On Friday after work I got together with some of my high school friends that I hadn't seen in a very long time. It was so much fun starting with drinks, onto dinner, and then to a gathering at an apartment in the East Village. I got home at 12:30 which is very late for me and I felt like a total grandma when I woke up the next morning and was completely exhausted. The night got me thinking about weird and hilarious memories from high school and flashbacks have been popping up in my head all weekend.
When I was a senior in high school I studied AP European History and we took a class trip to England and France. While it was really amazing, it involved a very bizarre string of events including a stay at an old nunnery during the Normandy portion of the trip. Imagine fifty high school students, most of whom are out of control, staying at a Medieval castle in the middle of a giant field for three nights. We all stayed up late playing games, sneaking around the castle, and playing weird tricks on each other (one involved a swinging bag of pee but I will get into that another time). I have a vivid memory of wandering around with my friend Brooke one night and encountering the teachers who were chaperoning the trip returning home from a night out. We approached them to say hello and immediately my history teacher began speaking to us with his hand over his mouth. It looked like his teeth were purple and I was so confused. He was saying "what are you guys doing up so late?" and whatnot, all the while covering his mouth. It was so bizarre and Brooke and I shrieked, dashed back to our rooms, and have probably cracked up about the incident at least once a year ever since.
Thinking back to this, they had obviously been out drinking, his teeth were stained from red wine and he was covering his mouth because he didn't want us to know/was also probably drunk. At the time I obviously did not connect the fact that dark wine could stain your teeth and was truly confused by the weird behavior. The rest of the trip was great, with a few minor incidents, and when I was thinking about it over the weekend I couldn't believe that it had been so long ago. It's so funny how certain totally random memories stick out so vividly! Does this happen to anyone else?
Egg salad has always been one of my guilty pleasures, and I use that phrase because I feel like it's the publicly shamed food in the food tree. Lots of my friends are disgusted at the grocery story variety that's overloaded with mayo, and while I agree that this isn't appetizing, sometimes there's nothing better than a good egg salad sandwich. When I saw this version in Bon Appetit I was intrigued at the idea of making my own mayo and using it minimally, and it didn't disappoint! Call this an elevated egg salad, if you will.
Egg Salad Tartine & Spicy Dill Pickles
For the mayo, whip egg yolk and little by little, add in olive oil and canola oil until smooth and creamy and mixture stiffens. Add in apple cider vinegar, mustard, and spices and continue whipping. Set aside.
Boil 4 eggs for nine minutes exactly and transfer to a bowl of ice water. When they are cool enough to handle peel them and dry them, and rip them up into large chunks. Add in a couple tablespoons of mayo and coat evenly. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Transfer the eggs to the bread slices and garnish with chives, dill, basil, and add a squeeze of lemon and a small drizzle of olive oil. Enjoy with a pickle!
Mayo
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/8 cup canola oil
- 1/8 cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Eggs & Sandwich
- 4 large eggs
- 4 thick slices sourdough bread
- hand full of chopped chives
- hand full of chopped fresh dill
- hand full of torn fresh basil
- lemon juice (for drizzling)
- olive oil (for drizzling)
- salt
- ground black pepper
- Spicy dill pickles - recipe here
