Curried Egg Salad Sandwich

The Week After Easter: National Egg Salad Week

With all the egg-stra hard-boiled eggs left over from the Easter season, we do not want to let them go to waste. So we make egg salad sandwiches for a simple meal. We also add a bit of curry powder to an ordinary recipe to give it an egg-straordinary flavor. Make curried egg salad sandwiches during the week after Easter—they are an egg-cellent way to use up hard-boiled eggs and observe National Egg Salad Week!

Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 hard boiled eggs, cooled and shelled
• 2-3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• 1 tablespoon onion, minced
• 1-2 teaspoons curry powder (to taste)
• slices of bread (white or wheat)

Directions

Roughly chop or grate the boiled eggs into a medium mixing bowl. Mix in the mayonnaise and mustard until smooth.

Stir in the onion and curry powder. Spread the mixture onto a slice of bread. Press another slice of bread on top to make a sandwich. Cut into bite-sized rectangle or triangle pieces and trim the crusts off (optional).

Notes

• Feel free to add lettuce or other green vegetables between the slices of bread to make a heartier curried egg salad sandwich.
• Lowfat yogurt may be substituted for the mayonnaise.
• Search our blog for other recipes featuring eggs as the main  ingredient.

Easter Nests

April 24: Easter Sunday 2011

Colorful eggs are some of the symbols of Easter and spring. Just as Jesus’ rising from the dead represents new life to Christian believers, so do the eggs signify the birth of spring chicks. To celebrate the “reason for the season,” we made an easy, edible Easter treat—noodle nests cradling candy-coated pastel eggs. Easter nests are cute and creative to cook with kids and they brighten up a buffet table at Easter and spring get-togethers.  Blessings to all our blog readers on Easter.

Recipe

(Adapted from Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients

• ¼ cup butter
• 2 cups mini marshmallows
• 4 cups dried chow main noodles
• candy eggs

Directions

Mist a muffin tin/cupcake pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, microwave the butter and marshmallows until melted. Stir well. Gently fold in the noodles.

With buttered or greased fingers, press the noodle mixture into each cup of the pan.  Push up towards the sides and leave a well in the middle. Let set for several hours before removing from the pan and filling with the candy eggs. Yield: One dozen nests.

Notes

• Place Easter Peeps yellow chicks on the nests to look like they are laying candy eggs.
• Stick a toothpick with names written on placecards on each nest for a festive table setting.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

April 20: National Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Day

Whenever Islander brings a pineapple upside-down cake to a potluck, her mainland friends automatically assume that she chose to bake it because she wanted to share a Hawaiian-style dessert with them. Although this cake was popularized by the Hawaiian Pineapple Company (now Dole) in the 1920s when canned pineapple was a novelty, it is ironic to think that a dish is labeled Hawaiian because it has pineapple in it (the Hawaiian word for pineapple is halakahiki, meaning “foreign fruit”; pineapple was introduced to Hawaii from Latin America and has come to symbolize Hawaiian hospitality).

The real reason she bakes pineapple upside-down cake is because it is one of the easier desserts to prepare. It does not require any frosting or additional decorations and is a colorful cake on its own that adds a tropical taste to any event. And even though other guests still associate Islander and her home state with this cake, she does not mind because it is a delicious dessert for potlucks and especially on its own food holiday, National Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Day.

Recipe

(Adapted from Cooks.com)

Ingredients

• 1 box (18.25 ounces) yellow cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 large can (20 ounces) plus 1 small can (8 ounces) pineapple rings, drained and juice reserved (we used Dole brand)
• 1 /2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup light brown sugar (we used C&H brand golden brown)
• 1 jar of maraschino cherries, drained

Directions

Line a 13×9-inch rectangle pan with wax paper. Pour melted butter on the bottom of the pan. Arrange a layer of pineapple rings over the butter.  Sprinkle brown sugar over them. Place cherries inside the rings and, if desired, in between the pineapple spaces.

In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 1/3 cup of the drained juice from the can of pineapple rings with the cake mix, eggs and oil.  Blend until smooth.

Pour the batter over the fruits in the pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes or until done. Remove from the oven and let cool. Turn the pan upside down onto a platter, cookie sheet or cake board.  Carefully peel off the wax paper from the top. Slice and serve.

Notes

• For a more intense pineapple taste, use a pineapple-flavored cake mix.
• Thanks to Auntie Lani C. who always gives us a box of pineapples to take back to the mainland after our homecoming vacations.
• When Islander’s family hosts visitors in Hawaii, one of the tourist attractions we take them to is the Dole Plantation on Oahu. There is a short train ride around the pineapple fields, a huge souvenir store, a snack shop featuring pineapple ingredients, a tropical garden tour and the world’s largest maze. Read a short historical note about Dole’s pineapple upside-down cake from the Food Reference site.