Screw you, Rachel Ray! Wash Your Berries!

First off, let's start with the fact that I worship Rachel Ray.  I really do.

Worship.

She does, however, tell you not to wash berries when you bring them home because they will rot faster.  This is true, if you just wash them in water.  Per this pin, however, I let them soak in a vinegar/water solution for a few minutes...and it totally worked!  I used more vinegar than the pin suggests, but...

I actually let them sit in my fridge much longer than I was going to, just because I wanted to see if it would work.  I soaked them in a 6 to 1 ratio of water to vinegar for about five minutes, rinsed them, and then put them in a glass container with a towel to cover them.  I was quite surprised last night when I went to cut them up.  There were a couple on the top that were soft, but okay.  The rest were PERFECT.  I cut them up, and put about a teaspoon of sugar on them.  This is what I got.

It's totally worth the extra five minutes.  I will do this with ALL of my berries from now on.

Deviled Egg Pasta Salad

This recipe has such potential!  Take any deviled egg recipe, and you can probably adapt it.  (I plan on adapting this recipe next.)

I kind of followed this recipe.  I used only 2 c. of (olive oil) mayo instead of 3, at least 1/3 c. of mustard (my favorite part of deviled eggs), and approximately 2 T. of pickle juice on top of the vinegar.  (I actually ended up adding the white vinegar after the fact.  It helped.)  I only had sweet pickle relish...because I don't really like it.  Once I added it in, I regretted it.  I tried to cover it up by adding sliced baby dill pickles, which actually gave it a much needed crunch.  I'm not sure how I'll incorporate that in other versions.  For now, I'll just enjoy this one.

I can't wait to try other versions.  I'd say I recommend it for sure.  It's a convenient-have leftover Easter eggs recipe, for sure.

*UPDATE* This was even better after sitting in the fridge for a couple of days.