I just got back from Los Angeles on a bit of a whirlwind trip where I left Children behind with my parents so that I could fly down to LA. The occasion? A daughter of very close friends of ours decided to get married. And to have a wedding. So I went.
The more remarkable part of the entire event was that this was the first wedding I have attended as friends of the PARENTS and NOT the bride or groom. It means I'm old. That's what that means. Granted Husband and my friends are older than we are, but we are definitely much closer to the age of the parents than we are of the bride or groom. We were invited because were were good friends of the parents (and actually former Sunday school teachers of the bride) but we were not invited because we were friends of the bride.
The wedding itself was a reunion of old (now much older) faces of who we were when we were in our 20s. Now the vast majority of us were in our 40's, some very close to our 50's. It was surreal, sitting at the wedding reception, and realizing that the music was causing headaches. At one point, while we older folks danced, one of my friends turned to me and said, "This music is killing my ears" (it was some rap/hip-hop thing, whose title I have no idea) and I responded, "Go request something." HER husband heard me say it, and replied, "Should I ask for Depeche Mode?" OMD? Do you think they have A-Ha? How about we try some Erasure, Oh L'amour" and he ran off. He came back a few moments later, looking smug saying, "I requested some music."
I calmly walked off stage, as I really wasn't much in the mood to dance with the old folks anyways, and sat down, and soon thereafter, I heard the plaintive strains of "Oh L'amour" beginning to be played, with the DJ, bellowing into the mike (so as to clarify that this was NOT his song choice) "We've had a request for this song." The dance floor cleared so quickly, you'd think that someone had farted something terrible. In the end, there were only 4 people dancing on the dance floor, the only four people in the joint who knew the song and were willing to dance to it. (the photo below is the dance floor cleared off at the beginning of Oh L'amour)
However, despite our poor taste in music and our lack of "young" hipness, we were cool in our retro chicness. I will say that as we danced in a circle, using moves no self-respecting 20 year old would dance, we looked awesome. So awesome, that repeatedly young people we did not know would dive into our circle and want to dance with US. The first time it happened, I turned to my friend and asked, "Does he know that this is the old fogey group?" and when it continued to happen again and again, I realized, that we weren't the old fogey group, but rather some cool retro chic group who knew how to have fun.
I had a great time, mostly because the company was so amazing, but the night was super fun and it was nice, for a moment, to be surrounded by young people and feel like I sort of fit in.
In many ways, I feel like deviled eggs are sort of that retro cool chic. It's a throw back to cocktail parties even before MY time, but I've decided that they are too yummy to miss. Tyler Florence does them amazingly at his restaurant (one of my absolute favorite things to order at Wayfare Tavern) and the other day, when I had some leftover smoked salmon that I wanted to use up, I came up with this version. It's still fun to eat half an egg with a luscious filling and it's still chic and cool to serve it.
Deviled Eggs with Smoked Salmon and Capers
Makes 16
Ingredients
8 eggs (I like to cook 10 eggs, just in case I mess up)
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 oz of smoked salmon, finely chopped
2 tablespoons scallions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of capers finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Fill a large saucepan with the eggs and water to cover the eggs entirely. Cover. Heat eggs over high heat until boiling. Once water has boiled, turn off water and leave pot covered. Allow eggs to sit in the just boiled water for 7 minutes. Once 7 minutes have passed, drain water and refill pot with cold water. Allow eggs to cool in the cold water. Once eggs are cool enough to handle, carefully peel eggs. (This is why a few extra eggs helps, because sometimes you mess up and don’t make a smooth peel.)
Cut each egg in half. Carefully remove yolks and place them in a bowl and set whites on a work surface. Once all yolks have been removed, mash them with a fork. Add mayonnaise, sour cream and lemon juice. Mix until consistency is cream. Add salmon, scallions, and capers. Mix. Salt and pepper to taste. (Definitely do NOT add much salt as capers and salmon are salty.)
Carefully scoop egg yolk mixture into each hollow of the white. I used a disher to do so, some people use a pastry bag for a more perfect look, but I found that the disher worked just fine. Serve immediately, or cover and chill until needed.
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3 comments:
LOVED reading this! Maybe because I'm in the old fogey class myself :) Your deviled eggs also reminded me of my daughter's home ec cooking exams. She made deviled eggs, as the theme was to cook a recipe from one of our local communities here in Singapore. Deviled eggs is an Eurasian recipe for us. She had such an easy time, making these eggs, while her classmates were slaving over some really complicated Asian dish! Her teacher liked her idea very much and gave her a good grade :)
P.S. My taste in music goes even further back, to ABBA?!!
ooooo looks delish!! :) im going to whip up some of those for easter
I love deviled eggs because you can do so many different things with them . . . you can make them spicy with little jalapenos, or add a little bacon piece to the top, add sweet pickle relish, curry, and a number of other ingredients for different tastes.
I put the yoke mixture into a zip lock bag, cut a tiny corner, and squeeze it into each little egg "cup" for a nice look.
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