Egg-cellent Egg Salad

When Easter gives you hard boiled eggs, make egg salad. That's my motto, anyway. Even when life gives you a partial carton of eggs about to expire, make egg salad. Truly, there is never a time when egg salad isn't the answer for me. I will admit that my affinity for the lunchtime treat is one that I acquired as an adult. As a child, I never would have even thought about eating egg salad - and I only liked the whites of the hard-boiled Easter eggs, dipped in lots of salt. The yolks went right into the trash. But, as my tastes have refined, and my resistance to throwing away eggs has grown, egg salad is the perfect answer. The recipe once again comes from Betty, Crocker that it is. She has two methods - cold water and boiling water. I go with the cold, for no other reason than it appears first in the book and after doing it that way once, it became my preferred method. Really, there's nothing to it, hard-boiled eggs, peeled and mashed, some mayo, a little salt and pepper and some good bread or even better, a bagel. Sometimes, just to be daring, I like chopped black olives mixed in as well. They add a little extra saltiness, and I like that.

Holy Easter Egg, Batman! And when I say Batman, you know that I am referring to the 1960's campy romp starring Adam West. Full of POW! and WHAM! and terrific guest villains - TV was never better. My favorite villain was of course the great Vincent Price (of Professor Whitehead/Brady Bunch Hawaii fame) as Egghead - the brilliant, yet slightly warped bald arch criminal out to foil Batman and Robin at every turn. Using egg-themed weapons laid by chickens on an onion only diet, he was the wizard of egg puns and his speech peppered with words such as egg-actly, egg-cellent, egg-ceptional and egg-citing (you get the point). Sure, Penguin, Joker, Riddler, Cat Woman (all 3) and King Tut might have had more air time, but nothing is as rotten as an egg gone bad. Will Batman and Robin escape without egg on their faces? Tune in tomorrow - same bat time, same bat channel.


The Recipe:

6 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
1//3 c mayonnaise
1/4 tsp salt
dash of pepper
black olives, if you got 'em

Special Equipment: Bat saucepan, Bat stove, Bat timer

Place eggs in a saucepan, add enough cold water to come at least 1 inch above the eggs. Heat rapidly to a boil. remove from heat. Cover and let stand 22 minutes. Immediately cool eggs in cold water to prevent further cooking. Tap egg to crackle shell. Roll egg between hands to loosen shell, then peel. Hold egg  under cold running water to help loosen shell. Place shelled eggs in a bowl and chop with a fork. Add mayo, salt and pepper and mix well. Chill. Makes 6 sandwiches, enough for a lovely luncheon at Stately Wayne Manor with Bruce, his young ward Dick, Aunt Harriet, Alfred, Commissioner Gordon and Chief O'Hara.