With only 70 calories, and a good source of protein, the boiled egg is the perfect snack for young and old. And they’re economical too. But there’s nothing more frustrating than envisioning a beautiful platter of deviled eggs, with the whites perfectly formed like Martha Stewart photos, only to have your eggs fall apart when peeling them. Who of us hasn’t stood at the kitchen sink, watching half of our egg stick to the shell, and get washed down the drain?

Here’s a tip! Purchase your eggs 1-2 weeks before Easter. Fresh eggs are much harder to peel once they’re hard boiled than eggs 7-10 days old.

1. Put the eggs in one layer on the bottom of the pan.

2. Run cold water into the pan until the water is 1 inch over the eggs.

3. Put the pan on a burner and turn it to medium-high heat.

4. Let the water come to a rolling boil. Put the lid on the pan when the water is boiling.

5. Move the pan onto a cold burner. Turn off the stove.

6. Set the timer for 15 minutes for Large-sized eggs (or for 12 minutes for Medium-sized eggs or for 18 minutes for Extra Large-sized eggs).

7. Put the pan in the sink when the time is over. Remove lid.

8. Run cold water into the pan until the eggs are cool.

9. Put the eggs into the refrigerator if you’re going to use them later or peel them if you’re going to use them right away. Use eggs within one week.

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Carol’s Tip! If you’re going to eat the eggs right away and need to peel them, use this trick. Place a few eggs back into your now empty saucepan, and shake pan back and forth to quickly crack eggs. Run each egg under cold running water to remove broken eggshell. Enjoy eating as is, or in your favorite recipe.

Here’s a funny personal story: Years ago, when microwaves were first hitting the market, no one really knew how to cook in them. I remember my mom experimenting with making hard-boiled eggs in the microwave. “Well, if it takes 15 minutes to normally cook an egg, then 5 minutes ought to do it”, she thought. Within a minute or two, we’d hear a muffled “poof”. It’s absolutely amazing how much mess one little exploded egg can make!  Has something funny happened to you? Tell us about it!

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