Hard Boiled Eggs - It's That Time of the Year!

Before high speed internet and google, anytime I needed a recipe, I'd call my Mom. No matter if my Mom or stepdad answered, they would give line after line on the recipe card from the recipe box. I never would write down the "How to hard boil egg" steps and called every time. At that time, I was in my early 20s and didn't make them often. I would get confused with putting the eggs in the cold water like boiling potatoes or putting the eggs in the boiling water like pasta.

One year, I was gifted a cookbook from my Mom and stepdad with this note inside:

Ironically, when Phil and I married, we both had a copy of the same cookbook! It's the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book! Click here to buy it on Amazon. Phil's was ring bound with a hard cover so my copy is stashed with my pile of cookbooks and I use his regularly.

Here's the recipe straight from the book!

Here are my added notes about preparing fresh eggs prior to cooking:

• Fresh eggs can be kept on the counter unwashed.
• I have a small "Easter Basket" bucket from Walmart for $1 that I use only for egg washing. Click here for similar ones to mine.
• We have an egg storing system on the counter but one never knows if there was a breach in the system so while washing the eggs, I always do a "Float Test". It's easy peasy! If the egg sinks and stays at the bottom of the bucket of water, then it's still good to use. If it floats, as Homestead Phil says "Float it out of your house" meaning be gentle as it is likely rotten. Put it in a Ziploc bag and place it gently in the trash or without the Ziploc carefully place it into your compost bin.
• The cleaner you keep your nesting box, the cleaner your eggs will be. In the case of dirty eggs, I use a great homemade crocheted scrubber similar to these ones on Etsy.com.
• Fresher eggs tend to be harder to peel. Either just know that or keep older eggs (a week or two old) around for hard boiling.

Here are added notes on after the cooking time has finished:

• I place a metal mixing bowl into the sink and fill it with cold water
• I use the largest straining "spoon" I've ever seen to move the eggs similar to this one to move the eggs from the hot pot of water to the mixing bowl of cold water.
• As the water starts to warm from the eggs transferring the heat, drain as much of the water out of the mixing bowl as possible and add more cold water.
• With this method of cooling the eggs, I have found even fresh eggs easy to peel.
• If not, we've found an OK method of peeling which doesn't do as much damage to the egg but it's more for immediate eating or egg salad or deviled eggs and not whole hard boiled eggs. Use a butter knife to cut the egg with the shell down the middle. Use a plastic spoon to scoop the egg out of the shell. You have to do this step just right with the membrane or it doesn't slide right out.

Here's a pic of my infamous "Deviled Egg Casserole" as it sounds fancier than Egg Salad and less labor intensive than Deviled Eggs. :)