Peanut Butter Deviled Eggs?
Friday January 16th was the kickoff for the 2026-2027 ProFILE class. Being selected to participate in this Michigan Farm Bureau Young Farmer Program is a true honor. Prior to our first gathering, we were given 2 pieces of homework- bring “me in a box” and have a speech topic with an audience type.
Friday night we began with introductions and some outlines of what to expect with the program. We were also given a surprise challenge- we had to make dinner Saturday night. It was structured after a TV show, which I had never heard of, thankfully I was paired with 2 guys that enjoy cooking and know the show. Once we found out who our teams were, we had to draw a card to determine the course we were to make, 2 cards to determine the required ingredients, and 1 power card.
Our cards? Peanut butter and zucchini, our dish? Main. What an interesting combo! A different team received a power card that said they could switch courses, and thankfully they switched us so we ended up being in charge of the appetizer. Our power card? We were only required to use 1 ingredient. Insert peanut butter deviled eggs. We had until Saturday at lunch time to finalize what we needed for ingredients and to create a team name.
Saturday morning we met our guest facilitator and public speaking guru, a gentleman from Kentucky named Koty Back. He jumped right into a team bonding activity, a foam ball sitting on a roll of painters tape. The rules? The ball had to start and end there, everyone had to touch the ball. The ball had to touch all 4 walls, go under a specific chair and under a specific table. He asked us how long we thought it would take, some of us thought a minute and a half and others thought 15 seconds. Koty set the goal at 15 seconds. We had 2 minutes to talk strategy before giving it a try. Our first go? 45.11 seconds. We talked about the strengths and the weaknesses, and things we needed to change before trying for a second time. Our second run though was 15.80 seconds, so close but not close enough. 2 more minutes to talk strategy, look at what worked and what didn’t. The third time is the charm! We were able to complete it in 14.07 seconds. Success!
The focus of the lesson was how to be a good speaker and how to write a speech. From learning to research our audience, how to write a speech, and that the overall message is derived from the topic. We also learned about content, vocal qualities, and body language. Out of respect to Koty and his program I am going to be vague about the specifics of what he taught us.
We kept the mood light, sometimes there were small changes around the rooms, but one time we all left. Our 2 facilitators and our Koty had gone upstairs during break and someone suggested we all go hide. We split into 2 groups and went to different rooms. When Coty came back downstairs we could hear him laughing and then start calling for us. We became a bunch of toddlers giggling and failing miserably at being quiet. Our biggest downfall? Someone stuck their head out the door to see where Coty was just as Coty was looking towards our doorway. We all burst out laughing, and Coty asks where everyone else is. We had no idea, but we knew they were hiding downstairs. Once everyone was found and settled back into their proper spots, Coty burst out laughing again. Telling us this is one of the greatest things that has happened to him during a program, and then he proceeds to tell us that he took a picture of the empty space before he started looking for us.
Finally! I personally don’t like deviled eggs, however I like to make them. Fresh eggs aren’t my favorite to use, they don’t peel as well. We had to try to make the filling twice, turns out peanut butter needs to be warmed to be mixed. Thankfully, it all worked out and our eggs peeled beautifully too. Time was starting to run out, and evidently presentation mattered, using our flexible thinking we used a ziplock bag as a piping bag. Our eggs were filled beautifully. While I was cleaning our dishes, the guys seasoned the eggs (we used 3 different types of seasoning) and then made a pretty triangle thing on the judges plates to add extra shine to our dish.
Being the appetizer was a saving grace with our ingredients, I still have no idea what we would have done for a main dish. But being the appetizer also meant that we had to present our dish first. We presented our dish, the judge's feedback was interesting and humorous. One judge was hung up on the different seasoning types, another judge tasted a strong peanut butter aftertaste regardless of the seasoning type.
Other dishes were interesting, potatoes, a weird salad thing for sides. The main dish? 2 different types of pasta, one with shrimp and one with sausage (?). The dessert was a cream float, and bananas with raspberries with chocolate drizzle.
The winner? The main dish.
The rest of our night was for socializing, writing our speeches, and writing introductions for the classmate we had to introduce for their speech. Poor choices were made, I procrastinated and visited instead of working. Insert another late night, after everyone left for bed I ended up staying up til 1 working on my speech. It wasn’t perfect, I didn’t love it, but it was a start. My speech is an inspirational speech, encouraging farmers that they have the experience to be educators. All teachers are educators but not all educators are teachers.
Sunday morning, at least one of the guys who enjoys cooking made everyone breakfast. I’m not sure who or when they started, but man I was ever glad to have warm breakfast to wake up to. Back downstairs we went, full of nerves of giving our speeches. Half of the room had to decide what we were going to do leading up the speech (drum roll). Half of the room had to decide what we were going to do after the speech (oh year). One by one we introduced each other and listened to everyone's speech. Feedback was given by both peers, the facilitators and Koty.
Before we left, we were given more homework. To complete the DiSC Assessment before our February gathering. We also are to continue working on and improving our speeches. Before September 1st we are to give our speech to at least 3 different groups. If anyone needs a speaker, please reach out!
So, how are peanut butter deviled eggs? I have no idea, I didn’t try them. But the majority of the group liked them, and most were surprised by that.
