Coffee Break with Liz and Kate

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Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs

Over the past few days I’ve been on a quest to figure out how to make the ‘Perfect Hard Boiled Egg’, since Easter is coming up on Sunday.  At my house, dyeing  eggs on the Saturday before Easter is a tradition.  We’re not talking a couple eggs here…we’re talking 5 (yep, that’s FIVE) dozen eggs. I know that sounds ridiculous, but that’s only 8 eggs per kid, with a few extra to account for the eggs that inevitably crack while boiling.

With this easy and fail-proof method for hard boiled eggs, the whites will be firm, but not rubbery, and the yolk will be yellow (not grayish – a sign of over cooking) with just the slightest hint of a shiny center.

1. Put eggs in pan of water so that water covers eggs by at least an inch, and bring to a boil.
2. After the eggs have boiled for 1 minute, remove from heat and cover.  Let sit for 15 minutes.
3. Drain hot water and add cold water with ice, to stop the eggs from further cooking. Replace with more ice and cold water as needed, until eggs are completely cooled.
4. Let the eggs chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours before peeling.

Fun Easter Egg Coloring Ideas

Make your own food color dye…

Instead of buying an egg dyeing kit from the store this year, try making your own.

Combine 1/2 to 1 Tbs. of food coloring with 2 tsp. vinegar in a cup that is deep enough for an egg.  Add water to about the half-way point. Gently place the eggs into the cup with a spoon to avoid cracking. The longer the egg is left in the dye, the brighter the color will be.  Experiment with different combinations of colors.  Pat dry after removing from dye.

Fun & crazy stripped eggs…

Before placing eggs into dye cups, wrap various sizes of rubber bands around the eggs.  Place egg in dye and let sit.  Remove and pat dry, then carefully remove rubber bands.  Under where the rubber bands were, the egg will be white.Experiment with removing only a few rubber bands at a time and placing in other colors.

Marbled Eggs

When you are almost finished dyeing eggs, try this with the last few eggs.  Simply add 1 TBS of oil to the cup of dye.  Stir quickly with a spoon and drop in egg.  Pull egg out quickly and pat dry. (don’t rub)

Waxing Easter Eggs

Drip wax from a lit white taper candle onto the egg.  After the wax is set, drop the egg into food coloring dye.  Remove from dye and pat dry.  You can scrape the wax off and dip into another color, or leave the wax on it you want it to remain white.

~Kate

 

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