These Deviled Eggs are so good they should be called “Angeled”

Have you planned your Easter menu yet? We planned ours like a zillion weeks ago because I LOVE thinking about what I’m going to eatnext, even if “next” is a zillion weeks away… plus I had wanted Ham and Deviled Eggs and oh, um, what if we had grits and grillades, too? Or Quail with tomato gravy??  

But now it turns out we’re heading to the beach for my favorite religious holiday because my mama snagged a condo for us, so all the menus I had in my mind got thrown out the window. We’ll be having fresh gulf shrimp something-or-other (which will be oh-so-fine) instead of our traditional dishes. Since we won’t be around next weekend, I insisted that we have our favorite Easter foods this past weekend instead. Ham, asparagus, and deviled eggs…y’all! It was divine! (no Easter pun intended.)

According to my cousin Virginia, my mama makes THE. BEST. DEVILED. EGGS. IN. THE. WORLD. As Virginia travels all over the country nearly every day of the week for her job and fun, and eats at all the best highbrow AND the lowbrow places, I’m pretty sure she knows what she’s talking about.

I’m sharing the recipe here, but there’s one tiny problem. I’m almost one-hundred  percent sure that the REASON Mama’s eggs are so fine is because she uses her homemade sweet pickles and sweet pickle juice in the recipe. I’m planning to share that recipe this summer when it’s pickling time, but as of right this minute, the best you can do is approximating the deviled egg recipe with store-bought sweet pickles. I’m pretty sure though, that even without the sweet pickles this will be better than any other version of deviled eggs that you’ve ever put in your mouth, so, there’s that.

But before we get to that, can I ask you something? Why do you think DEVILED eggs are so popular on Easter, a holiday about joy and hope and resurrection? hm.

I have a hunch it’s just because “deviled” just means “spicy” and they go really, really well with ham. But really, doesn’t the wording just seem funny?

Either way, they are delicious, and a perfect compliment to a spicy ham and potato salad or whatever. Have them at Easter, make them on the Fourth of July, pack them for your church picnic or whatever, but make them and gobble them down (and then make them again when I post the pickle recipe!) let me know what you think!