Easter and Egg Hunts just aren’t the same without the real thing, hard-boiled then color-dyed Easter eggs. Cathy Isom tells us what to do with those leftover hard-boiled Easter Eggs. That’s story’s ahead on this Land of Ours.
Leftover Easter Eggs
From: Food Safety News
Food-Safety Tips for Easter Eggs
Easter egg safety tips: wash hands, discard cracked eggs and keep eggs away from pets
Easter Sunday is coming right up, so here are some important food-safety tips to remember this time of year when you’re decorating, cooking and/or hiding Easter eggs:
- Be sure and inspect the eggs before purchasing them, making sure they are not dirty or cracked. Dangerous bacteria may enter a cracked egg.
- Store eggs in their original cartons in the refrigerator rather than in the refrigerator door.
- Wash your hands thoroughly with hot soapy water and rinse them before handling the eggs when cooking, cooling, dyeing and hiding them. Also thoroughly wash utensils, counter tops and anything else the eggs will come into contact with.
- It’s a good idea to use one set of eggs for dyeing, decorating and hunting and a second set for eating. Or, you can use colorful plastic Easter eggs with treats or toys inside for your Easter egg hunt.
- If you’re planning to eat the Easter eggs you dye, be sure to use food-grade dyes only. You can even make your own egg dyes from common and easily available foods.
- If you’re having an Easter egg hunt, consider your hiding places carefully. Avoid areas where the eggs might come into contact with pets, wild animals, birds, reptiles, insects or lawn chemicals.
- Make sure you find all the eggs you’ve hidden and then refrigerate them within two hours. Discard any cracked eggs.
- As long as the eggs are NOT out of refrigeration for more than two hours, they will be safe to eat. Do not eat eggs that have been out of refrigeration for more than two hours. Refrigerate hard-cooked eggs in their shells and use them within one week.
- Refrigerators should always keep foods at 40 degrees F or colder. If you’re not sure about yours, check the temperature with an appliance thermometer.
- If you are planning to use colored eggs as decorations (for centerpieces, etc.) and the eggs will be out of refrigeration for many hours or several days, discard them after they have served their decorative purpose.
- If you will be painting and decorating hollowed-out eggshells, use pasteurized shell eggs so you don’t expose yourself to Salmonella from the raw egg while blowing it through holes poked in the shell. To sanitize the outside of the egg, wash it in hot water and rinse it in 1 teaspoon chlorine bleach per half-cup of water.
Observing these food-safety tips will make it a fun and healthy Easter for you and your family.
From: Shelf Life Advise
Are Eggs Dyed for Easter Safe to Eat?
By
Yes, if the answers to all the following questions are “Yes.”
- Is the dye safe to ingest? Check the package. Most dyes in children’s kits are vegetable dyes and are safe. However, some kits are meant to be used on blown-out eggs, and the decorative materials (such as sprinkles) aren’t intended for consumption. If you use food coloring, of course, that’s also edible. If the dye is edible, it’s okay to eat the eggs even if, when peeled, you note that some color has leaked unto the egg white.
- Were the eggs refrigerated within 2 hours? The danger zone for bacterial growth is 40°-140°F. After two hours, the bacterial count may be high enough to cause illness. Refrigerate the eggs after dyeing them. If you hide the eggs for a hunt, be sure the eggs get back into the fridge promptly.
- Was your egg hunt an indoor event? If you use your dyed eggs (or other eggs) for an Easter egg hunt that’s held outdoors, consider the fact that these eggs may come in contact with pesticides, animal manure, and other contaminants. Don’t eat eggs thus exposed. Let the hunters trade their real eggs for candy ones, and throw out the hidden eggs. Alternatively, have the hunt indoors, and put the eggs in small plastic bags. (Another tip: Write down how many you hid and where you put them, or you may find smelly eggs months later.)
- Did the children dyeing the eggs and peeling the eggs have clean hands? Hands should be washed before handling any food. Egg shells are very porous, so don’t count on the shells to protect the edible part from contamination.
- Has it been a week or less since the eggs were hard-boiled? Hard-boiled eggs don’t keep as well as raw eggs. Keep the dyed eggs in the fridge, and peel them only when you’re ready to eat them (within a week).
Source(s) for Are Eggs Dyed for Easter Safe to Eat?:
Ivillage.com “Easter egg guidelines”
http://parenting.ivillage.com/gs/gscelebrations/0,,44ld,00.html
Answerbag “Can I eat Easter eggs after they’ve been dyed?”
www.answerbag.com/q_view/53474
YahooAnswers “Is the Easter egg dye edible?”
USDA Fact Sheets: “Are Easter Eggs Safe?”
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/focus_on_shell_eggs/index.asp
Image credits:
(Top left) American Easter egg from the White House, Washington, D.C., Easter Egg Roll 1998 – By dbking – White House Easter Egg Roll, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3759582
(Middle right) Decorating Easter eggs – By L.Kenzel – CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11792209
(Bottom right) Easter eggs, dyed with onion husks – By Bff – CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9933134