Fibers Farm!

I used to cook.  Okay, it’s been a while, a long while, but in my past at one point, I used to cook.

Okay. You caught me.  I’ve never had to cook.

BUT, my husband LOVES Deviled Eggs, and with 30 hens-a-laying, we have an abundance of fresh eggs each and every day!

The problem with fresh eggs is that they are hard to peel. Or at least they are hard to peel for ME.  The cooked white sticks to the shell and the resulting “peeled” egg looks like it’s been in an automobile accident.

According to two of my friends who shall remain anonymous, I’m the only one of us with this problem. And a problem it was.  My attempts at Deviled Eggs made from our farm fresh eggs always ended up as egg salad instead.  My house dogs gathered round me, looking up with eager faces, at the sound of the first crack because they knew that they would end up with the poor victim egg whites.  It was really annoying. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong!

I had tried EVERY method of cooking the eggs.  Just to name a few, I tried putting them in a pan, bring the water to boiling, turning off the flame, putting the lid on the pan, and letting them sit for 10 minutes (or until I remembered them).  This always worked with store-bought eggs.

I tried adding various amounts of baking soda to the water to change the ph.

I had baked my eggs at 325 for 20 minutes (Alton Brown).

I tried letting them boil for 10 minutes (Friend T’s suggestion).

I tried boiling the hell outta them for 20 minutes (Friend K’s suggestion).

All of the above were followed by dunking and cracking in various amounts of ice water, and then by my failed attempt at peeling.

Finally, lover of the scientific method that I am, I decided to re-evaluate my entire procedure. In doing so, I realized that it was not how I cooked the eggs, but that, since I’m always doing 3 things at once, I wasn’t letting them cool enough before I tried to peel them!

Today, I remedied that problem.  After I put the eggs in ice water, I went back to my chair and crocheted for an hour. They peeled PERFECTLY!  All 18 of them!  I was dancing on air when my husband came in from work!  Hurrah! He was going to have perfectly formed Deviled Eggs.  Finally!

So, here is my advice for you (followed by my recipe for Deviled Eggs with a Zing).  Boil or bake your eggs using your favorite method.  Remove them from the pan and immerse them in ice water.  Go back to your favorite chair and knit or crochet or spin or whatever for one solid hour.  If anyone from your family says anything to you, tell them, “I have to crochet/knit/spin/whatever for an our so that the eggs will come out right.” (See footnote at bottom of page.)

After at least one hour has elapsed, and not a minute sooner, go back to the kitchen and crack and peel victoriously!  Feel free to also dance on air!  At supper that night, present your Perfect Deviled Eggs with a look that dares anyone to question your methodology.

One last thing. What happened to my poor begging dogs?  Well, we like extra yolk in our Deviled Eggs anyway, so I had pity on them and fed them some perfectly shaped empty egg whites.

Here’s my recipe:

Deviled Eggs With a Zing!

Boil a dozen or more eggs.  Cut them in half lengthwise. Gently remove the yolks to a bowl. Put the egg white halves on a plate, or in one of those deviled egg carriers that any self-respecting woman who has ever been to a church pot luck owns. For extra creamy filling, toss in a few extra yolks and feed the whites to the dogs.  It’s good for them.

Mash your egg yolks with the back of a fork.  Add the following:
(Measurements are approximate; alter to taste.)

2 T finely minced red onion (less if it’s a year when the onions are really hot)
3 T minced Sweet Jalapenos, with juicy syrup
2 T of Dijon Mustard
2 T of minced Sun Dried Tomatoes
A few generous tablespoon fulls of either mayonnaise or salad dressing
1/2 tsp of salt
A fair amount of freshly ground black pepper

Stir very well until you have reached a creamy consistently.  Scoop by rounded teasponfuls into egg white halves.  Refrigerate. Unless your husband and kids get to them first.

Footnote (You thought I had forgotten, didn’t you?)  If one or more of your children dares to confront you with respect to the statement that you have to crochet/knit/spin/whatever for an hour for the eggs to come out right, you could use this as the perfect entre for an impromptu lesson on cause and effect.  Make them figure it out.  If it isn’t your craftiness that is making the eggs come out right, what is it? Never pass up a teachable moment. <smile>