Devilishly Good (Devilled Eggs)
January, 1998.
A monday morning I’ll never forget. Seated at the breakfast table next to my brother, sleep in our eyes and tangles in our hair, well-rested, but groggy and grumpy, as most children who are returning to school from a two-week break might be. Our cheerful mother sliding scrambled eggs onto our plates, humming along to the radio commercial song, “it’s the most wonderful time of the year.”
Wonderful it would be, about 2 minutes later.
“7 O’clock CJAD News time
The PSBGM has announced the closure of the following schools…”
Our eyes suddenly opened wide, as my brother and I jumped from our seats, shoving each other out of the way to attempt to push our ears as close as humanly possible to the speaker.
“Cross your fingers!”
“Wasting your time, your school never closes!”
“Shhhh! Maybe today!”
“Eat your eggs!”
my backyard, this morning
We glanced outside at the glistening tree branches covered in ice. Maybe today. I cross my fingers as hard as I can behind my back, pressing them into my spine, and close my eyes tightly. Riverdale, say Riverdale! We turn our attention back to the radio.
“…Cartier Adult Ed Centre, Hudson High School, Westpark Element…”
“Sucker! I’m off!” My brother jumps as high as if he were about to slam dunk a basketball. The list goes on, and then abruptly ends. They didn’t say my school’s name. Of course. I slowly drag myself back to the table, an exaggerated sour look on my face. Disheartened, I scoop the rest of my eggs into my mouth, my pout growing bigger with each bite.
As I scraped the remaniants of my plate into the trash, I listened haphazardly to the news.“A few more schools to add to our list.” The ice outside began to grow seemingly thicker as the pellets clanged down on our window.
The next five words out of the radio announcer’s mouth came to me as a complete shock. “Riverdale High School in Pierrefonds.”
This is the story of the first and the last time that I ever got to experience the joy of a snow day. That snow day ended up lasting 2 weeks, and was dubbed Ice Storm ’98. Shortly after this excited morning, our power went out. For the next few days, we crammed into my grandmother’s two-bedroom apartment along with my 6 other cousins. We buried our meat in the snow to preserve it, and we lit more candles than the St Joseph’s Oratory. All in all, this storm taught me that there really had to be a MASSIVE amount of bad weather and power outages to truly merit a Snow Day.
And then, today happened.
And it was the most joyous wake-up call I’ve ever received.
Because this time, I’m getting paid for it.
An unexpected day off is the perfect time to make a breakfast reminiscent of my childhood: devilled eggs.
Devilled Eggs
an original recipe by allison sklar
what you’ll need
3 eggs
1 tbsp prepared ranch or ceasar salad dressing (or mayonnaise)
1 chopped green onion (optional)
Paprika, salt & pepper to taste
how to do it
Hard-boil your eggs. (Boil 4 cups of water, then spoon the egg gently (with it’s shell and all!) into the boiling water. Lower heat to med-low, cover, and simmer for 6 minutes.)
Remove from heat and run under cold water to peel off the shells.
Pat eggs dry with paper towel.
Slice eggs in half, lengthwise.
Use a small spoon to gently transfer yolks into a bowl.
Mash yolk with dressing until creamy consistency is reached. (Additional dressing (or mayo) will yield a creamier consistency). Mix in green onion.
Spoon yolk mixture evenly back into egg whites.
Sprinkle with paprika, salt and pepper.
Serve immediately.
NOTE: I recommend that if this is the first time you’re doing this, add an extra egg into the pot, just in case you get stuck with one that cracks or breaks during preparation.
