It's a dirty job...

Sometimes, my job is extra tough, like this morning, when, in lieu of breakfast, I had to perfect the recipe for Dirty Devils, which will be included in the autumn issue of 365 Being, Savoring a Life of Abundance, Joy and Beauty.  I've (almost) never been tempted to cook professionally, as in chef-in-a-restaurant sort of cooking, but this is fun.  This is the creative part, without the endless repetition.  Not that I don't have to retest the same recipe numerous times, but after about 14 retakes of devilled egg filling, it all starts to taste like pickle drenched sulphur, so I may as well call it as good as it gets, and get on with perfecting something else.

Dirty Devils on a bed of salad greens.  A swanky appetizer any time of the year!

If you can't wait for the bookazine to try these, I'll give you a couple of hints: If you aren't a martini drinker, you may not have caught the dirty reference, which denotes heavy on the olives, in this case both kinds. And, you want these "dry", as in "not sweet", so use dill pickle juice. You can probably figure it out in fewer than 14 tries, but if not, the recipe will be out soon!

When not overindulging in green olives, I do actually decorate homes for a living. I should be back here Thursday night with a sweet little landscape of Italy, painted in an arched niche, which is my day job this week. If you don't already know me, and what I do, you can check out my portfolio of possibilities at theartofthehome.com.