Why-Oh-Why?...

I was just in the kitchen making my weekly batch of egg salad (Barry LOVES his egg salad). As I was peeling the eggs I started to think...

Why?

WHY is it that when I make egg salad, the egg shells come off easily?  YET, when I make my Amish Great-Grandmother's recipe of pickled beet eggs for a party, they end up looking like hot pink pieces of roadkill on a platter?

Yes - pickled beet eggs.  They're wonderful!  Here's a photo so you can appreciate them... (I'll put a recipe on the end of this blog because I know everyone will want it!)

Eggs are pretty in pink!

As you can see from the photo, the eggs have to be... well, egg-shaped.  Perfectly egg-shaped.

So, why is it that whenever I make stupid egg salad - where the eggs get all chopped up - the eggs are pristine and when I tell a friend I'll bring the pickled eggs for an appetizer, I CAN'T peel them without taking chunks off the side!  (You can tell it's not going to work the second you start to peel it. If you don't feel that slippery feel and it feels kind of sticky/rubbery - well, it's going to be a disaster.  My eggs tonight were NICE and slippery... right before I chopped them up.)

Honestly - the last time I made them for a party I used up a whole carton of eggs just to get about five semi-good ones. So, I sliced them in half, put the bad sides facing down and surrounded them with lots of beets and lettuce leaves.  People just looked at the wilted lettuce leaves soaking in beet juice and headed for the onion dip across the table.

My poor eggs...

Which got me to thinking about other "Why's?"

Like, why are the jobs you like most the ones that pay the least?  I have a GREAT part-time job right now.  My boss is mellow.  He appreciates me and listens to my ideas.  I have flexible hours.  But the pay?  Aaargh!!  (My other favorite job of all time, was the one I had at 17 at our local cinema. It paid minimum wage, but I got all the popcorn I could eat and FREE passes to the movies for me and my friends. That it's my all-time favorite job speaks volumes about my career...)

Aahh... to be an usher again... 

Or this one - there are TWO shows I like to watch every week.  TWO.  Modern Family and The Middle. My friends and I usually text or email each other, so my landline mostly collects dust and annoying sales calls.

BUT, darn it if almost EVERY Wednesday at around 8:00, right when The Middle starts and I'm just getting comfy on the sofa, I hear, "Ringgg... Ringggg!!"

Really?!

Why?!  Why not ring on the other six nights when I sit flipping and cursing through our over-priced 700+ cable channels?

But it doesn't...

I have others. How about, you drive your car for two hours listening to bad music on the radio and JUST when you get to your destination one of your FAVORITE songs come on.  I don't know how many times I've sat in my driveway for an extra five minutes while my cats sit in the window wondering what's wrong with Mama.

Where's Mama?...

Or, you wait, and wait, and wait for the doctor when you have an appointment.  You know the "wink-wink" 10:00 a.m. appointment that you arrive at at exactly 10:00, only to sit in the waiting room surrounded by REALLY sick people and not wanting to even touch one of their dirty, old magazines. Then, after a half hour, the nurse calls you into the "inner room" where you wait another half-hour or so.  (Why not tell me to come at 11:00 a.m.... but, that's another story).

Anyway, it's inevitable.  I'll sit there in that stupid open-backed gown, shivering and bored. Then I'll think, "I'll call Barry real quick."

And THAT's when the doctor will come in.  Always.  Try it and see.  Except, maybe don't try it.  The doctor gets that pissed off look when he/she sees the phone.  You know - you're taking up THEIR time...

I just looked up at the calendar (boy, this summer is going by fast) and remembered this last one. It's the invitation that comes for that same day you already have something going on.  You look at the rest of your calendar and it's glowing white with empty squares.

Really?!

How is it I sit around most of the time, yet I'm the most popular person about seven days out of the year.  "Oh, no. I'm sorry I can't go," (Cheryl, Patty, Kathy, etc.) "No, I'm busy THAT day."

365 days in a year and all events I could go to are crammed into seven.  It's not fair.  If my friends and relative would just plan it better, I'd finally look like I'm popular!

Oh, well...  Why ask why?

Here's the recipe I promised (it's not my Great-Grandmother's... you have to be related). Actually... I just open a jar of "Aunt Nellie's" pickled beets and pour them over the eggs. Easy peasy!  I'm actually from the Mennonites.  We're rebels...

_________________________________________________________________________________

Pennsylvania Dutch Pickled Beets and Eggs

INGREDIENTS:

8 eggs 2 (15 ounce) cans whole pickled beets, juice reserved 1 onion, chopped 1 cup white sugar

3/4 cup cider vinegar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 pinch ground black pepper

1.	Place eggs in saucepan and cover with water. Bring to boil. Cover, remove from heat, and let eggs sit in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, cool, and peel.
2.	Place beets, onion, and peeled eggs in a non-reactive glass or plastic container. Set aside.
3.	In a medium-size, non-reactive saucepan, combine sugar, 1 cup reserved beet juice, vinegar, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer 5 minutes.
4.	Pour hot liquid over beets and eggs. Cover, and refrigerate 48 hours before using.