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EASTER EGGS TO DYE FOR

Decorating eggs for Easter is a fun and creative way to celebrate spring. Children enjoy the freedom of imagination that comes with designing their own eggs and a well planned Easter egg hunt can provide thrills for all ages.

The giving of Easter eggs as presents dates back to medieval times, and the methods of decorating eggs are diverse. German immigrants brought the tradition of coloring and hiding Easter eggs to America in the late 19th century.

Here are a few things to keep in mind if eggs are a part of your Easter plans.

Cooking

Place raw eggs in a pot and cover them with enough cold water to leave a full inch of water over the eggs. Add a tablespoon of salt to make them easier to peel. Bring the water to a boil for 10 to 12 minutes. Immediately soak the eggs in ice-cold water for two minutes to stop the cooking process; this also shrinks the body of the egg from the shell.

Hard-boiled eggs can be stored for up to a week in the refrigerator and stay fresh longer if they are covered, which also prevents the eggs from absorbing odors. Perfectly cooked eggs have a moist, deep-orange colored yolk. When an egg is overcooked, the yolk turns a pale yellow and green and carries an odor of sulfur (a reaction between traces of iron in the yolk and sulfur in the egg white).

Decorating

Cover the workspace with plenty of newspaper and have paper towels on hand. If you are using dyes, it is wise to wear rubber or latex gloves.

There are a variety of ways to decorate eggs. Most people dye eggs using packaged products or food coloring. Experimenting with natural ingredients—cranberry juice or blueberries, for instance—can be fun and unique. For younger kids, it’s a good idea to use crayons and felt-tipped markers; you can glue materials such as seeds, glitter, lace, buttons or ribbons to the shells. Here’s a tip: When using dyes, pre-wipe the eggs with white vinegar. The eggs will accept the color better because the vinegar helps to remove any oil coating from your hands. If an egg is undercooked, it will carry an oil coating on its shell, too.

Place eggs to dry on a metal baking rack to avoid damage to color. Colors may drip, so place newspaper beneath it. After the eggs have dried, you can polish them with a soft cloth and a small amount of oil to create a glossy fi nish and intensify the color.

Hunting

Count the eggs before hiding them: This is especially important if you are planning an inside hunt! You do not want to fi nd eggs in the bottom drawer or under the couch on Mother’s Day.

If children of many different ages are participating in the hunt, divide them into groups by age, with each group hunting for eggs of assigned colors. You can also consider letting the youngest group go first, the second youngest group five minutes later and so forth. This is particularly good when the littlest ones may be unsure of their colors.

When hiding the eggs, vary the degree of difficulty for each age group and color. The last thing you want is a child who is crying because his older brother or sister found more eggs than he did. If you’ve counted the eggs, you can divide by the number of kids and then direct each participant to find X number of eggs: That way, everyone gets the same amount and no one feels cheated.

If the kids are older, add a little more incentive to the hunt: Hide plastic eggs fi lled with notes that excuse them from chores for the day or gift certifi cates for a free movie rental or choice of dinner. You can also set up a scavenger hunt: Each egg contains a clue or riddle to finding the next egg, with a final prize at the end.