Loaded Egg Salad.

Mom taught us how to make really good egg salad.  Finely chopped eggs, celery, scallion, mayonnaise, salt & pepper.  Nothing complicated just finely done.  That’s all I’ve ever wanted in an egg salad.  Until my birthday lunch out with Shelby.

She planned our day, which started with presents.  Heehee.  Thoughtfully chosen gifts that were ME on every level.  I admittedly have a fetish for small dishes and table linens.  She gets this about me.  And then there was this little yellow box from Penzeys Spices.  We first discovered this bonanza of a shop together.  I shared the experience in this post, entitled It Was a Great Day {Sunday’s with Shelby & a Spice Exploration}.  Shelby hand selected four spice blends, each unique….each the kind you could build a meal around.

Or as I later discovered, a Loaded Egg Salad.  Lunch that day was preplanned at Souper Jenny.  A cozy neighborhood café featuring homemade soups, salads and sandwiches.  Shelby chose gazpacho with a smoked turkey & brie sandwich.  I chose creamy zucchini soup with an egg salad sandwich.  Wait.  This was not your mama’s egg salad.  This was incredible egg salad loaded with crunchy veggies and herbs.

If you know me by now it won’t surprise you that I was home recreating this loveliness the very next day.  And the first place I turned was to my box of Penzeys Spices.  A good dose of Sunny Paris spice blend added to chopped hard boiled egg, diced carrot, celery, scallion, fresh cilantro….I now had an egg salad to rival the best of any cozy café.  Loaded with color and crunch and Sunny Paris flavor.  Here’s what Penzeys has to say about Sunny Paris:

“Freeze-dried shallots, the main ingredient, make it an incredible seasoning for seafood, Cornish hens, chicken, vegetables, rice, eggs and veal. Simply sprinkle over salads, potatoes, or rice, or mix 1 TB. with 1 Cup yogurt and use as a dip or salad dressing. Hand-mixed from: shallots, chives, green peppercorns, dill weed, basil, tarragon, chervil and bay leaf.”

Based on how much I love this one I can’t wait to explore the other blends.

Thank you Shelby and Happy Birthday to you TODAY!!  I’ll be incorporating one of these blends in a new recipe I’ll be trying out on you for your birthday dinner.  Hope your day is as special as you made mine.  xoxo

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