Materials:
Food dyes and vinegar, fine point Sharpies, stick-on gems
If you like a color scheme, pick out three colors that are similar in range. Yellow, orange and pink work well. Blue, green and yellow is another nice combination, or blue, purple and pink. That way, however the little ones choose to dip or mix, you still come out with eggs in a lovely tonal range. Limiting the dipping bowls to three also makes it manageable for a small child.
Dipping with fingers is the best, since the egg holders are too hard to manage for small hands. We set an egg carton between us in the middle of the table, and my daughter dips the eggs and then sets them in the carton to dry. As they begin to dry, I draw on them with a sharpie. Stick-on gems from the craft store are fun for her to decorate her own eggs.
For the very best hardboiled eggs, place chilled eggs in a deep pan with a lid. Fill will cold water until the eggs are just immersed. Place the covered pan on the stove and bring water to boil. As soon as the water boils, turn off the heat, but don’t remove the pan from the warm stove. Let the pan sit, covered, on the cooling burner for 12-15 minutes. Remove pan, pour out the water, and run cold water over the eggs to stop the cooking process.The eggs will come out tender, soft and brilliant yellow with a fresh egg taste.
From Maia Chavez Larkin, our That Mom this week.