Mark's Deviled Egg Salad Sandwiches

Description

Egg salad with a little bit of a kick. Makes 6 sandwiches.

Ingredients

12 Eggs

2 heaping tbl Mayo
2 tbl Sweet Pickle Relish
1 tbl Grated Parmesan Cheese
2 tsp Dijon Mustard
1 tsp Paprika
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp Red Chili Flakes
Salt and Pepper

Wheat Bread

Hard-Boiling the Eggs

1. Place eggs in a saucepan of cold water. Make sure there is at least an inch of cold water above the eggs. Add a tablespoon of salt and cover the saucepan.
2. Place the saucepan over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil.
3. Once the water is at a rolling boil, remove from heat. Leave eggs in the hot water for another 10 minutes.
4. Prepare a bowl of ice water, and move the eggs from the hot water immediately into the cold ice water.
5. Let eggs sit in the ice water for at least 5 minutes.
6. Crack and peel the eggs, and chop/dice the eggs on a cutting board. Put the chopped eggs into a large mixing bowl.

Preparing the Egg Salad Sandwiches

1. Add the Mayo, Dijon Mustard, Paprika, Sweet Pickle Relish, Garlic Powder, Red Chili Flakes, Parmesan Cheese, and just a pinch of salt and pepper into the mixing bowl with the eggs.
2. Combine all ingredients. The egg whites should retain their shape and consistency, and the egg yolks should combine nicely with all the ingredients to a creamy consistency, which will bind the salad together.
3. Toast the wheat bread, and scoop a generous heap of the egg salad onto the bread to make a delicious sandwich. Serve with a pickle spear, apple slices, and kettle barbeque chips.

MBA Accomplished!

I just finished the last session of the last class in my MBA program!

The way APU does things, I actually already walked in my graduation ceremony back in December (a month prior to the end of the Fall II term). Tonight, though, represented the completion of my academic obligations for my degree. Woot!

On another exciting note, we all had to take an MBA Field Exam as part of our exit process. Think of it as taking a certification test or a GMAT exam, but instead of using it to qualify for getting into the program, it measures whether or not you learned what you were supposed to learn. Mainly, it's used as an instrument to assess the integrity of the MBA program at the university for accreditation purposes.

Anyway, I scored a 272 on the exam (range is 220-300) which put me in the 90th percentile in the country (again, I say "Woot!"). I don't really get anything for taking the test, other than validation that the program I just invested four years of work into actually taught me the things that I was supposed to learn, and that I learned them better than 90% of my fellow MBA peers across the nation. That's a nice way to finish.

Now that my MBA is officially behind me, I can sit back and wait for my baby boy to arrive. Higher education complete (for now), parenting adventure about to begin. =)

Fallen Tree

I woke up this morning to the sound of a tree in my backyard splitting apart and crashing into my neighbor's house.

Enjoy.

Becky's Fender Bender

Becky was in a fender bender today. She's doing fine - a lady merged into her lane in a residential neighborhood at pretty slow speeds. Here's what happened:

Baby's First Pictures!

Pictures at 18-weeks

The Science of Motivation

James sent me a link to a very interesting animation and lecture on motivation. I don't have much to add to this, other than that I agree with what is being presented. I have certainly witnessed in others and experienced personally that you don't have to make a lot of money to be content in a job you enjoy, and if you are stuck in a job you hate more money doesn't necessarily cause you to be content with your situation.

Enjoy!

Getting Naked

Now that I have your attention...

In my Business Ethics class, one of my assignments is to do 1,000 pages of "collateral reading" - basically, read 1,000 pages of anything I want that is related to business ethics.

So, as I was perusing the "Business Best-Sellers" section of Barnes and Noble today, I noticed this book and read the back cover. It was basically a philosophy on how to treat clients, presented as a narrative fable. It looked interesting, so I bought it and read it this evening.

I was actually surprised by what a neat book it was (and, after finishing the book, was not surprised but was pleased to learn that the author is actually a Christian). The main point the author makes is that the best way to serve our customers is by being vulnerable to them. He demonstrates that the strongest customer relationships are built when we:

1. Consult instead of sell. Instead of trying to convince your customer that you can help them, just start helping them.
2. Tell the kind truth. You know that elephant in the room, that everybody knows is the problem but nobody wants to talk about? Have the courage to address the real issue. Yes it will be awkward, but if you do it kindly, it will benefit your customer much more than if you quietly ignore it.
3. Ask dumb questions. If you don't know something, chances are somebody else in the room doesn't either. Don't be afraid to ask questions - it will demonstrate that you care more about gathering the info needed to solve the problem than you do about your ego.
4. Make dumb suggestions. It is ok to make a suggestion that you aren't sure of - it may be the great idea they needed. Or it might not be, but if it isn't, just roll with it and keep looking for the solution.
5. Take a bullet for your customer. This doesn't mean blindly absorbing blame and enabling a customer to do the wrong thing. It is about humbling ourselves in those times when we can take some of the burden off of our customer in a difficult situation, and then confronting them about the situation after. Without the confrontation, taking a bullet is just enablement.
6. Make everything about the customer. It isn't important that we be recognized for our expertise or our knowledge - we are here to understand, honor, and support our customers. If we're good at this, we won't need to build ourselves up - our customers will realize and appreciate all on their own the value of our services.
7. Do the dirty work. Be willing to take on whatever a customer needs (within the context of the services you provide). Sometimes what a customer needs might be seen as "below us", but since service is about them and not us, we do for them those things they need us to do with a humble spirit.
8. Admit your weaknesses and limitation. If we try to cover up our weaknesses, we will spend more and more time and energy doing things we aren't good at. If we can admit our weaknesses, we can look for better ways to fill those gaps (sometimes another member of the team), and more effectively spend our time and energy on the things we are good at.

I think these guidelines have some strong ties to Biblical principles, and therefore are not necessarily alien in concept to somebody working at a Christian institution. However, the book was clearly written for a secular, corporate audience, where some of these principles are very much out of the norm.

Finally, one other thing the book emphasizes is, while some humility can go a long way in building a meaningful relationship with customers, you still have to be competent in the things you do. It is good to admit your mistakes, but if all you make are mistakes, then you have a different problem.

I definitely recommend this book for anybody that serves people in a business setting. It's a quick read (few hours) and the narrative style is very engaging.