Food Safety for Easter Eggs

• Place raw eggs in a large pan. Cover eggs with cold water. Place pan on stove with a lid on it. Bring to a boil. Turn off burner and let set for 15 minutes.
• Finish cooling in cold water. When cold, refrigerate in covered container until ready to color eggs.
• Wash hands before coloring the eggs. Return eggs to refrigerator immediately after coloring.
• Do not leave cooked eggs at room temperature for more than 3 hours (cumulative).
• If eggs crack during the hiding and finding process, discard.
• Cooked eggs that have been properly handled and refrigerated can safely be used for up to one week.

Cooking tip: If the yolks of hard cooked eggs turn greenish blue the eggs were cooked a too high a temperature. Never boil eggs.

For fun try dyeing eggs with natural dyes. Adding a little vinegar or lemon juice to the coloring liquid will speed up the dyeing process. Here are some suggestions for natural dyes:

• Pink--Pickled beet juice.
• Yellow---Tumeric dissolved in water and vinegar.
• Green--Chopped frozen spinach cooking liquid.
• Orange--Grated carrots squeezed to get out the juice, mix juice with vinegar.
• Lavender--Grape juice with vinegar.
• Red--Boiled red onions or red cabbage mixed with vinegar.

Suggestions for using cooked eggs:

• Deviled eggs.
• Egg salad sandwich spread.
• Chopped eggs can be added to tossed green salads, and potato and pasta salads.
• Blend eggs with ranch dressing for a vegetable dip.
• Make pickled eggs.

Prepared by Nellie Oehler, FCD Faculty, OSU/Lane County Extension Service.