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I asked my mom if I could be the one to share the Deviled Eggs recipe with you to help you get ready for your Easter dinner and she said yes. Growing up, every time we had a family gathering that included a meal, my aunt Karen brought the deviled eggs. It sort of became mandatory for her to do so because everyone wanted them. They were (and are!) always so delicious, and you'd want to make sure you got to them first before they ran out. So, thanks to my aunt Karen I've grown up loving deviled eggs, and I really wanted to share this recipe with you.

First things first, you really need to know how to hard boil eggs. If you do it right they'll be easy to peel. Did you know that fresher eggs are harder to peel? As eggs get older the egg white shrinks. Well, since you don't want to use old eggs, here is how to hard boil them.

1. Place the eggs in water with baking soda. 

2. Put on the stove on high heat and bring to a boil.

3. Boil the eggs for one minute (use a timer).

4. Cover the eggs, turn the heat off and let the eggs sit covered on the hot burner for another 10 minutes. (Time it again.)

5. After ten minutes put the eggs in ice cold water and leave for five minutes.

If you follow those steps your shells will peel beautifully and easily and you'll have lovely deviled eggs.

Now normally I'd probably use a hand blender to mix all the ingredients together because it gets them really smooth. However, this time around my little helper had worn herself out making deviled eggs, so I just had to use a fork. Either method works just fine. I also used a ziplock bag and a piping tip to fill the eggs to give them that pretty design. You can use a piping bag and tip, or just scoop with a spoon.

Finally, my aunt Karen puts bacon bits in her deviled eggs. I didn't have any bacon bits when I made this batch, but I still included them in the recipe because... bacon bits are good.

Super Easy Deviled Eggs

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Hello dear readers. Today we have a guest post from Alicia's husband, Adrian.

Bonus Recipe!! This is Adrian Maruri. The Ecuadorian food recipe month was a crazy one and we are already on the Irish month which so far has been quite tasty. My wife couldn’t post weekly about the meals in the Ecuadorian month as she likes to, so I volunteered to post the last recipe plus a very special bonus dessert: Plantain Cake! (which has got to be the most Ecuadorian desert) As always, desert is the last course so we’ll start with the last meal of the Ecuador series, the delicious “Arroz Con Menestra y Carne” (steak, rice, and lentils).

The recipe I used can be found in the great Laylita’s website where she has a wide range of Ecuadorian recipes so I’ll copy the recipe here and only comment on the things I did differently or in addition to it and any comments I may have.

Arroz con Menestra y Carne

As you can see in the picture, instead of serving this meal with sliced avocados, I like to make Guacamole to dip the fried plantain slices in. The side fried plantain for this meal is usually green and preferably so in my opinion. As a traditional occurrence when making lentil menestra, you’ll always end up with leftovers which is best to keep in the freezer and will be great later when you’re in a pinch since the lentils are great on their own, better with rice, and best with an added sunny-side up egg on top.

Now what you came for… The Plantain Cake! There’s probably not a more Ecuadorian dessert out there, at least not a proper one (some people call a fruit salad a desert which is fine but I think cake wins the “dessertiness” contest) Now, full disclosure, you don’t really use green plantains in this recipe as depicted in the thumbnail, they must be very ripe. I should add, I have never made or had this before until now so I can’t confirm whether this is the best or the worst recipe for this cake, but I really enjoyed it. I also know that the have different versions of this cake in Colombia and Venezuela but how different or in what way, I don’t know. So without further ado, here it is:

Plantain Cake

For reference, here is a link to the recipe site, although be warned, it is all in Spanish: https://cookpad.com/es/recetas/116152-torta-de-maduro-ecuatoriana

​I was so curious when I saw cheese as part of the ingredients but I have to say it added a nice contrast to the sweetness of the cake which in part makes sense because in Ecuador we eat plantain with cheese all the time, green or ripe, but a cake with cheese was new to me. The consistency was a bit more like a plantain flan than a cake, which doesn’t take from its deliciousness, I was just left wondering if a different recipe would get me vastly different results… who knows. Hope you enjoy these recipes!

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     My SIL, Geri came from a strong Portuguese family.  She was the oldest of 7 children, born into a family with strong ties, religious beliefs and traditions.  She was very proud of them and helped to carry on the traditions as she grew into adulthood.  I wrote about Geri on another post, when she passed away unexpectedly.  It is amazing to realize, as I think about her, what a mark she left on her husband's, my brother's family as well. There are so many things that I see in my day to day routine that remind me of her on almost a daily basis.  She was a great example of how to keep family ties strong.
     One of the traditions that she kept with her mother, that was a long held tradition in the Portuguese culture, was to make the sweet Easter Bread with the colored egg inside.  They would make this bread in large batches and give the loaves away to friends and family.  By virtue of marriage, our family became the lucky recipients of these tasty loaves every year.  Even when I married and lived away from home, Geri would mail my husband and I a loaf of this wonderful Portuguese Easter Bread. 
     Then, one year, I was asked to teach a bread baking class and I thought of this bread and thought it would be a great loaf to teach.  I wrote my SIL and asked about the bread and if I could possibly have the recipe.  Geri sent me a variety of recipes and variations, plus the cultural history of the bread.  Her mother's recipe was large, calling for 10 pounds of flour! I was a little overwhelmed by that and didn't end up including this bread in my class.  But, I always kept the recipe and the letter she sent, intending to tackle the recipe one day. Well! Today was the day!  3 of my grandchildren helped me to color the eggs (you can see them above) and we set about making the bread. I am so happy to share with you Portuguese Easter Bread and its story, via the words of my dear sister-in-law, Geri. 

     "The sweet bread is traditionally made for Easter and given away to friends and family.  This is a tradition my mom sticks to.  
      Keep the dough warm! We make the loaves in cake pans. Before you put it in the pans, knead each loaf to get out all the air bubbles, but don't work it too long."

     "A hard boiled egg goes in the middle with 2 strips of dough forming a cross.  This symbolizes death and resurrection-Christ's triumphant victory!"

     Geri went on to say, "As you can see from the recipes i found, everyone has their own variation.  I don't even know my grandma Dias' recipe-my dad always liked his mother-in-laws recipe better.  It was a lot sweeter.
     In the Azores, 'the old country', sweetbread is made into little birdies or individual loaves and given to people on the street during the traditional village celebrations when they bless the cows and give away milk. (Geri grew up on her dad's dairy farm!) The celebrations take place after Pentecost.  There's usually  1 or 2 a week all during the summer on the Island of Terceira.  The Portuguese in California have continued to have the celebrations.  Instead of sweetbread, they serve a type of stew, "soupas".  They serve anyone who comes regardless of race, color or religion.  They do it to honor the Holy Spirit. The Portuguese Community donates everything.  They also take pans of soupas to the sick, elderly or anyone who can't come.  They have a parade, a mass, a few dances and serve the soupas at lunch and dinner.  As kids, we always participated in one way or another in the parades.  A big and little queen is chosen to represent Queen Elizabeth who fed the poor.  Some towns really go all out!"  
     Can you feel the love and pride that she had in her culture and family as she wrote me these words?  I wish that I had made the bread before she left us so I could tell her about my experience. 
        I am going to share my adapted version of the Sweet Bread Recipe.  Sorry I don't have the Soupas recipe.  I am sure it is delicious though and if I can get it from my brother, I will share it with you. 

Sweet Portuguese Easter Bread

This delicious bread is a wonderful tradition! Perhaps you would like to incorporate it into your family's Easter plans. The symbolism of this bread is especially appropriate because when Geri wrote of "Christ's Triumphant Victory," it reminded me that she had the faith to know that we would all be together again because of that victory and so do I.
Thanks for stopping by!
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     A while ago, I went on an Oatmeal Cookie quest to find a recipe that my husband would find to be as good as his grandma's.  I don't know that I ever accomplished that magical feat, but my husband was really happy to get to eat a lot of Oatmeal Raisin cookies for awhile.  
     The other day, I was thinking that I should make him another batch.  I was tempted to put chocolate chips in them because that is how I like them.  But, I also like raisins as well.  Then, I came across these! 

     I actually used my favorite Browned Butter Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe, and just substituted the chocolate covered raisins for the regular raisins.  It did change the texture of the recipe a bit I think.  The raisins weren't as prevalent as in the regular recipe.  What you get are these bursts of sweet surprises as you eat the cookies. 

     In case you don't want to go back to my old post, where there is a pdf of the recipe, I am going to post a printable version here! I hope that you enjoy it as much as we did.  I told my son, who is serving a mission in Africa, about this recipe.  He asked me, "Why didn't you think of those before I left?"  Ha Ha!  I promised to make him some when he gets home! 

Chocolate Covered Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

Here are more Chocolate Covered Raisin Options: