Winning Strategy @StoryADayMay 6 #food

06Wednesday is Food Day here at the blog, so Imma try to include food in my Wednesday posts.

Winning Strategy

by Marian Allen

“Hawley and Latasha are bringing chicken wings and chips and salsa,” Dallas said, arms full, closing the kitchen door with his work boot. “Jim and his kid made cupcakes and they’re bringing those and some ice cream.”

“That’s so cute!”

Annette couldn’t stop fluttering. All Dallas had talked about for months was the annual grudge game between some high school in some other town and the high school Hawley, Latasha, Jim, and Dallas had attended together. As a transplant from another state, Annette felt like she was on probation. If she did anything to throw any kind of a shadow over their big day …. Well, Dallas wasn’t shallow enough to ditch her for it, but …. She just didn’t want to mess it up, that’s all.

Dallas put the beer in the fridge and two dozen eggs on the counter.

“I said you’d make deviled eggs. That’s no trouble is it?”

“Uh?”

“Mom used to make ’em all the time. Is it a lot of trouble? I can help.”

“Uh?”

“Don’t you know how?” He pulled out his phone. “I can look up the recipe.”

“Uh.” How to explain this to somebody whose idea of cooking was making a sandwich? “There isn’t a recipe. There’s, like, a million recipes. How do your friends like them?”

“You’re kidding, right? It’s just eggs and stuff.”

“Yeah, ‘and stuff’. Everybody likes ’em a certain way, and hates ’em another way. How do your friends like ’em? Did they like your Mom’s? How did she make ’em?”

“Hell, I don’t know! People shouldn’t be so damn picky! Just make ’em any way you want to, and they can take ’em or leave ’em! Everything you make is great! If they don’t like it they can lump it!”

Yeah, all she needed to do was stir up trouble in a cherished friendship. That would sure be a nice thing to do.

She opened the fridge and stared into it so long she started wondering about frostbite.

At least she could cook the eggs. At least all the recipes had that in common.

#

When Dallas told them about Annette’s claim, they all backed her up with vigor, proving it by – sure enough – each having iron-clad dos and don’ts for the perfect deviled egg. Jim’s son, Brad, outdid them all by not liking the deviled part, period, or any egg yolk unless it was runny.

So Annette’s DIY table was a major hit: a platter of halved hard-boiled eggs with the yolks removed; a bowl of the yolks, mashed; little bowls of mayonnaise, mustard, salad dressing, chopped onion, chopped dill pickle, chopped olives, and sweet pickle relish; and a stack of cups and spoons to mix and fill your own.

“This is one smart cookie,” Hawley said, pointing to her with his overstuffed egg. “You better keep this one.”

Brad, with a bowl of salted egg whites in one hand, popped into the kitchen and shouted, “Game’s on!”

Dallas helped her with the dishes.

~*~

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: A character has to make something everyone is opinionated about.

MA

About

I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, but now live in the woods in southern Indiana. Though I only write fiction, I love to read non-fiction. The more I learn about this world, the more fantastic I see it is.

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One thought on “Winning Strategy @StoryADayMay 6 #food

  1. Dan

    May 6, 2015 at 7:36am

    Great story. I once worked for a catering company. I came into work one afternoon and had to peel 12 dozen hard boiled eggs for deviled eggs. It took a long time for me to ever want to see one again.

    Permalink  ⋅ Reply
    • Author

      Marian Allen

      May 6, 2015 at 8:12am

      12 DOZEN eggs? Uchh! I would have been tempted to do it like Crazy Russian Hacker: peel a bit off each end, curl your hand around the middle, and BLOW THAT SUCKER OUT.

      Permalink  ⋅ Reply
      • Dan

        May 6, 2015 at 10:30am

        Probably not the preferred way for eggs about to be served to the public 🙂

        Permalink  ⋅ Reply
        • Author

          Marian Allen

          May 6, 2015 at 4:17pm

          That’s why you do it when you’re alone in the kitchen. ~evil laugh~

          Permalink  ⋅ Reply
    • Author
  2. Holly Jahangiri

    May 6, 2015 at 9:57am

    I’ve never made deviled eggs. Never.

    But if I ever have to, I’m going to do it Annette’s way!

    Permalink  ⋅ Reply
    • Author
  3. saramarian

    May 15, 2015 at 2:08pm

    Inspired by trying to make chili for us back in the day? 😉

    Permalink  ⋅ Reply
    • Author

      Marian Allen

      May 15, 2015 at 3:49pm

      Heh. Pretty much. You remember that five-pot version of the original one-pot meal, eh?

      Permalink  ⋅ Reply

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