Easter Eggs
It’s Easter Egg Time!
Peter Cottontail may come hopping down the bunny trail, but we all know that the Easter Bunny brings eggs to children. It helps to forget about the details of this story (eggs from rabbits?) and just enjoy the fun.
If you’d like to do some homemade Easter eggs, Super 1 Foods has some ideas to make the project a success.
Safety First
Work with the eggs carefully to prevent cracking the shells (if the shells crack, bacteria can get inside the eggs--they should not be decorated, hidden or eaten).
Perfect Boiled Eggs
Hard-boiled eggs are easy: put eggs in a saucepan and add enough cold water to cover them by about an inch. Set the pan over medium-high heat and as soon as the water reaches a brisk simmer, turn off the heat and let the eggs sit uncovered in the hot water for at least 10 minutes and up to 30 minutes. The water cools gradually, preventing the eggs from overcooking.
Dyeing eggs
Refrigerate eggs before dyeing them. If the eggs will be eaten, be sure to use a food-safe dye. Boiling the eggs kills the Salmonella bacteria that can cause illness, but will not keep the eggs from spoiling. To prevent re-contamination and to slow spoilage, keep the eggs refrigerated, dry and in a clean container (don't put them back in the original egg carton).
If you plan to eat the eggs used in an Easter egg hunt, make sure the eggs are hidden in places that are protected from dirt, pets and other sources of bacteria. Make sure you refrigerate the Easter eggs as soon as you find them. As long as they are not out of the refrigerator for over 2 hours, the eggs are safe to eat. Discard any cracked eggs.
A safer option is to keep edible eggs refrigerated and hide inedible, plastic eggs for the hunt.
Color your eggs in three easy steps:
- To make your dye, combine 1/2 cup boiling water, 1 teaspoon vinegar and about 10 drops of food coloring. Use containers that won’t stain with the dye.
- Dip hard-boiled eggs in dye for about 5 minutes or until you get the color you want. For variety, try dipping the top half in one color and the bottom half in another, or leaving the eggs in the dye for different lengths of time, creating different shades of a particular color.
- Use a slotted spoon or tongs to add or remove eggs from dye.
For further decoration, try one of these:
- Marbleize: For marbled eggs, combine 1/4 cup boiling water, 1 teaspoon vinegar, 1/8 teaspoon oil, and 4 to 8 drops of food coloring in a shallow bowl. Gently roll each egg in the mixture for 30 seconds, or until the egg is the desired shade. Transfer the egg to a second color mixture, and repeat the process. Allow the egg to dry completely, and wipe away excess oil with a paper towel.
- Sticker art: Before dyeing eggs, apply stickers (chicks, rabbits, flowers or other favorites) to make the image you want. Dip eggs in dye as normal.
- Remove stickers once eggs have dried, to reveal perfectly “drawn” designs.
- For hand-painted designs: Combine 10 drops of one color, 1/2 teaspoon water and 1/2 teaspoon vinegar in a small container. Then hand-paint hard-cooked eggs with a paintbrush or cotton swab. Go wild with stripes, polka dots, or zigzags.
- Personalize your eggs by using a white or light-colored crayon to write names or initials on them before dipping them in the dye.
Easter Baskets
Here’s an idea of how to decorate a child's Easter basket:
Materials: straw basket; white latex primer; paint; paintbrush (unless using spray paint); narrow ribbons; hot-glue gun or floral wire
- Paint the basket a color of your choice, but if you are using a brown basket, first spray or brush on white latex primer. When using spray paint, work in a well-ventilated space.
- Make bows from narrow ribbons, and place them around the basket¹s edge with a hot-glue gun or with small pieces of floral wire. The basket can serve as a decorative container year-round.
- Be sure to include some non-edible goodies, such as crayons, colored pencils, small books, and a stuffed animal.
