This Is Me--2024 A to Z Theme

My A to Z Themes in the past have covered a range of topics and for 2024 the theme is a personal retrospective that I call "I Coulda Been" which is in reference to my job and career arc over my lifetime. I'll be looking at all sorts of occupations that I have done or could have done. Maybe you've done some of these too!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

E as in Egg Salad

         The days after Easter make me think of egg salad.  When I was growing up we'd always have a lot of colored hard boiled eggs.  There were only so many hard boiled eggs that my siblings and I would eat, so my father would consume vast quantities of hard boiled eggs after Easter.  We used to jokingly like to call him the "human garbage can".

        As I was raising my daughters, I of course continued the tradition of coloring the eggs for Easter.  However unlike my father, there was no way that I was going to devour all of those hard boiled eggs.  But I likewise hated to throw them away, so I decided to start making egg salad.

       I like a good egg salad and it can make for a tasty sandwich. I guess my mother probably told me how she makes it or I just figured it out.  I took those hard boiled eggs and chopped them up.  It's probably best to remove the shells first unless you like your egg salad crunchy. After putting the chopped eggs into a bowl, I added a dollop of mayonnaise depending on how many eggs I was using.  I go by looks and not measurements, which is my general philosophy about most things in life.  Then I added some yellow mustard depending on how tangy I wanted the salad to be, but I usually didn't use too much, just enough for some flavor.  Next I tossed in a few spoonfuls of sweet pickle relish.  I recall my mother chopping up sweet gherkin pickles, but that seems like a bit too much work for me.  Finally, I sprinkled some paprika on top of the salad.  I'm not sure if the paprika really adds any flavor but I've always liked the way it looked.

         So that's my recipe for egg salad.  But no egg salad this year.  There were no kids, therefore no reason to color eggs.  Actually though I've been busy making a different kind of egg salad this year.  Putting forth this Blog Challenge is this years egg salad.  We got a bunch of good eggs here with all of you.  And you guys have been bringing the mix of mayonaise, mustard, and relish.  We're even experimenting with a few other ingredients--how about some olives, celery, chives, or even some jalapenos.  This is turning out to be one of the best egg salads ever.  Mostly because we're using good eggs.

           The good eggs are not all bloggers who are actively participating in the challenge.  Some of them are in the cheering section supporting our efforts.  You may have seen their comments on your blog or a blog of another blogger.  Many of you already know these fantastic bloggers.  Today I want to recognize some  of the great folks on the sidelines who are mentioning the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge in their own blogs or diligently posting comments as much as their time will allow.  Here are five that I will recognize today:

Just Jemi -- Jemi Fraser at Just Jemi , she's the Comment Queen.  She's like some of those literary agents who rack up tons of comments, but I haven't seen any of those agent commenting back like Jemi does.  I don't know how she works like she does and still manages to be all over the blogosphere like she is.  Jemi is a friend and champion of us all.

The Write Worship --  Besides Tamika's dedication to God and her family, she is dedicated to her craft of writing and to her blog activity.  Tamika has always been great support to me and I have seen her comments on many of your blogs as well.  Tamika's posts are short and sweet, but always helpful and inspiring.

The Old Silly ---  Marvin's another one who if you didn't know him before this challenge you probably are getting pretty familiar with him now.  He mentioned the challenge on his blog and everyday I see his comments all over the sites of those participating in the challenge.

Engine 3 The Life of Riley -- Julie Riley gave us a nice write up on this challenge.  Her blog was new to me prior to this, but she offers up a colorful and eclectic mix of topics that are of special interest to families and crafters.

Jane's Ride --  Jane Sutton is a busy author who still manages to drop in almost every day to leave her comments scattered throughout the blogs of our participants.  If she hasn't shown up to yours yet she's trying to make her way there.

         Please take a few minutes to stop by the blogs of these supporters and let them know you appreciate the support they are giving.  Give them a big thank you.  And while you're there go ahead and become a follower if you aren't one already.

         Also, there is a participant listed in the supporter section whose link I am having problems putting in the participant blog roll.    Dream Weaver is the site of Debra Harris Johnson-- author, speaker, historian, and business owner.  If you have tried to go to her site please go to the supporter section and visit her blog from there.  I am still trying to figure out this technical glitch.

         There are a few technical problems that we have noticed and are trying to remedy.  If you happen to run across any blogs that you can't get into, let me know and I'll try to fix the problem. 

          One final request:  Today is Stephen T. McCarthy's birthday.  I think it would be fun if you would go immediately to his site and wish him a happy birthday.  I'm sure a lot of you will be online before he is and what a surprise for him to open his email and see all these birthday wishes waiting for him.

         And if anyone else knows of a birthday in April let me know and I'll post it on my site.  Might as well recognize our April birthday bloggers while we are doing this.

          Thanks to all of you for your exuberant efforts.   Excuse me if you find more errors these days because I haven't been editing with exactness.        End

49 comments:

  1. I was most eggstatic to read your post today Lee. Excellent one for "E". A pleasure to read .

    Yvonne.

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  2. I commented on Stephens post but for some reason his comment thingy isn't working! So Stephen, if you're reading this post, Happy Birthday!!!

    I also commented on your actual D post :( I said that I often get inspired to write by listeing to music too. And that I too write my own music, but fail to live up to my own expectations!


    Was a great post. VERY LONG! but still great :)

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  3. Good morning, Lee! Your egg salad recipe sounds just like mine! I also make my deviled eggs that way. I also use black pepper in mine. Yum! You make me hungry for deviled eggs, which Gramps and I really love. We have no small children in our home either. In fact the only children we have around now are our neighbors who come each Monday evening for supper. Thanks for the support you give all of us bloggers!
    Best regards, friend!
    Ruby

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  4. I love egg salad. It would be so good for lunch. Can't wait to try your recipe!

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  5. Egg-straordinary!!!!Love the symbolism of us as egg salad! Great!
    Just want you to know that this challenge has broken records for my comments! I usually have three or four, but this week I actually had 13!!! Yay!
    You've helped me more than you know. Thanks!

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  6. Excellent post. And thanks to your enormous efforts to recognize so many challengers and cheerers.

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  7. Good thing I'm not participating in the challenge or I'd be a day behind, on deviled eggs instead of egg salad. Thank you for the links. I'm going to go exploring. Oh! Now that's an "E" too!

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  8. Most Excellent post today. I for one am not a real fan of egg salad sandwiches. But sounds like a good recipie. Thanks for the reminder of the cheering section, they are very important.

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  9. Love the eggs!! We always make potato salad with them too. It is always green or blue with some pink mixed in, but so yummy! Sounds like you have the same recipe my mom used to make for the egg salad too!

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  10. Yvonne -- as always, thank you

    AA-- I've been getting weird comment things, not on Stephen's site yet, but on some others. There are some I keep trying to comment upon and it won't go and I wasted time and a comment. I think sometimes Blogger just goes into a glitch phase and messes with us.

    Grammy -- Sounds like you're running a restaurant sometimes. I'll bet the neighbors really love you.

    Teresa -- Thank you for being there with your kind comments.

    Rae --That is so cool to hear!

    Wanda -- I am more than happy to give recognition where it is due.

    Liza-- If you're commenting you're still participating. Thanks for being there and please continue to check back.

    Gregg -- Yes, the outside commenters are especially nice to see.

    Sugar -- Egg salad seems like a logical solution to not wasting those dyed eggs.

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  11. E is for Egg Salad! Yes! My children were making egg salad on their own yesterday. I taught them the beauty of the Betty Crocker cookbook and how just about anything you need to know is in there.

    Glad to be part of your egg salad of the blog challenge. I finally posted my first post--started with A!. It feels good to have written!! That's why I did the challenge.Thanks for the encouragement and accepting a late ingredient.

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  12. Thanks for following my blog! I've done the same for you ;-)

    ~JD

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  13. It is E already!:)

    I love the Deviled egg. I wonder how it got the name for something so wonderful. Or maybe because it is too good.

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  14. Hi Arlee, thanks for visiting my guest post at Justine's blog and commenting.

    I've become a follower of your blog - feel free to do the same.

    These are my two favorite parts of your post:

    "I go by looks and not measurements, which is my general philosophy about most things in life." I try to live my life that way too.

    "I'm not sure if the paprika really adds any flavor but I've always liked the way it looked." Sometimes presentation is just as important.

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  15. I have this strange craving for egg salad now...

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  16. Loved this post because it involved FOOD and I'm always on the hunt for a good recipe. When they're simple like this one -- even better! And yes, this challenge has been a humdinger of an egg salad! I've not gotten to every blog. I can't sit here long enough. But I'm trying.

    Thanks again and I'm off to visit some of the blogs you mentioned and to wish Stephen a happy birthday. He is a HOOT!

    Blessings,
    Lisa

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  17. Arlee, I love it all. I'll be here tomorrow for sure to see the letter H, you told me our thoughts were close.
    I am enjoying all of these great postings. I do wish I had joined, oh well maybe you'll do something again and invite me.
    Take care and God Bless.

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  18. Yay! My most favourite sandwich ever. And I agree with you 100% - you just gotta have pickles in there somewhere. Relish, gherkins, dills... they add such a nice salty crunch to the mix.

    *food geek*

    :)

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  19. haha We had that last night for dinner, except I cooked different eggs for it. We had eggs salad sandwhiches, and tuna fish sandwhiches. Depending on who wanted what.

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  20. Arlee, how about some curry in that egg salad? Tis good! Everyone who is involved in any way with this challenge is vitally important and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart! Thanks for such a great post!

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  21. Sad to say, I haven't had egg salad in over 17 years. When I went totally vegan, we stopped coloring eggs as well. Which my husband said was fine with him! I think he helped just to humor me...

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  22. I love egg salad and we also used to eat it after Easter in my house growing up. Your line about your dad eating all those hardboiled eggs like a garbage can made me think about the movie Cool Hand Luke, LOL!!

    Great post as always.

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  23. Good post! I thought about E for Eggs as well. :) We didn't color too many eggs this year and they have already been made into hard-boiled and then deviled eggs (which my family loves so much they usually don't make it to the table with the rest of the meal!). A few were thrown in with the potato salad... none left for egg salad this year!

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  24. Loved the post, especial the blog-egg salad recipe. My time is limited and most of my post for the month are already scheduled, but I'm going to try to do a modified version of your challenge (ie several letters in a single post, thrown in here and there). We'll see how I do. You're a great motivator1

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  25. rLEE-b ~
    Indeed I WAS surprised to find all the birthday wishes. Only thing is, today's not my birthday.

    Well, OK, it IS my birthday but not in the way you're thinking it is. I consider April 6th to be my "Spiritual Birthday" because it's the day in 1994 when Jesus came to me to save my sorry butt. I had a spiritual experience during which I feel I was Baptised in a sense. And I really do attach a greater significance to THIS birthday than I do to the one which my Mother was aware of.

    So, thanks all the same, friend. The messages were surprising and nice to receive.

    ~ "Lonesome Dogg" McStephen
    (The-"Sort-Of"-Birthday-Boy)

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  26. E is also for Excellence in blogging, and this challenge you've spearheaded is doing wonders for bringing lots of excellent bloggers into a greater awareness of each other. Thanks for the mention and kind words, and keep up the good blogging, all!

    The Old Silly

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  27. Your post made me laugh, as I am eating egg salad, tinged slightly with pink and blue dye, right now. I swear Easter Egg salad tastes the best.

    I think you are doing a great job hosting this challenge. I've found so many great blogs through my participation.

    Thanks!

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  28. Mmm! Sounds yummy! Your egg salad entry made me smile! :-) I enjoyed it very much & like how you turned it around to relate to our blogger challenge! :-)

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  29. Lee,
    I cook supper every Monday night and my neighbors come down to eat with us because for one thing, he does not have constant work and they have 3 children. His wife homeschools their kids, and htey have a tough time making their bills. They are wonderful neighbors and have become family to us. They call us Aunt Ruby and Uncle Dub, we play games after we clear the dishes away, and we always have a wonderful time! There is much more I could say, but won't right now.
    Regards to you, Ruby

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  30. Thanks to all of your comments. As the day progresses and I get more behind hope you'll understand that I don't comment too individually but: I've had curried egg salad and yes it's good. Deviled eggs? MMM-love 'em. Probably somewhere on Google it tells why they are called that. And, yes, I started craving egg salad for lunch too but settled for some frozen pizza instead.

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  31. Thanks for the mention. I've enjoyed the blogs I've visited and wish I had the time to stop by them all each day. Amazing what you folks can do with the alphabet.

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  32. Eggselent! :) I love it. Great post. keep up the good work

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  33. I've never ever tried egg salad before! I just can't bring myself to eat it. But according to all of the comments that were left, I must trust that it's very tasty.

    If you have a second, check out how my little boy decided to eat eggs on Easter- http://keepingupklapper.blogspot.com/2010/04/doing-what-toddler-does-best.html

    Loving your blog and this challenge!

    -Carmen

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  34. hey there, Lee

    sounds "gasnoxious" to me:)

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  35. Ohhh, I completely forgot about the paprika on the egg salad sandwich. My mother used to add a dash to egg salad and deviled eggs to dress them up a bit. And sometimes she'd leave a bit of shell just for the crunch, I think! Thanks for the blog mentions. I'm going to make an effort to comment on the blogs in the challenge! Way to go everyone!

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  36. This is such an appropriate blog for the recent holiday! Nice job!

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  37. Love how you tied in the cheering section to E! Very well done :)

    Thanks for your kind words Lee - they mean a lot to me!

    The egg salad brings back such memories of my dad who died several years back. He brought an egg salad sandwich to work at least 2 days a week - usually more. He LOVED it! I don't make it too often, but every time, I'm flooded with great memories - thanks for bringing more to me today :)

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  38. The bad part about this challenge is all the cool blogs I'm finding. Between posting on my own and reading others, I've barely gotten any actual writing done. This is too much fun!

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  39. And the kind words keep coming. A heartfelt thanks to all of you for those words and for the work you are putting into this.

    Jemi - great post on Spunk's blog today. Thanks again for the support you give to everyone.

    Elizabeth -- tell me about it! And I guess I can sleep in May. But it is such fun isn't it.

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  40. Great post. We make egg salad the same way. :) Which reminds me I better have egg salad for lunch tomorrow...I love how it tastes, but not how it smells. I only make enough for that meal.

    Your tributes to blogs you like were lovely...Nice job!

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  41. Eggcellent expound on egg salad. We do an egg salad with tuna in it...like 5 eggs to one can..it's delish! are your kids grown?

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  42. I love egg salad too but always put a little Durkee's in mine. I also like onion in my egg salad, but I like onion on just about anything!

    A delightful post indeed.

    Thanks again for this very fun challenge, I am having such a great time with it.

    God bless you!

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  43. I like to see a man in the kitchen :o)

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  44. Growing up I think I coloured eggs once. I remember it being loads of creative fun. And now you've given me a craving for egg salad!

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  45. I love how you do recipes! That is how I make egg salad too.

    I always used to dye eggs with my family, but wasn't able to be with them this year for Easter. But I have loved reading about your egg salad. Makes me want to go and make some!

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  46. Yummy! I too had no Easter eggs to make into egg salad this year, actually for the last few years. The kids are grown and don't wait for the Easter Bunny anymore...but your receipe reminded me of how my mom would make such sandwiches..oh now I am hungry..

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