How to Color Easter Eggs

Wherever we are at Easter, I hard-boil and color eggs for The Captain.  It is a tradition that can travel with us, wherever we happen to be.  One year I did them, while were on board the sloop, swinging from a mooring ball in Montague Harbor... but most times we are in a house, somewhere, with a real kitchen.

The first step is to hard boil the eggs.

I like to put the eggs into a saucepan, cover them with water, add a splash of white vinegar, then set the pan on high heat and bring the water to a gentle, rolling boil. 

Then I put a lid on the saucepan, turn the burner off and leave the eggs for about 15 minutes.

I drain the hot water off the eggs and run cold water over them, until they feel cool to the touch.  The cold water stops the cooking process.

When I am ready to color them, I get out my food coloring kit, and 4 glass containers, that will hold enough hot water to cover one egg.

I like to do the 4 colors that come in the kit... red, blue, green and yellow.  So I use 4 glass cups.  Into each one, I put 1 Tbsp of white vinegar, and 8 drops of the food coloring. 

Then I fill each cup about 3/4 of the way, with boiling water.

I like to put one egg into each cup, and leave them till they take on the color I like... approximately 3 or 4 minutes each.

When I take them out of dye bath, I set them on a paper towel until they are dry.

The vinegar helps set the dye, but I do take care not to handle the wet eggs with my bare hands, so that my fingers don't get dyed too!

And eggs are so good for us, too.  Lots of choline (memory), lutein (eyes), protein (muscles), and Vitamin B12 (brain/nervous system), along with lots of other health-supporting nutrients.

Per large egg.

Weight Watchers P+ = 2.

Calories 70; Protein 6g; Carbohydrate 0g; Fat 5g; Fibre 0g