What can I bring? I asked my host for a small dinner party last Saturday. Oh, just bring some wine, she answered. But I persevered and suggested cookies or, hey, here’s an idea, how about deviled eggs? She pounced on it. Yes! Please do! I love deviled eggs. I do, too, so was happy to oblige. Since we had to travel with the eggs that evening, I sliced them through their “equators” so that I could prop them up in the actual egg carton. Usually they are cut lengthwise, but my decision not only made transporting them easy, it also was a rather whimsical way to serve them. Even my host’s young sons seemed intrigued. Need I say that the eggs disappeared in a flash? Everyone likes deviled eggs, I guess.
This experience, and the Julie and Julia film in theaters now, leads me to think that there is nothing new under the sun, at least when it comes to food. There are just recycled ideas that might be given a modern twist, or perhaps unfamiliar ingredients that over time become good friends. If you’ve seen the movie, you, like me, probably itch to cook some good, old-fashioned (but not out-dated) French food — or you might want to recreate a dish you recall from your childhood. Like deviled eggs. Go for it!