Deviled Eggs

I spent Easter weekend with my mom and extended family, and one thing we can do really well is eat! After the Easter egg hunt and the Easter basket search...after games of Farkle (it's a dice game, people!) and movies, we had certainly worked up an appetite! And as can be expected from my good-cookin' momma, we had quite the feast! It's nice to be able to help my mom with the cooking in whatever way I can (not that she needs the help), but she has started to take me up on my offers more often...perhaps this blog is paying off ;) This time around, I was put in charge of Deviled Eggs.

Ingredients
1 dozen eggs, hard-boiled (see below)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
Hot sauce (I usually do 4-5 dashes, but you can adjust to your heat preference)
Fresh chives
Paprika, salt and black pepper


Directions
1. First hard-boil your eggs. Start by bringing them to as close to room temperature as possible (leave them out on the counter for 30-60 min before you are ready to boil).
2. Place them in the bottom of a large pot. Don't cram them in or they could crack during boiling.
3. Add cold water to the pot so that the eggs are just covered.
4. Cover the pot and bring to a boil over high heat.
5. Once the pot reaches a rolling boil, remove the pot from the heat and let them sit in the hot water, lid still on, for 30 minutes to continue cooking.
6. Remove the eggs to a bowl of ice water and let them sit for about 20 minutes. Cooling them quickly should prevent that icky green ring from forming around the yolks.
7. Once the eggs are cooled, peel them and rinse under cold water to ensure all the bits of shell have been discarded.


Now, onto the filling.
8. Cut each egg in half and discard the egg yolks into a medium mixing bowl.
9. Add the mayonnaise, mustard, hot sauce, chopped chives, salt and pepper to the yolks.
10. With a fork, mix until well-combined.
11. Place your egg whites on a serving platter.
12. Put the filling into a piping bag (if you don't have one of these, you can use a Ziplock bag with the corner snipped off...or just use a spoon), and pipe a generous amount into each egg white.
13. Sprinkle with paprika and more fresh chives. Serve.