Deviled Egg Daisy

Place eggs in a medium saucepan. Pour in enough water to cover the eggs by one inch. Heat over high heat just until the water comes to a boil. Remove from heat and cover for 15 minutes. Remove eggs from hot water and place in a bowl of ice water. Once cool enough to handle, peel shells off of the eggs.

Cut eggs in half, remove the yolks. Place yolks in a bowl and mix in the Miracle Whip.

Arrange 8 egg white halves in a circle at the top of a platter. Spoon half of the egg yolk mixture into the center of the egg whites and spread it into a circle. Add a long piece of green onion as the flower's stem. Add a few sprigs of green onion to create grass or use basil or spinach leaves to form the flowers leaves.

Repeat with the remaining 8 egg white halves and other ingredients to form a second flower on another pretty platter.

Have a spoon set next to your platters, so that your dinner guests can fill their own deviled eggs. They will be so impressed with your beautiful flowers, they wont mind filling their own eggs.

Chef's Note & Story

I grew up in a house filled with paintings of flowers adorning our walls, all of which were lovingly created by my mom. Her passion for doing what she loved was so evident to all of us kids that I grew up knowing that I would be happy if I found my true calling. My mom's heaven on earth happened to be in front of a canvas or piece of watercolor paper. Mine is in the kitchen. I did, however, follow in my mother's footsteps in a round about way. I have found my bliss in creating art out of food.

Painting and teaching others to paint kept my mom pretty busy so she tended to prepare very simple meals for her family. Although I don't always follow this philosophy in my kitchen, (the more complicated the better) I still enjoy many of the flavors of my childhood including a very simple two ingredient deviled egg recipe. I know the actual recipe here, isn't terribly exciting, although it is tasty. But I turned this simple recipe into something my mother would love. What better way to pay homage to my mom than by taking one of the foods I grew up eating and transforming it into a work of art? The first flower she learned to paint was a daisy, so this flower is for her to celebrate her passion and the love she shared with me.