We recently had a family meal and everyone brought food for it. That being the case, we ended up with three platters of deviled eggs among the multitude of dishes. What I found interesting is that no two people make them the same around here :) so I thought I would look up some varieties and share them with you along with my favorites.

Now some people like to make it fancy and put the filling in a cake frosting tube with tips and pipe them into the egg white shells while others simply pile them up with deliciousness. I've seen them sprinkled with paprika and plain and I bet you know of a few other ways to garnish these yummy treats! Here are a few recipes that might tempt you to experiment with these little goodies.

Your basic deviled eggs starts with a hard boiled egg of course. For those of you who may not have made these before, to hard boil an egg for deviled eggs you will want eggs that are around 5 days old (refigerated of course) so that they will peel easily. Put cold water into a pan and gently place the eggs in. You want to make sure the water is completely covering the eggs. Gently bring them to a boil. Some add a little salt and some people don't. I do because I was always told you were supposed to ha ha.

Anyway, when the water starts to boil good turn down the heat and simmer another minute or two. Then turn off the heat and let set in the hot water at least 12 - 15 minutes. If you've piled the eggs in the pan you might want to let it simmer a little longer and sit longer as well. After sitting you can replace the hot water with cold water a few times until the eggs are cool enough to handle.

For deviled eggs you will need to peel the eggs and slice them in half, lengthwise. Carefully remove the yolks and place them in a small bowl. The egg whites can be place on a tray or plate while you mash the yolks and make your filling to put in them.

NOTE: If you are making a variety of flavors of eggs you might want to do a variety of toppings or pipe some with different designs so family/guests will be able to tell which ones they liked the best when they go back for more (which is very likely).

Also if you want to get the kids involved mix the filling in freezer bags. The kids will enjoy mashing them then cut a small corner off and let them squeeze the filling into the shells. Easy and less messy for them!

Now who said deviled eggs have to be plain? All recipes are for 1 dozen eggs.

Cheesy Bacon Egg Appetizers

12 egg yolks
1/2 c. mayonnaise
3 Tbsp finely shredded cheese of your choice (I love Edam)
2 tsp mustard

Fill egg white shells and sprinkle with crumbled cooked bacon.

Salmon Egg Appetizers

Your basic deviled egg ingredients plus salmon make this one pop!

12 egg yolks
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1- 6 oz can of salmon, drained well
1 Tbsp finely minced onion
Salt & Pepper to taste


Dijon Deviled Eggs

12 egg yolks
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp finely minced onion
1/4 teaspoon tabasco
Salt & Pepper to taste
Paprika

Fill the egg white shells and sprinkle with a little bit of paprika

Flurry of Curry Eggs

12 egg yolks
1/2 c. mayonnaise
2 Tbsp mustard
2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp finely minced onion
2 Tbsp sweet pickle relish
1/2 tsp black pepper


Bacon/Ranch Egg Bites

12 egg yolks