The caterer Vera Stewart grew up in Macon, Georgia, where her mother’s classic egg salad was a staple. “We ate it between two slices of bread for an everyday lunch, scooped it with crackers for a snack, or made tea sandwiches out of it for an afternoon gathering,” Stewart says, adding that she and her mother both swear by a secret ingredient: Durkee Famous Sauce.

“Mama Betty” with Vera and her siblings on Easter, 1960.