Devilishly colorful

I've always LOVED deviled eggs. LOVED them. I could pop 10 in a row and they go down SO smooth. Since my parents are vacationing in Washington DC right now, we're going to my cousin Lorie's house to celebrate Easter today with her immediate family and a handful of other aunties, uncles and cousins. Not a large crowd, but a fun one.

Deviled eggs are ALWAYS a hit in my family

Happy Easter to all!!

I suppose I get my love of deviled eggs from my family. When we were growing up, we lucky kids were fortunate enough to celebrate almost every one of our birthdays with a big party, tons of food, an abundance of family and of course presents. I think there was a plate of deviled eggs (which would be quickly replenished from a stash in the kitchen) at every party and would usually be the first empty appetizer platter.

Just about 1/4 teaspoon of gel coloring per large glass of water

For Easter I decided to make colored eggs and then devil them. I love the look of Chinese tea eggs (not to mention eating them). Chinese tea eggs are hard boiled, shells cracked and then simmered in a savory tea/anise/soy sauce broth for hours until they're flavorful and really quite beautiful. The dark colors in the broth create that cracked shell pattern on the whites of the eggs.

Aren't they absolutely beautiful?

I tried doing this with dyes to make Easter eggs last year but I didn't leave the eggs to dye long enough so they were very pale-y colored. So this year I tried again! And left them for hours! Well... it worked!

I let them sit like that (in the fridge) overnight

Deviled eggs are really easy to make:

• Hard boil 6-8 eggs (I bring a pot of water to a boil, gently place the eggs in, boil for 5 minutes and then let sit with the lid on for 30 minutes - then chill in ice water or fridge)
• Cut the eggs in half and put the yolks in a bowl
• Mash the yolks up
• Add 1-2 T yellow mustard to them
• Add enough mayonnaise to hold it all together
• Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper
• Pipe (or spoon) into the white halves
• I sprinkled a bit of chives or paprika over them for color afterward

How many can you down in a sitting?