284287 Tue Apr 04 01:12:24 -0700 2006 20 31 Home Cooking 0 1519448 Oh Martha, you've sucked me in with yet another of your gorgeous kitchen projects. So I'm looking at these eggs on the Martha Stewart website (linked below), and now I really want to make them. Question: can I do this to raw eggs without accelerating their demise? I mean, they sit in hot water dye, but not for that long. I ask because I'd like to make a dozen and give them to seomeone as a fun but random present, but don't really want to give someone boiled eggs since raw eggs are so much more useful. Any thoughts? Link: http://marthastewart.com/page.jhtml;jsessionid=H2CK15EQGE45TWCKUUXCJBWYJKSS0JO0?type=content&id=channel193847&rsc=040306_slot2_easter Image: http://marthastewart.com/images/content/feature/ft_mar05msl07_t.jpg Tue Apr 04 01:12:24 -0700 2006 0 nooodles 1 1519449 Blow the insides of the eggs out and make omelets for Easter brunch. Link: http://thecosmicjester.blogspot.com Tue Apr 04 01:15:41 -0700 2006 1519448 0 JK Grence (the Cosmic Jester) 2 1519456 If only I could remember from the third grade the best way to poke a clean hole in an egg. Any suggestions? Power drill comes to mind, but alas I haven't one. Although, as nice as it would be to have permanent eggs, I think some of my friends would really get a kick out of decorated farm fresh eggs that they could use, like Marin Sun Farm eggs. It's more about getting them to try those eggs than me getting to keep pretty egg shells. Oooh, it just occured to me how pretty the marbles would be against the natural variations in hue of MSF eggs. Tue Apr 04 02:00:16 -0700 2006 1519449 0 nooodles 3 1519461 You use a big strong needle to make a hole at each end then blow into one end and the the egg contents comes out the other end. You might go to a fabric & sewing supplies store and buy the biggest needle you can find, specifically for this use. Be sure it's not a tapestry needle though as they have blunt ends. You don't want to give decorated raw eggs for two reasons: 1) the recipient won't thank you if one breaks on his/her upholstered furniture or carpet; 2) it's not good to have unrefrigerated eggs sitting around for days before you use them, while keeping them to look at is the whole idea of decorating them. Tue Apr 04 02:37:07 -0700 2006 1519456 0 N Tocus 4 1519464 But the folks at Marin Sun Farms always tell me their eggs can sit at room temperature for up to a month, and I've left them for a few weeks without problems. These are not the same as your refrigerated supermarket eggs, which have not been inside a hen for weeks. These are fresh farm eggs that were laid the day before being sold to me. It does seem the consensus is that I should decorate emptied eggs, and I don't want to "weaken" them with a soaking in hot water. No one wants to crack open a rotten egg. Perhaps it would be best. Me and my scheming mind...maybe I'll make a few for myself and experiment for future purposes, and give away empty ones. Thanks for the input. Tue Apr 04 02:53:27 -0700 2006 1519461 0 nooodles 5 1519472 Poke the needle lengthwise through a cork until about 1/4 inch comes through. Makes it a lot easier to punch a hole in the egg if you've got something to hold on to. There are also special-purpose egg-piercers you can get at those fancy kitchen-stuff stores. Link: http://www.epinions.com/Zyliss_2_5_Egg_Piercer__Egg_Tools_23_000 Tue Apr 04 05:14:35 -0700 2006 1519464 0 Jef 5 1519474 The "folks" at Marin Sun Farms are giving you unsound advice healthwise. Eggs, no matter how fresh should be coinsumed or refrigerated. They should never be left out for more than a day Tue Apr 04 05:35:08 -0700 2006 1519464 0 Fleur 6 1519494 You know, it's only in the States that eggs are obsessively refrigerated. In Europe, eggs are routinely stored and sold at room temp (this was the norm in Bologna, where I lived, as well as elsewhere in France and Italy) with no ill effects. Tue Apr 04 09:21:19 -0700 2006 1519474 0 dixieday 7 1519498 i recall being on a cruise in the carribean once leaving from miami.... anytime you ordered an egg they had to cook it all the way through, then the SECOND we crossed into international waters everyone started eating runny eggs. Link: http://tongueandcheek.ca Tue Apr 04 09:30:05 -0700 2006 1519494 0 pinstripeprincess 7 1519528 The norm in my daughter-in-law's kitchen in London, too. I think once eggs have had refrigeration (as is the case most often here), they should be kept in the fridge. Tue Apr 04 11:11:20 -0700 2006 1519494 0 Pat Hammond 7 1519531 Just received this from my daughter-in-law! Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/F31840?thread=80347 Tue Apr 04 11:17:07 -0700 2006 1519494 0 Pat Hammond 7 1519538 Absolutely. In most of Europe you'll find that people keep eggs around w/o refrigeration and with no ill effects, but American phobias & paranoia about food & cleanliness are unfortunately spreading. Here in the US I refrigerate eggs just cause I don't have anywhere else to put them, but back home I don't. Tue Apr 04 11:38:31 -0700 2006 1519494 0 Sir Gawain 7 1519656 My mother keeps hers in a giant wire hen-shaped basket on the counter. I don't think we've ever had eggs as long as a month (we eat them!). We even eat them raw in some dishes (shock! Horror!) like chocolate mousse, spaghetti carbonara, etc. No one has ever, ever got sick. Actually, my boyfriend is the only person I know who's had salmonella, and he got it from a chicken-covered pizza. Go figure. Tue Apr 04 17:10:28 -0700 2006 1519494 0 Gooseberry 7 1519921 Indeed, at the old (original) Berkeley Bowl market, eggs, whether cartons or flats, were stacked on shelves in the produce section, unrefrigerated. Now, I'm sure most evryone took them home and put them in the fridge, but I never heard of anyone complaining about it. Wed Apr 05 20:41:23 -0700 2006 1519494 0 Caitlin McGrath 6 1519658 This just isn't true. Eggs age 5 days at room temp for every one day refrigerated. Eggs can stay out for weeks. Especially if the chickens just laid them today :)! -Becca Tue Apr 04 17:23:52 -0700 2006 1519474 0 Becca Porter 3 1519489 the best way to put a hole into anything delicate is to reinforce the area first. get some masking tape and mark off your ends with it then go at it with something sharp. it should guarantee you no cracks permeating from the main hole. and of course you dont' need the maskign tape after the hole is made. Link: http://tongueandcheek.ca Tue Apr 04 08:59:42 -0700 2006 1519456 0 pinstripeprincess 3 1519701 This is a really sweet idea. And I love food gift as much as anyone. But honestly, if somebody gave me dyed raw Easter eggs, I'd wonder what they heck they were thinking. I'm not too concerned about room temperature eggs, but I would be concerned about getting them home safely without them cooking in the shell in a hot car, or worse yet, breaking. But even if I managed that, I wouldn't want to eat them. The vinegar and food color can leech through into the egg itself. Every time I've cracked open a hardboiled dyed egg, the white albumen was tinted with the food color. I wouldn't want to cook with farm fresh eggs that may contain vinegar and artificial colors. I like the idea of introducing your friends to these great eggs, but I'd suggest doing it another way. -n Tue Apr 04 21:05:38 -0700 2006 1519456 0 nja 4 1519704 Excellent points, especially the dye and vinegar leeching! Another half-poached plan that will never come to fruition. Maybe I'll just remember to start saving shells a month before Easter next year. Tue Apr 04 21:44:52 -0700 2006 1519701 0 nooodles 1 1519473 To use raw eggs, you have to blow out the insides by poking a hole with a sharp needle on both ends, making the hole wider on top. You blow out the contents with a straw, or your mouth. The shells should then be washed and dried. After decoration they will keep forever, so they are not wasted. Tue Apr 04 05:31:30 -0700 2006 1519448 0 Fleur 1 1519684 This isn't what you asked about, but Ukrainian easter eggs (pysanky) are always made with raw eggs. The decorated eggs aren't ever eaten - it's too much work to crack and destroy your masterpiece! If you're careful with the finished egg, the insides dry up, and the egg lasts forever. If you're unlucky, you break an egg during the stinky phase. Anne Link: http://www.learnpysanky.com/designs.html Image: http://www3.telus.net/public/jostan/egg8th.jpg Tue Apr 04 20:29:19 -0700 2006 1519448 0 AnneInMpls 2 1521480 Doesn't the heat from the candle cook the egg, somewhat? Fri Apr 14 18:46:38 -0700 2006 1519684 0 WildSwede