Patriotic Deviled Eggs

Boiling Eggs:

• Place eggs in a pan with enough cold water to cover completely.
• Bring to a boil, cover and remove from heat.
• Let sit for 10 minutes.
• Drain eggs and cover with cold water.
• Change the water once and add a few ice cubes to drop the temp to room temperature.

Peeling the Eggs:

I will start by saying there are so many ways to peel an egg. If you already have one that works well for you...use it! (I like to try new ways to see if someone has created a better mouse trap!)

• Tap eggs on top, bottom and all around the sides to crack the shell.
• Gently roll the egg along the counter (I prefer to lay down a paper towel for better traction), back and forth to loosen the cracked shell from the egg.
• Begin peeling from the bottom of the egg where the air sac is. (The gap between the egg and the peel will make it easier to remove without damaging the egg white)
• Using a small spoon, gently slide it under the shell following the contour of the egg. Once under the shell begin slowly and precisely pushing the spoon around the egg until you have lifted the shell with its membrane away from the egg.
• Now peel away the rest of the shell. If any small pieces are left, run the egg under cool water and carefully rub the shell pieces off.

Dying the Eggs:

• In each of two bowls, place 1 cup of water and 25 drops of food coloring (one red and one blue).
• Add half of your eggs to each bowl. (Adjust amount of dye and liquid according to the number of eggs you are dying) If tops of eggs stick out, you can also set a timer and roll them occasionally.
• Allow whole eggs to sit in dye for up to 2 hours.
• Remove colored eggs and dry before cutting in half.
• Carefully remove yolks and transfer to a bowl.
• Mash yolks using a fork to remove lumps.
• Add mayo, milk, mustard, garlic powder, salt, pepper, paprika and chives to yolks and continue to mash.
• Transfer to a large sealable plastic bag, seal and continue mashing by squishing the bag against the counter until yolk appears completely lump free.
• Squeeze yolk mixture to bottom of plastic bag (use a rolling pin and "roll" it all to the bottom) and refrigerate for a couple of hours to overnight to really enhance the flavor and firm the eggs for easy squeezing into the whites.
• Place colored egg whites on a plate to store. (Do not place red and blue eggs into a bag or touching each other, because the color will eventually transfer)
• When ready to make, make sure that all of the yolk is squeezed to a bottom corner of the plastic bag and cut a small hole into the corner. You will use this hole to pipe the yolk into the whites.
• If placing egg halves on a regular plate, you may want to cut a very thin slice off of the bottom of each egg white to keep them from rolling around on the plate.
• Pipe yolk mixture into the egg whites and serve as is or decorate with paprika, chives, bacon, capers or chopped parsley...really anything you can think of! Enjoy!