Maude’s Deviled Eggs

Hard boil a dozen eggs: place eggs into a pot, cover with cold water about 1 inch above the top of the eggs. Bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover and let stand for about 18 minutes. Pour off the hot water, run cold water into the pot to stop the eggs from continuing to cook. Drain.

Remove shells: tap egg lightly on the counter, then roll between hands to loosen the shell. Peel. If shell is hard to remove, try running cold water over egg while peeling it.

Cut each egg in half and slip out the yolks and place the yolks in a mixing bowl. Then mash the yolks with a fork. Mix in the 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, mustard and vinegar to taste (but I find that about 2 Tablespoons of each is about right). Also add about 2 Tablespoons of chopped sweet pickles, if desired. Mixture needs to be moist enough to stick together so adjust the ingredients until it reaches the right consistency and it has the right amount of tartness.

Refill egg whites with yolk mixture. I like to put the yolk mixture into a Ziplock bag, then cut one of the tips off of the bag and pipe the mixture back into the egg whites.

Garnish with olive halves on top and sprinkle with paprika, if desired.

(I had a little trouble peeling my eggs, as you can see in the picture… I will post a better picture next time I make these!)