You know the whole ‘pretending I’m cooking when I’m really not’ thing? I finally realized that I inherited this gene from my mother. Come summer time, when things got too hot to cook, my mother would make what she called a ‘summer dinner.’ My sisters and I loved this dinner. Not because it was reliably full of much loved favorites. But exactly because it wasn’t.
‘Summer dinner’ was more a frame of mind, than a recipe or menu. It was, essentially, not cooking when appearing to be doing so. Fresh summer vegetables featured prominently: tomato and onion salad and sliced cucumbers with vinegar showed up regularly. And there would always be something from a can or jar. You know, exotic things, like hearts of palm or Vienna sausages.
But the best parts of the meal were the stuffed things. Celery with pimento cream cheese spread into the nook. Cherry tomatoes hollowed out and filled with bits of tuna salad.
My favorite part of the meal was one dish that actually involved a bit more cooking than simply washing, peeling or opening a can.
Deviled eggs. They couldn’t be easier, but for some reason they were not something we had so often. They were special occasion treats. And so they made the entire idea of ‘summer dinner’ seem like more of an event, rather than something my mom obviously threw together when she didn’t feel like cooking.
If we didn’t have them that often when I was growing up, these days years go by when I totally forget about them. They are so not an Italian thing.
But last week Marisa, my neighbor here in Umbria, gave me a basket full of freshly laid eggs. And while a frittata would usually have been my go to eggy solution, the heat wave we are currently suffering experiencing made even that sound too heavy.
That’s when I remembered summer dinners.
Even though I didn’t have any celery to stuff, nor did I have a can of Vienna sausages to open, I did manage to put together a platter of slice tomatoes and a cucumber salad.
And deviled eggs, of course.
The one essential element that was missing from my mother’s original recipe was the sprinkling of paprika atop the eggs. But since my mom probably still has the same jar of paprika that she was using in 1978, I guess I could have made more of an effort for authenticity. 
Deviled Eggs
8 eggs
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
salt
pepper
Bring a pot of water to boil, and gently lower the room temperature eggs into the water.
Boil for 10 to 12 minutes.
Take eggs out of water, and as soon as they are cool enough to handle, peel.
Carefully cut the eggs in half, length wise. Pop out the yolk, without damaging the white.
Place the yolks in a bowl, along with the mustard and mayo. Blend well with a fork, and season with salt and pepper.
Distribute the egg yolks back into the whites.
If you have some really old tasteless paprika you can use that and recreate my mom’s original recipe. Otherwise top with a bit of chive or basil. 
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We have these on a regular basis at my house. In fact, we’re having them at dinner tonight. 🙂 A friend of mine sent me a care package with pickle relish, and I add a bit to the stuffing mixture. I also grate a touch of onion and add it to the mixture. I sprinkle them with a mild ground red pepper. To me, it’s a southern dish. I get a taste of home, and my hubby loves them. 🙂
I forgot about putting relish in it!
I’m not to much into eggs, but those reminds me of my mother in law who use to make them for easter lunch 🙂
I’m a sucker for the tomato, cucumber and onion salad. And the can of hearts of palm!
My Mom did the same thing when I was growing up, except it was never Vienna sausages…it was nearly always canned smoked oysters, or canned tuna in olive oil from Italy (Mom was Sicilian and French). Too bad a deviled egg, or a cold salad will never cross my husband’s lips. Thank you for reminding me what to make myself for dinner the next time he’s out of town.
Love deviled eggs!!!! I use my cuisinart to blend the filling and it comes out so smooth and creamy!I too, use paparika as a garnish,so simple.DELISH!!!
Excuse me!!! I used up that paprika about 10 years ago and bought a new one that I’m working on!! (just kidding) Lately I’ve been using smoked spanish paprika. I had forgotten about the summer dinners..they were good including the vienna sausages!!
Relish doesn’t belong in much of anything…especially not delicious deviled eggs or fine chicken salad.
I use relish in Egg salad
I like the relish flavor with eggs too. And one of my favorite memories from childhood was a bread and butter pickle/mayonnaise/leftover ham salad my mom would make by blending it all up in the food processor, (usually after Easter when we had tons of ham to contend with) and spreading it on white bread. I recreate that sometimes with sliced ham, mayo, and relish.
A good shot of plain old grocery store curry powder and a splash of rice wine vinegar are my secret additions to deviled eggs– and I garnish with chopped garlic chives. These make a good cocktail nosh as well.
Adore deviled eggs, and particuarly like all the variations you can do on them…NW Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs for example. Love it!
I have a whole cookbook on deviled eggs…….the California version has dash sour cream, dash yogurt less mayo, tangy and just as good as the old St. Louis version, Love deviled eggs summer or winter. Thanks for the reminder
you are from St. Louis???
Mom, that’s Josephine. Who used to work for Daddy.
I thought so
Yum! Just had to share this link on my blog. Thanks, Elizabeth!
Kim | http://www.howtolovethisworld.com
Thanks Kim!