Diner Classics & Awards

The behind the scenes “stats” board of a blog are a strange phenomenon. The posts that make the numbers spike are always interesting to me. Generating an audience is a pretty neat trick, albeit one I haven’t mastered yet. I have to assume that content is a little piece of the action- a smidge of a contributing factor- and the content here that sends numbers soaring is neither fancy nor the best of my literary attempts. It is plain old everyone-makes-it-everyone-loves-it-order-it-in-every-greasy-spoon-in-America food.

People love a tuna melt. They love oatmeal cookies or chewy chocolate chip. They love cozy casseroles made with familiar ingredients that are probably already in their cabinets, and can definitely be found at any local grocery store. I’ve decided that in honor of the classics, and because of my super love of classic diner food, I’d start a little series here- a collection of recipes paying homage to the All-American standbys we all know and love. A few weeks ago I posted a tuna melt. Today the star of my show is egg salad.
But before I bang out this recipe, and WHILE I’m paying homage to things that are awesome (like diner food and chocolate chip cookies), I need to address some awards that came my way. I have amassed a small collection of awards in recent weeks and would like to take a minute to acknowledge the winners that nominated me and then pass the recognition on.

Creative Noshing, sometime in between skillet fried potatoes, a move, and a kitchen flood she found time to share The New Blogger Award with me. Take a minute to flip through her super recipes and eloquently penned memories.

Vina Kent passed me the Beautiful Blogger Award– she is a writer, a voracious reader, and blesses my posts from time to time with really positive words.

Domestic Diva, M.D. called me her “probably favorite”, and she is probably really one of mine. She is quick-witted, smart and shares things like Red Wine Risotto and Shrimp Pot Pie. Plus she makes me laugh.

All these awards require that I nominate a few picks for should-read blogs (5 for New Blogger, 7 for Beautiful, and 7 for Kreativ), but I think that the volume of picks here dilutes the effect (19 would be sort of ridiculous). I’m gonna list you a solid five that I think are way worth it:

Year of Healthier Living: writes about trying to green up her household. She posts weekly menus and grocery lists with her farmers market and local finds.

Hot Rod Cowgirl: her photos are stupefyingly beautiful. Click the images on her page for the enlarged versions of her home landscapes that make me JEALOUS.

Go Bake Yourself: High school student and baker extraordinaire. Her cookies are stuffed full of candy and her meringue is professionally torched. This girl is going somewhere.

Little House, Big Heart: Just found this one a few days ago. Newlyweds, new house- lots of super ideas.

Masala Art: a collection of recipes, posts reveling on her cute as ever little boy, and 5 things on Foodless Friday! I really dig the 5 things.

I also created a page listing all these awards, complete with the pretty stickers they came with!

And for the egg salad…
I hard boiled 6 eggs and then gave them a bath in cold water. I keep the water running while I peel them.
I separate the whites from the yolks…
Then I smush the yolks and dice the whites. The yolk gets dressed up like a deviled egg… mayonnaise, salt, pepper, and pickled relish if you are so inclined. And a dash of paprika. I add chopped celery and onions to the diced whites cause I like a little crunch.
Mix it all back together.
Smear the egg salad all over whole wheat toast and smother it with crispy green lettuce.
Classic Egg Salad

Ingredients (Egg Salad is all about preference- no measurements necessary. Eyeball it.)

6 hard boiled eggs, cooled, peeled, yolks and whites divided

mayonnaise

salt & black pepper

pickled relish

paprika

celery, finely diced

onions, finely diced

To Make

Smush the egg yolk with a fork and stir in the salt, pepper, mayonnaise, pickled relish, and paprika. Mix well. In another bowl combine the egg whites, onions and celery. Stir it all together and eat it off the back of the spoon… or make a sandwich.