Easter Egg Decorating Tips from PAAS

An eggshell is like a blank piece of paper. With any PAAS decorating kit, a little help from a parent or responsible adult, and their imagination, kids can create Easter eggs as fun, interesting, and unique as they are! These tips can help.

You can decorate hard-cooked or empty eggs.

Use these guidelines to help you decide which kind will work best for your family:

• Hard-cooked eggs are best when you want a sturdy egg for hiding and when you want to eat them when you’re done. They are also easier for younger children to handle. Here’s how to prepare the perfect hard cooked egg. (Download PDF file)
  
  
• Empty your eggs if you want to keep them for a long time and bring them out to display year-after-year. If you want to keep your decorated eggs for a long time, you can strengthen them by covering them with layers of paper towels or similar paper stuck on with white glue or homemade flour-and-water paste. Here’s how to empty eggs. (Download PDF file)
  
• Looking for PAAS dye kit directions? (Download PDF file)
  

Everyone should wash their hands in hot, soapy water before and after handling eggs (even if they’ve already been cooked or decorated)! This protects everyone from any bacteria on the egg, and protects the eggshell from any oils on hands that may make the dye not adhere. Make sure an adult supervises all projects to ensure common sense food safety precautions are observed.

Kids don’t have to be highly creative to create an eggceptional egg. Help kids use their imagination to create cool looking eggs by gluing on fun materials found at craft stores, like fake gems, sequins, trims and ribbons. They can also use paint, including gold or silver metallic paints, to make their eggs “eggstra” special!

To create an egg with a face, create a light flesh color by dipping your egg in a dye that’s made of a little bit of red and yellow coloring; for a darker flesh color, use a little red, yellow, and green. Then let kids “eggspress” themselves – with a smile or other look they paint on (or use the method below to create a “Pysanky” face). PAAS Egg Heads™ and Stencil kits are a fun and easy option to create egg faces.

To make eggs with several different colors (sometimes called a “Pysanky,” or Ukranian egg), have kids draw on their egg with the clear wax “magic crayon” found in many PAAS decorating kits. Each time they use the crayon, they protect that color from dye. For example, keep an area white by drawing on the egg before they dip your egg in any color. Then dip the egg in the lighter colored dye first and then move to darker colored dyes. Just be sure to let the first dye color dry before dipping it into next color “bath.” Cover up more areas to keep the color, and peel the wax off of other areas to add color. When they’ve finished dying your “Pysanky,” peel off all the wax layers to reveal an interesting multi-color design. Polish the egg by rubbing in any remaining wax (heat egg slightly in hot water).

How to prepare the perfect hard cooked egg

Our friends at the American Egg Board have offered their expertise so you can prepare the perfect hard cooked egg.

Directions:

1. PLACE eggs in saucepan large enough to hold them in single layer. ADD cold water to cover eggs by 1 inch. HEAT over high heat just to boiling.

2. REMOVE fromburner. COVER pan. LET EGGS STAND in hot water about 15 minutes for large eggs (12 minutes for medium eggs; 18 minutes for extra large).

3. DRAIN immediately and serve warm. OR, cool completely under cold running water or in bowl of ice water, then REFRIGERATE.

Complete Hard Cooking Instructions

Tips for preparing hard cooked eggs:

• Hard-cooked, not hard-boiled. Although the cooking water must come to a full boil in this method, the pan is immediately removed from the heat so that the eggs cook gently in the hot water. This produces tender, not rubbery, eggs and minimizes cracking.
• Banish the greenish ring. This harmless but unsightly discoloration that sometimes forms around hard-cooked yolks results from a reaction between sulfur in the egg white and iron in the yolk. It occurs when eggs have been cooked for too long or at too high a temperature. Our method – cooking eggs in hot, not boiling, water, then cooling immediately – minimizes this.
• Very fresh eggs can be difficult to peel. To ensure easily peeled eggs, buy and refrigerate them a week to 10 days in advance of cooking. This brief "breather" allows the eggs time to take in air, which helps separate the membranes from the shell.
• Hard-cooked eggs are easiest to peel right after cooling. Cooling causes the egg to contract slightly in the shell.
• To peel a hard-cooked egg: Gently tap egg on countertop until shell is finely crackled all over. Roll egg between hands to loosen shell. Starting peeling at large end, holding egg under cold running water to help ease the shell off.

Storage time: In the shell, hard-cooked eggs can be refrigerated safely up to one week. Refrigerate in their original carton to prevent odor absorption. Once peeled, eggs should be eaten that day.

Food safety precaution: Piercing shells before cooking is not recommended. If not sterile, the piercer or needle can introduce bacteria into the egg. Also, piercing creates hairline cracks in the shell, through which bacteria can enter after cooking.

Never microwave eggs in shells. Steam builds up too quickly inside and eggs are likely to explode.

High altitude cooking: It's almost impossible to hard-cook eggs above 10,000 feet.

Recipes

BREAKFAST BURRITO PANINI

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 3 minutes
Makes: 2 panini

WHAT YOU NEED

2 HARD-COOKED EGGS, sliced or chopped
2 whole wheat OR white flour tortillas (8-inch)
1/2 cup baby spinach leaves
1/3 cup black bean and corn salsa
1/4 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend (1 oz.)

HERE'S HOW

1. HEAT panini press according to manufacturer's directions.
2. PLACE 1/2 of the eggs inmiddle of each tortilla; top evenly with spinach, salsa and cheese. FOLD sides of tortillas over filling; fold up bottom edge and roll up.
3. GRILL burritos in panini press, on medium-high heat, until tortillas are toasted and filling is heated through, about 3 minutes

ENJOY

INSIDER INFORMATION

• No panini press? Burritos can be grilled in a skillet over medium heat, turning once, until tortillas are toasted and filling is heated through, 2 to 4 minutes.
• To peel a hard-cooked egg: Gently tap egg on countertop until shell is finely crackled all over. Roll egg between hands to loosen shell. Starting peeling at large end, holding egg under cold running water to help ease the shell off.
• Storage time: In the shell, hard-cooked eggs can be refrigerated safely up to one week. Refrigerate in their original carton to prevent odor absorption. Once peeled, eggs should be eaten that day.

NUTRITION INFORMATION

Nutrition information per sandwich: 295 calories; 12 g total fat; 5 g saturated fat; 1 g polyunsaturated fat; 2 g monounsaturated fat; 224 mg cholesterol; 524mg sodium; 28 g carbohydrate; 3 g dietary fiber; 15 g protein; 919.6 IU Vitamin A; 17.5 IU Vitamin D; 23.5 mcg folate; 132.2 mg calcium; 2.7 mg iron; 125.6 mg choline.

This recipe is an excellent source of protein and choline, and a good source of fiber, Vitamin A, calcium and iron.

BACON & CHEDDAR DEVILED EGGS

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: none
Makes: 24 appetizers

WHAT YOU NEED

14 HARD-COOKED EGGS
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1-1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/3 cup crumbled cooked bacon
1/4 cup finely shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (1 oz.)
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives OR green onion tops

HERE'S HOW

1. CUT eggs lengthwise in half. REMOVE yolks to medium bowl. RESERVE 24 white halves. Finely CHOP remaining 4 white halves.
2. MASH yolks with fork. ADD mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, lemon juice and pepper; mix well. ADD chopped egg whites, bacon, cheese and chives; mix well.
3. SPOON 1 heaping Tbsp. yolk mixture into each reserved egg white half. REFRIGERATE, covered, to blend flavors.

ENJOY

INSIDER INFORMATION

• Deviled eggs can be made up to 12 hours ahead. Refrigerate, covered.
• Very fresh eggs can be difficult to peel. To ensure easily peeled eggs, buy and refrigerate them a week to 10 days in advance of cooking. This brief "breather" allows the eggs time to take in air, which helps separate the membranes from the shell.
• Hard-cooked eggs are easiest to peel right after cooling. Cooling causes the egg to contract slightly in the shell.
• To peel a hard-cooked egg: Gently tap egg on countertop until shell is finely crackled all over. Roll egg between hands to loosen shell. Starting peeling at large end, holding egg under cold running water to help ease the shell off.
• Hard-cooked egg storage time: In the shell, hard-cooked eggs can be refrigerated safely up to one week. Refrigerate in their original carton to prevent odor absorption. Once peeled, eggs should be eaten that day.
• No-mess method: Combine filling ingredients in 1-quart plastic food-storage bag. Press out air and seal bag. Press and roll bag with hand until mixture is well blended. Push filling toward bottom corner of bag. Snip off about 1/2-inch of corner. Squeeze filling from bag into egg whites.
• Picnic or tailgate tip: Prepare filling in plastic bag, as above. Carry whites and yolk mixture separately in cooler. Fill eggs on the spot, pressing filling out of snipped corner of bag.

NUTRITION INFORMATION

Nutrition information per appetizer: 83 calories; 6 g total fat; 2 g saturated fat; 1 g polyunsaturated fat; 2 g monounsaturated fat; 130 mg cholesterol; 133 mg sodium; 2 g carbohydrate; 0 g dietary fiber; 5 g protein; 199.4 IU Vitamin A; 10.4 IU Vitamin D; 14.8 mcg folate; 29.6 mg calcium; 0.6 mg iron; 77.3 mg choline.

This recipe is a good source of protein and choline.

To “empty” eggs for decorating:

• Use a pin or needle to make a hole in the fat end of a raw egg. Wiggle the needle around or use a nail to create a slightly larger hole. The hole should be about ¼ ” across, or about the size of a pencil eraser.
• Make a hole in the opposite end of the egg. This hole can be much smaller. Insert the needle into the egg to break the yolk (this makes it easier to remove the egg). Use a baby’s nose aspirator, or simply your mouth, to blow into the small hole to remove the egg yolk and egg white into a large bowl. When the egg has been removed from the shell, run water into the eggshell, shake it to rinse the insides well, and pour it out.

Are you an Easter Egg Expert?

Increase your knowledge of Easter and Easter egg decorating with PAAS fun facts!

If you lay all of the PAAS kits sold each year end-to-end, they would reach from Miami, Florida, to Chicago, Illinois. That’s nearly 1,400 miles!

Thirteenth-century Macedonians were the first Christians known to use colored eggs in their Easter celebrations. Crusaders returning from the Middle East spread the custom of coloring eggs, and Europeans then began to use colored eggs to celebrate Easter and other holidays.

Persians first began using colored eggs to celebrate spring in 3000 B.C. On the first day of spring, they would give each other an egg dyed red.

The ancient Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans all used colored eggs to celebrate spring. Among the Chinese, parents of newborn children still present gifts of colored eggs to their friends as a sign of new life.

If you lay all of the PAAS wire dippers end-to-end, they would equal the height of 6, 628 Washington Monuments.

Laying eggs is hard work! In fact, it takes 24-26 hours to complete the process, according to research from the University of Illinois-Urbana. Even the best brood hens cannot lay more than one egg a day.

South American Ameraucana and Araucan chickens can lay eggs that are green, blue, or pinkish in color.