Sunday, September 16, 2007

Oeufs à la Flashback

I wasn't going to let summer get away without using my "Devilled Eggs" plate. I found it in a rather pleasant antique/junk store, and this is its debut.
The plate — and especially the brown stripe and lettering — suggest to me 1940s or '50s, maybe early '60s. The kind of upscale "country" restaurant with amber crackle-glass candle cups on every table. Red Naugahyde booths. A wagon wheel on one wall. Little brown ceramic pots of highly overspiced cheese product that you can slather on completely ordinary (but seeded!) crackers, two to a cellophane packet, while you sip an adult beverage.
The kids are twitching, waiting for cocktail hour to end.
"Don't eat up all the bread and butter! You'll ruin your appetite."
If you didn't ruin your appetite, maybe you'd be allowed to order the stuffed eggs as an appetizer. Way better than that acrid cheese product.

21 comments:

Barbara said...

That's a real great junk shop find. I've found a few good fabrics lately.

Dagny said...

Very cute plate. My mother has a crystal egg plate. That always seemed a little wrong to me.

Anna Haight said...

It's egg day in Marin! I love deviled eggs! Great retro plate.

cookiecrumb said...

Anna: I was LITERALLY over at Tastespotting, looking at your egg pic, when your comment rolled in. Cool!

Barbara: This junk shop carries old fabrics! Apron, tablecloth kinda prints, very 50s. What can I get for you?

Dagny: That is the funniest comment you have ever left here. Because I know you. ;)

Ms Brown Mouse said...

1. Seeds always make things better don't they?
2. Isn't live too short to stuff an egg (or was that stuff a mushroom"?
3. I spoiled my dinner just last night, filling up on bread (sundried tomato & cheese bread, mmmm).

Anonymous said...

Deviled eggs? Is your plate grammatically correct? I always use one l . But I always love those eggs. In fact, I was feeling mawkish the other morning and had a deviled egg for breakfast instead of saving that h.b. egg for a salad sandwich for lunch. It made me smile.

Zoomie said...

Love the plate! Also, deviled eggs! My Mom always added a little curry powder to them - curried eggs - and it was delish!

El said...

Crud! Your description flashed ME back (sans wagon wheel and naugahyde) to dinner at our country club every Thursday night.

My kid adores deviled eggs. (Or is it devilled, as your plate says?) Maybe I should try this with the guinea eggs!

ChrisB said...

'devilled' isn't that the Brit way of spelling it!!

Monkey Wrangler said...

I have the same dish towels........they'd look way better with such a fine plate atop them.

cookiecrumb said...

Mouse: Seeds = Swanky, yes? And you get to spoil your appetite, because you are a grown-up now.

Kudzu: Cranky stomped all around the house yesterday, flipping open book after book, on that spelling. Consensus: The double L is both "old" and "European."

Zoomie: These eggs were made with chopped kalamata olives, some olive oil and a little vinegar. No mayo. Seriously tasty.

El: Oh, yeah. Country club dining; same experience. Hee.
Guinea eggs! Little ones, right? I wish I could drop by.

ChrisB: Yep. Mrs. Beeton spells it that way! :D

Monkey Wrangler: I do have a plate problem. Acquisition...
And those towels? Mine were a gift, you yuppie. (Williams-Sonoma) I bet yours were too.

michael, claudia and sierra said...

comfort food - big time. i love your twist on it. no mayo - with olives and oil. sounds perfect...
any other seasoning?

Monkey Wrangler said...

If the towels weren't a gift, then they were from a gift card that resulted in towels. Same thing=same difference. Oh yeah, that's right we got them a few years back 'round the time I painted our former apartment kitchen orange......

cookiecrumb said...

Claudia: Just salt and vinegar. Really tasty.

Monkey Wrangler: I know... My gift came in PINK, and I exchanged it for yellow, when I had a yellow and red kitchen... Two kitchens ago. I guess they'll be fine.
xx

Susan from Food Blogga said...

You just described to a tee the Club 44 my parents used to take us to when we were kids. Those red seats always had splits in them that scratched the back of your thighs, but all was forgiven when the Shirley Temple and homemade popovers appeared on the table. Love that plate.

Catherine said...

I love your photo and plate! Great find!

cookiecrumb said...

Susan: Har! I forgot about the cracks in the Naugahyde. Yowch.
We didn't get homemade popovers (West Coast), but there was usually some hot mini loaf of spurious bread.

Catherine: The junk store is in Novato. Check it out.

Sam said...

why didn't this make an appearance at the 60s party???

cookiecrumb said...

Sam: Because I was afraid some drunken lout would break it! Or steal it! I know I would have.
How was I to know it would be such a civilized group of party-goers? Y'all are too fabulous. :D
(By the way, we finally got all the flies out of our house. Shudder.)

Anonymous said...

Ugh, these look so good! I had some at a party last night, but I never considered using olive oil instead of mayo! What a great idea. But part of me can never eat a deviled egg with a little sprinkle of paprika on top:)

cookiecrumb said...

Leena: A shake of paprika would have made them ultra flashback, alas... But I couldn't do it either.
As for oil and vinegar instead of mayo: It makes itself into mayo!