Nancy's Kitchen

Nancy McWhorter - For The Record

Does anyone dye hard-boiled eggs for Easter anymore? It was a tradition in the “old days” at our home. We dyed and decorated eggs the day before Easter. Then the “Bunny Rabbit” would hide them for the Easter hunt the next day. As my children became older, each year I would say, “You kiddos are getting too old for this.” And sure enough the next year we would again be dying and decorating eggs for Easter.

This year, I had the family at my house for Easter. Following our Easter dinner we took my two great grandsons (Chayce, seven years old & Riker, one year old) outside to my backyard to hunt Easter eggs. All the eggs were plastic and each one filled with a variety of candies. There were no true hard-boiled Easter eggs.

If you still do dye eggs for Easter, I have a casserole recipe for you this week for using the leftover hard-boiled eggs. If you do not have leftover Easter eggs, it would still be an ideal breakfast to prepare and serve to visiting guests. Although I have not made it yet, I think it to be a KEEPER. If preparing it for myself, I will half the recipe ingredients.

This could be made a day ahead except for the cheese and potato chips. Add the cheese and chips just before placing in the oven to bake.

HARD-BOILED EGG CASSEROLE

10 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

1 ½ cup diced celery

2/3 cup mayonnaise

½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts

2 Tbsp. chopped green bell pepper

1 tsp. finely chopped onion

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. black pepper

1 cup (4 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese

½ cup crushed potato chips

In a bowl, combine eggs, celery, mayonnaise, nuts, bell pepper, onion, salt and pepper; mix well. Pour into a greased 11 X 7 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with the cheese and potato chip. Bake, uncovered, at 375○ for 25 minutes or until heated through.

YIELDS: 6 to 8 servings.

NOTE: I am giving you a different method of preparing hard-boiled eggs that I read about on the internet. In a muffin tin, place an unbroken egg in each well. Do not add water. Place in a 325○ oven and bake for 30 minutes. The egg should be perfectly hard-boiled…no green ring around the yoke. I have not had the opportunity to try this yet. Please let me know if it works.