June 16th, 2009 - 9:28 am

Early morning deviled eggs

At 5:30 this morning, I was making deviled eggs, or, at least, I thought I was. I now find out that I was making stuffed eggs.

But more on that in a minute. My egg recipe is pretty simple. Mix the egg yolks with mayo and mustard until the creaminess seems right. Then, spoon the mix into the halved egg whites.

I always sprinkle a little paprika for color and top each egg with an olive. It’s so basic that I began wondering how other people make their eggs. I’d really like you to tell me.

Do you add other ingredients? I checked my "Food Lover’s Companion," which describes food, drink, and culinary terms. That’s when I found out the difference between a deviled egg and a stuffed egg.

This is probably one of those things that everyone knows but me. According to the food dictionary, a stuffed egg is what I described above and can include various flavorings like herbs, Worcestershire, or curry powder. It’s only called a deviled egg if you’ve added cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce.

The reason I was making the eggs is because I’m going to a cookout tonight. My family is celebrating new beginnings: a nephew who became an NYPD cop, another nephew who graduated from MICA, and a niece who just had a baby. I'm so proud of all of them.

But I hope they won’t be disappointed that I’m bringing stuffed eggs, not deviled eggs!