Bacon Deviled Eggs

Two years ago, I was baptized on Easter Sunday. I was able to celebrate with my friends and family, and one of the highlights of the day (don’t laugh) were these rice krispie treats my friend made. They were sooo ooey and gooey and clearly very memorable.

I knew people made treats for Easter but I didn’t understand why. Growing up I didn’t celebrate Easter as a major holiday. We basically bought candy and hosted an egg hunt at our house for a few kids. I’ve probably taken pictures with the Easter bunny twice. That defined Easter for me.

But now I can see that Easter has a different meaning for those that follow Jesus. And people make treats to celebrate this occasion and to make memories, like ooey-gooey rice krispie treats! I’m not going to feature rice krispies today (you can find my chewy chocolatey recipe here), but I am going to showcase my bacon deviled eggs!

My mom never made deviled eggs… Hello! I grew up in a Chinese household. Soy sauce eggs can be found in the fridge constantly, but none of this mayo-mixed egg yolk. The first time I had a deviled egg that I could remember was at Park Tavern in San Francisco about 2 years ago (where have deviled eggs been all my life). At $2 for half an egg, I’d rather make my own version at home. Don’t get me wrong, the smoked deviled eggs are amazing, but I don’t know if it’s $2 amazing…

So challenge accepted, and I set out to make my own smoked deviled egg. The bacon deviled egg is my result! Not too much mayo, and lots of smoked flavor from the bacon, paprika, and hickory salt.

I made these for my last LAN party and they were a hit! I actually had to save two for a friend who was coming to the party late. This recipe calls for a dozen eggs, but I’m not even kidding when I say you should make more!

Finished

Bacon Deviled Eggs

Ingredients:

  • One dozen eggs
  • 6 strips of bacon*
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika (normal paprika is good too)*
  • 1 teaspoon of hickory salt (can substitute salt)
  • 1 pinch of red pepper flakes

*Both from Trader Joe’s. The applewood smoked bacon is amazing and the smoked paprika has a great flavor

Directions:

1. Boil the eggs. The best way to do this is to submerge your eggs in cold water and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, turn off the heat and leave the eggs in water for 15 minutes. Drain out the water and place the eggs in ice cold water for easy peeling. Peel all your eggs and cut them into halves, and take out the egg yolks into a separate bowl.
2. Cook 6 strips of bacon until crispy. Then set bacon aside and cut into small pieces.
3. Add the remaining ingredients to the egg yolk (mayo, mustard, paprika, salt, and pepper flakes). Now this is the money right here – add a tablespoon of bacon oil to the egg yolks. Mash up the egg yolks and mix in the ingredients until combined.
4. Scoop the egg yolk mixture into each of the egg white halves and top with a piece of bacon.

Eggs

Peeled

Yolk

One

Done

Bacon makes everything better. Agreed?

What are some of your favorite Easter treats? Do you have a deviled egg recipe that you love? Please share!

Stay tuned for my Good Friday post,
Jay

Annual Pumpkin Carving Party

I love the Fall/Winter season. For one thing, the weather gets colder so warm and comfy sweaters and boots. Secondly, the holidays – Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.

It’s Halloween this Thursday! Halloween has always been one of those holidays where my parents decorate the house so the Fall/Winter fun kicks off on 10/31. Now that I’m married, MG and I get to start our own annual traditions. The pumpkin carving party started last year, and I really hope to continue this event year after year. We go to the pumpkin patch in the morning with friends, pick out our pumpkins, head home to rest a bit and snack on treats, then start the carving!

This year I decked out the decorations for the carving party. Our closest friends joined us, and we had a great time!

Holly, David, and I went to the patch together to pick out our pumpkins at Pastorino Farm and Lemos Farm in Half Moon Bay. MG wasn’t able to go since he had a bachelor’s party this year. It was the perfect day – some wind and lots of sun! We got there early too to avoid traffic. It’s always a joy to watch little toddlers running around while parents are trying to get pictures of them in the patch. Guess that will be me one day!

Here are some fun pictures from my iPhone. Sadly my camera died right before we got to the patch (newbie mistake)!Pumpkin Patch

Special thanks to David for the next three pictures! Glad someone’s camera was working!

Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin patch

Holly and me
Do you go to the pumpkin patch every year? What do you like to look at?

Look at our carved pumpkins!

Carved PumpkinsWhich one do you like best? What did you carve this year?

Carvers

Carved PumpkinsSo pretty when lit up! I sprinkled some cinnamon on the lids before lighting the candle. My house smells awesome!

Messy
W
e collected all the ooey-gooey-ness and cleaned off the seeds and made….

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Wash and dry your seeds. Add two tablespoons of melted butter, sprinkle garlic seasoning, pepper, and salt. Then roast them for 45 minutes at 300°, turning the seeds over every 15 minutes for an even roast. So crunchy and delicious!

To make things more fun, I adorned the house with some low cost, easy to do decorations!

Webs
Done over and over again, but definitely adds to the setting!

Mice
I found some cute mice wall decals at Target for $5 a pack (10-15 mice decals)

Zombie blockade
I’m really proud of this zombie blockade! I found a cardboard box and cut it into strips, then used a Sharpie and drew wood grain. I cut out hand silhouettes from poster and spray painted them black for the zombie hands. Looks really cool over a window or a fire place! What do you think?

Stairs - Zombie
I cut out and spray painted some extra hands and taped them against the banister so that it looks like zombies are reaching out to you as you walk up the stairs. It actually took 2 days to adjust to this because looking from the bottom of the staircase, it’s a bit terrifying.

Zombies
Here’s an up-close shot

As I was spray painting the hands against a cardboard, the outlines turned out to be a pretty cool backdrop.

Zom HandsI placed this against a wall for some extra effect

Lastly, Halloween themed food is one of my favorite parts of this holiday!

Chex Snacks
Chocolate covered Chex with Candy Corn and Reece’s Pieces. This is such an easy to make snack! Melt semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave, add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and mix into Chex evenly. Then add 3/4th cup of powdered sugar and evenly coat (I like to shake them in a Ziploc).

Eyeballs
Blood shot eyeball deviled eggs. Use a toothpick and red dye to draw veins, use green coloring in the mashed up yolk, and olives for the pupils.

Spiders
Spider deviled eggs with olives

Cupcakes
Owl and brain cupcakes! The owl’s eyes are Oreos with Reece’s Pieces. Aren’t they so cute?

Brain CupcakeBrain cupcakes! Red velvet cake with strawberry filling/guts. Yum

Do you celebrate Halloween? What is your annual Halloween tradition? Anything you want to try from this post?

Happy Halloween!
Jay