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Easter eggs and a Pinterest post got me thinking about Grandma Claudius Deviled Eggs. The post was about the worlds best Deviled Eggs. That recipe included a lot of different ingredients, plus Grandma's, not so secret ingredient, butter. If you have boiled eggs you should use up, or are in the mood for deviled eggs, here is my best guess at the amounts.

Grandma Claudius

Deviled Eggs

12 hard boiled eggs

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 tsp prepared mustard

2 Tbsp very soft butter

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

2 green onions, finely minced, optional

Ground paprika for garnish

Peel eggs and cut in half, setting the yolks aside in a small bowl. Arrange egg halves on an egg tray or serving platter.

Add mayonnaise, mustard and butter to egg yolks and beat with a mixer until smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper and add onions if using.. Spoon mixture into egg halves and garnish with a sprinkle of paprika.

Note: I remember grandma adding extra mayonnaise, a teaspoon at a time, if the mixture was too dry for her liking. And, if she ended up with an extra white with no filling she would cut it in pieces and pass it to any kids standing around.

You may have another favorite deviled egg recipe, but try adding soft butter for a flavor boost.

Several culinary conversations over the past weeks have included discussions about gelatin, and the resurgent of popularity of the 1950's through 70's recipes. Those of us over 40 remember our mothers fallback salad of green gelatin, and grated carrots. In the 1950's and 60's almost every gelatin salad recipe included mayonnaise. So if you are in the 50 and over set, your green gelatin and carrots most likely included a half cup of mayonnaise, or had a mayonnaise topping.

By the 1970's cream, sour cream, cream cheese and cottage cheese replaced mayonnaise to produce a creamy product. My mother made Under the Sea Pears. Some times with cottage cheese, sometimes without.

Under the Sea Pears

1 package (3 ounces) lime gelatin

1 cup boiling water

1 cup very cold water

1 pint pear halves, well drained

3/4 cup cottage cheese

Optional: 1/2 cup grated carrot

Prepare gelatin according to package directions and chill until the texture of egg whites. Place well drained pear halve cut side up in a square baking dish. Mix the cottage cheese with a bit of the gelatin, about 1/4 cup. Fill the pear halves with the cottage cheese mixture.

Fold the grated carrot into the remaining gelatin and pour around the pear halves. Reposition pears so you can cut between them into squares when gelatin is fully set. Chill until firm, 4 hours or over night. Yield: 5-6 servings.

Molded gelatin was all the rage in the 1970's. The Tupperware company came out with a molds with interchangeable insets for different holidays. Cooks no longer had to worry about acidic ingredients like pineapple or sauerkraut reacting with the aluminum or tin of earlier gelatin molds.

This led to many vegetable gelatin mold recipes. Every vegetable known to man ended up in salads, camouflaged under the cloak of sour cream, mayonnaise or cream cheese. Jellied Vegetable Salad, in the 1973 edition of The New Joys of Jell-o Recipe Book, seemed to be the favorite starter recipe.

Jellied Vegetable Salad

1 package (3 ounces) lemon gelatin

2 vegetable bouillon cubes

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup boiling water

2 Tbsp Tarragon vinegar

Dash ground black pepper

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup diced celery

1/3 cup thinly sliced radishes

1/3 cup diced cucumber

2 Tbsp chopped green onions

2 Tbsp thinly sliced scallions

Dissolve gelatin, bouillon cubes and salt in boiling water. Add vinegar and black pepper. Chill until slightly thickened.

Blend in sour cream and remaining ingredients. Pour into a 3 cup mold or individual molds. Chill until firm, about 4 hours.

Unmold onto a bed of lettuce and garnish with a dollop of mayonnaise or a drizzle of French dressing. Yield: 5 to 6 servings.

Note: this recipe was often doubled and all manner of chopped fresh vegetables or well drained canned vegetables would be added to the recipe.

Speaking of hard boiled eggs, sliced or halved eggs would be carefully arranged in the gelatin molds while adding the gelatin mixture. Mom's were looking for one dish meals back then also.

A recent Facebook discussion concerned Go-to meals when you don't know what to fix. Skillet Lasagna is one I us often. Ingredients are usually on hand, and is ready in about 30 minutes.

Skillet Lasagna

1 jar (28 to 32 ounces) spaghetti sauce

1 Tbsp cooking oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

Salt

3 cloves garlic, or 1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 pound ground beef

10 lasagna noodles, broke in 2 inch pieces

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Ground black pepper

1 cup ricotta or cottage cheese

Pour spaghetti sauce into a quart measuring cup and add water to make 4 cups.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and 1/2 tsp salt, cook until onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook another minute. Add ground beef and cook until meat is no longer pink.

Scatter broken pasta over the meat, but do not stir. Pour in the sauce mixture. Cover and simmer until pasta is tender, about 20 minutes.

Remove the skillet from heat and stir in the parmesan cheese Season with salt and pepper. Dot will heaping teaspoons of the ricotta or cottage cheese. Cover and let stand of heat 5 minutes. Yield 4-6 servings.

Share your favorite recipes with your fellow readers by sending them to Welcome to My Kitchen, Attn: Laura, P.O. Box 151, Odessa, WA 99159, email pandl;@odessaoffice.com or drop them in the mail tin located in Wildroots Market. Make sure to move seedling starter plants into bright light daily to prevent weak stems and leggy plants.