A Halloween Story

I was just reminiscing about Halloween.

And how as kids my brothers and I went out all decked out in my mom's most recent sewing projects armed with nothing but a pillowcase each and the pure resolve to fill them to the brim.

I don't think we ever actually got them that full, but in my mind the pillowcase was always half-full.

(being of an optimistic nature)

Anyway -

THE best part about all the trick or treating was coming home, dumping our candy out on the living room floor in three piles, and tallying up the goods. We never mixed our candy (NO WAY), but rather took careful stock of what we had (in preparation for impending thievery), disposed of anything open (popcorn balls?), broken (lollypops), or unsavory (peanuts/raisins) and then proceeded with the process of trading goods.

This was way more badass than any monopoly property trades, and definitely had way more on the line.

This was like, little-kid-trade-your-soul-for-a-mounds seriousness right here. And we definitely had a barter system...like:

One name brand candy (milky way) = six shitty candies (excluding gold pirate coins)
One mini Three Musketeers = one full size Snickers
One Starburst packet = two Dum Dums.
One Nerds box = One Nerds box (seriously)

And so on.

And we knew that we damn well better save a few blow pops for mom (as payment for making our costumes, of course), and almond joys and Reese's peanut butter cups for dad (as payment for escorting us safely through egg-bombed streets) or else use them as decoys to steer him away from the full stash later on. (I don't know about you people, but I had an entire drawer devoted to halloween candy, and the stock would last until Easter...albeit by then it consisted of stale tootsie rolls and the occasional starburst)

And then when the trading and packing away and tallying was done, I rationed it out until the next appointed mass-candy-receival (i.e. Easter).

Like, I'm talking, I get ONE Three Musketeers a week ( my favorite halloween candy).

Now I just buy a bar of super dark chocolate and I'm set for approximately ten days before I need to replenish the supply.

eggs in lisa's life

For those out there who don't know, I used to hate eggs.

I mean, I used to HATE EGGS!

Eggs made me gag and my mother made me eat them and it made me really dislike Sunday mornings; we had eggs on Sunday mornings before going to church.

Now, I could tolerate a scrambled egg. Fried eggs of any kind made my Sunday morning breakfast jump into my napkin and down the toilet. (See my eggs really didn't like me either). Hard boiled eggs were the absolute worst. It is no wonder deviled eggs come from these. They are definitely born in hell. My throat began to close up even at the mention of a hard boiled egg and the smell made me run across the border into Canada. (Fact: There are no hard boiled eggs in Canada).

Things change, people grow up, eggs become more friendly. I began to start enjoying scrambled eggs and would order them on the rare occasion we went out for breakfast. I would even partake in the scrambled eggs at the DC.

Now most of the time I wouldn't condone this kind of behavior, but in college there are those far and in between nights when the alcohol comes out. On one of these occasions in junior year, whilst living with some of the most glamorous people on Stanley Street, one of my housemates decided to whip up a late night fried egg, oe. (That means over easy). Damn! Did that egg look and smell fantastic! I couldn't just watch as Nina ate her egg alone. I would have to eat one for myself. And guess what? I enjoyed it. And it wasn't just the slight inebriation because I continued to cook and eat an oe egg on top of a slice of toast as a breakfast staple a good three or four mornings out the week.

I will put that same oe egg on top of a bowl of oatmeal, grits, rice and beans, in a sandwich or burger, and more. Oh the delights of the incredible edible egg!

The hard boiled however, has been a harder egg to crack. But today might have marked the day that Lisa came to terms with her last egg demon. While reading Rebecca Currie's food blog, I came across a recipe for egg salad. While quite common and served at numerous functions, egg salad has always been another egg "no-zone" as they are made from hard boiled. Reading this post, the thought came that I may be ready for the final leg in this journey; that now is the time to accept hard boiled eggs as a part of my life. Here is the post:

"I made this for the first time maybe a year ago when I was really hungry one afternoon and everything I thought of making was missing some key ingredient. After running through a dozen potential options in my head, all of which weren’t going to work for one reason or another, I was left with eggs as the only possibility. Scrambled eggs didn’t sound good or fried eggs either, I didn’t want breakfast, and then I realized I had mayonnaise and I could make egg salad.

Egg salad! Brilliant!

And it was fabulous. And then it was vastly improved the next time when I had it on an everything bagel.

So my new favorite thing is egg salad on an everything bagel.

And it seems sort of silly to give a recipe for this — like telling people how to pour a glass of milk — but I’m going to anyway, because it won’t hurt and it’s the first recipe I’ve put up in a really long time. You gotta to start somewhere.

My New Favorite Thing Egg Salad

[I think everyone knows how to make hard-boiled eggs but just in case ... place eggs in a single layer in a pot and cover with cold water. Cover the pot. Put over high heat and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and let simmer for 15 minutes. Remove eggs and chill.]

Makes 1 large or 2 small servings

2 hard-boiled eggs
1 Tablespoon mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon mustard
salt
pepper
paprika

Remove shell from eggs. Slice eggs crosswise, then chop. Put the chopped egg into a small bowl and add mayonnaise and mustard. Stir to mix. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and paprika.

I use yellow mustard, cause I’m a yellow mustard kind of person, but I think whatever kind of mustard you like and/or have around should work.

Serve on bread or crackers or a tortilla or a bagel. If it’s your lucky day, you’ll have an everything bagel in your house and you’ll get to eat it on that.

Yum."

So tune in to see if I've gone from this to this