Deviled eggs are all the rage right now. I've seen TONS of unique recipes and even a few pop up on local restaurant menus. I'm a sucker for a deviled egg and while I love all of the unique flavor variations, nothing beats a classic deviled egg to me.

My mom makes hers creamy with a bit of a kick and tang from 2 types of mustard and a light dusting of paprika really makes them pop. I have all sorts of great improv suggestions for a classic deviled egg including how to lighten them up if you're watching your waistline this year! classic deviled eggs
adapted from my mom's recipe
yield 12 servings

6 hard boiled eggs
5 T. mayonnaise
½ T. dijon mustard
½ t. mustard powder
¼ c. shaved ham
salt + pepper to taste
sprinkle of paprika

Cut eggs in half and gently scoop out the yolks. In a bowl, mash the egg yolks with the back of a fork until they become a course powdery texture. Add in mayo, mustards, ham, and salt + pepper to taste. This is where you should taste the mixture to see how you like it. Adjust from there.

Place yolk mixture into a ziplock bag or pastry bag fitted with your favorite tip. If using a ziplock bag, cut the tip off the end and pipe into eggs. You could just plop the mixture into the eggs with a spoon but I feel like the small touch makes for a beautiful presentation. Plus if you put it into a bag, you could make the day before serving to save yourself time. Just pipe it into the eggs when you're ready to serve!

*tip* to prevent your eggs from sliding around the plate, slice a thin layer off the bottom of the egg so it sits flat. just be careful not to cut through the egg. OR you could put a little of the yolk mixture on the bottom and stick the egg to the plate. you could be a little playful and cut your eggs in half hamburger style to be a little different. see below: improv style:
there's all sorts of variations on this dish that you could try. i'm going to stick to classic suggestions but i've seen some cool combos like caesar salad flavored and truffled deviled eggs - how fancy!

i like best foods full-fat mayo. especially for the holidays, go big or go home, right? if you're not into that, you could use your favorite low fat, fat free, or miracle whip type mayo. want to make it REALLY healthy?! try substituting ½ the mayo for greek yogurt. it will add some more tang to the deviled eggs. or you could try substituting with a little bit of hummus.

shaved ham... where do i get that?! i usually cut off a small hunck from my holiday ham. you could also buy thick cut deli ham or buy the ham slices from the meat section of your grocer. i just pulse mine in the food processor for 30 seconds but if you don't have one, you can finely chop it with a knife and it will be just fine. not a fan of ham or looking for something similar but different?! try pancetta, bacon, or prosciutto. my cousins boyfriend so cleverly leaves out his ham from the yolk mixture and garnishes his eggs with a chunk of bacon. one of the many reasons why i love him so!

on to tweaking the recipe to your taste... if you're not a huge mustard fan (i'm not usually - this being an exception) try scaling back the amount at first. remember, you can always add more. the worst thing you could do is add too much to the yolks. i've seen some runny deviled eggs in my day and i wonder what people were thinking. that being said, if you like it runny, add more mayo to your mixture! if you like a little kick, consider adding a few dashes of tabasco or cayenne pepper. a few squirts of worcestershire sauce could be a nice addition to the mix.

if you end up splitting a few of the egg whites, don't panic. pop those in your mouth and no-one will notice! plus you'll be able to have more filling for the other eggs... see, a welcome accident! you can always boil more eggs... it's not too hard!
[null, {"document_url": "http://www.theimprovkitchen.com/2012/04/classic.html", "unformatted_src": "http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J-6dN2NOc3Q/T38Vjhqj1kI/AAAAAAAABNo/hqNEhdWc2LA/s320/Screen+shot+2012-04-06+at+11.09.23+AM.png", "src": "http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J-6dN2NOc3Q/T38Vjhqj1kI/AAAAAAAABNo/hqNEhdWc2LA/s320/Screen+shot+2012-04-06+at+11.09.23+AM.png", "formatted_filename": "Screen shot   at", "rendered_width": 320, "rendered_height": 320}, null, {"document_url": "http://www.theimprovkitchen.com/2012/04/classic.html", "unformatted_src": "http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o9ruLQ6Z8lc/T3u7yvbcAGI/AAAAAAAABM4/UoYQ8qGWku0/s320/deviledEggs_02.jpg", "src": "http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o9ruLQ6Z8lc/T3u7yvbcAGI/AAAAAAAABM4/UoYQ8qGWku0/s320/deviledEggs_02.jpg", "formatted_filename": "deviledEggs", "rendered_width": 320, "rendered_height": 320}, null, {"document_url": "http://www.theimprovkitchen.com/2012/04/classic.html", "unformatted_src": "http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o16G3ICl2hY/T3u76p6yszI/AAAAAAAABNA/94TKlmABE1w/s320/deviledEggs_03.jpg", "src": "http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o16G3ICl2hY/T3u76p6yszI/AAAAAAAABNA/94TKlmABE1w/s320/deviledEggs_03.jpg", "formatted_filename": "deviledEggs", "rendered_width": 320, "rendered_height": 320}, {"document_url": "http://www.theimprovkitchen.com/2012/04/classic.html", "unformatted_src": "http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H8GTxUXBLGs/T3u8D-aO4CI/AAAAAAAABNI/drlZ-YkZ4lE/s320/deviledEggs_04.jpg", "src": "http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H8GTxUXBLGs/T3u8D-aO4CI/AAAAAAAABNI/drlZ-YkZ4lE/s320/deviledEggs_04.jpg", "formatted_filename": "deviledEggs", "rendered_width": 320, "rendered_height": 320}, null, null, null, {"document_url": "http://www.theimprovkitchen.com/2012/04/classic.html", "unformatted_src": "http://i47.tinypic.com/9thaop.png", "src": "http://i47.tinypic.com/9thaop.png", "formatted_filename": "thaop", "alt_text": "Image and video hosting by TinyPic"}, {"document_url": "http://www.theimprovkitchen.com/2012/04/classic.html", "unformatted_src": "http://i47.tinypic.com/kbtb48.jpg", "src": "http://i47.tinypic.com/kbtb48.jpg", "formatted_filename": "kbtb", "alt_text": "Image and video hosting by TinyPic"}, {"document_url": "http://www.theimprovkitchen.com/2012/04/classic.html", "unformatted_src": "http://i45.tinypic.com/rcq1cm.png", "src": "http://i45.tinypic.com/rcq1cm.png", "formatted_filename": "rcq cm", "alt_text": "Image and video hosting by TinyPic"}, {"document_url": "http://www.theimprovkitchen.com/2012/04/classic.html", "unformatted_src": "http://i48.tinypic.com/vy5njt.png", "src": "http://i48.tinypic.com/vy5njt.png", "formatted_filename": "vy njt", "alt_text": "Image and video hosting by TinyPic"}, null, null, null, {"document_url": "http://www.theimprovkitchen.com/2012/04/classic.html", "unformatted_src": "http://i47.tinypic.com/o6d37o.png", "src": "http://i47.tinypic.com/o6d37o.png", "formatted_filename": "o d o", "alt_text": "Image and video hosting by TinyPic"}, {"document_url": "http://www.theimprovkitchen.com/2012/04/classic.html", "unformatted_src": "http://i47.tinypic.com/308b1as.jpg", "src": "http://i47.tinypic.com/308b1as.jpg", "formatted_filename": "b as", "alt_text": "Image and video hosting by TinyPic"}, {"document_url": "http://www.theimprovkitchen.com/2012/04/classic.html", "unformatted_src": "http://i47.tinypic.com/2duw1lw.png", "src": "http://i47.tinypic.com/2duw1lw.png", "formatted_filename": "duw lw", "alt_text": "Image and video hosting by TinyPic"}, {"document_url": "http://www.theimprovkitchen.com/2012/04/classic.html", "unformatted_src": "http://static.yummly.com/yummly_certified_150x150.png", "src": "http://static.yummly.com/yummly_certified_150x150.png", "formatted_filename": "yummly certified", "alt_text": "Certified Yummly Recipes on Yummly.com"}, null, null]