Today, I’m thrilled to host the amazing author, Angi Morgan! She’s wicked smart, funny and writes a killer story. Not to mention she has a great trick for making your Easter eggs extra vibrant. And in fine chicklets tradition, she’s offered to share her great recipe with us today along with a great story. Take it away Angi…I believe you offered to share The Secret to…Love? Nope. Life? Nope. Happiness? Can’t help you with that one either.
But what I can help you with is how to color fantastic looking eggs for Easter center pieces or egg hunts. For years my kids and I used the kits with the cardboard stands, the little pellets you drop into a cup of water. Then–you know the drill–you dip the egg carefully, balancing on the wire dipper, dry, decorate…blah blah blah. It’s fun while the kids are little and everyone should share the experience with their kids. It’s a must.
But after? When the kids are too big or don’t care or don’t live with you anymore (YAY) ? My kids are grown, but I still love to have brightly colored eggs here for Easter. So one year I decided to dye some eggs, but didn’t have time to run to the store for one of those kits. I used my cake decorating icing. Let me tell you, this isn’t your normal food-coloring. It’s concentrated and man, oh man, does it dye eggs! Especially if you forget about them and leave them in the water for several hours. LOL
Buy your eggs in a cardboard container. Then you can use that container to dry/drain your eggs. I get my food coloring on the cake decorating aisle–normally not found at a grocer’s. A little bit goes a long way… one or two eggs will fit into a large plastic cup. No vinegar needed, but you can add a drop or two if it makes you feel safe. The secret to a deeply colored egg is to put the egg into the dye and walk away. Leave it overnight if you don’t plan on eating the eggs. The deep richness of the color will amaze you.
Now what does this have to do with romantic suspense chases through the Texas Davis Mountains? Absolutely nothing…but my heroine, Kate Danvers McCrea, loves to cook. After her mother died, her dad made chili with her telling her stories until she had them all down word-for-word. Southern family get-togethers are all about the food. And for some reason, my characters like to eat…even on the run from the bad guys. LOL I hope you’ll check them out for yourself.
PROTECTING THEIR CHILD will be in stores late April (May, Harlequin Intrigue). DANGEROUS MEMORIES may still be in a few stores (Feb, Harlequin Intrigue).
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Angi Morgan writes “Intrigues where honor and danger collide with love.” She combines actual Texas settings with characters who are in realistic and dangerous situations. Angi is a finalist in the Bookseller’s Best Award, Romantic Times Best First Series, Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence and the Daphne du Maurier.
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FIND ANGI
Website Facebook FB Fan Page Twitter @AngiMorganAuthr
A Picture A Day Goodreads Book Trailers on YouTube
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LEAVE A BLOG COMMENT.
Angi will draw from blog commenters for an advanced copy of PROTECTING THEIR CHILD (she’ll need your email addy–which you can always send to her directly). AND ENTER ANGI’S March contest for a book from Angi. Register at Rafflecopter through March 31st, winner announced April 2nd.
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WANTED: UNFOUND HIDDEN EGG DISASTER STORIES…We all have them. Come on and share. Be sure to leave your email for a chance to win the book. International giveaway.
chickletsinthekitchen.wordpress.com 
Hi, Angi. Great to see you here with the Chicklets. That’s a unique idea for coloring eggs. My family did the tablets-in-vinegar thing for years. Back in Indiana, I colored a bunch of eggs using all-natural ingredients — purple cabbage for blue, yellow onion for yellow, other combos I don’t remember — for a newspaper feature. The colors weren’t very vibrant … but they were natural.
When I was a kid, the Easter Bunny was fond of hiding eggs in my underwear drawer.
Hi Arlene… Now you’ve got me curious… WHAT DID THOSE EGGS TASTE LIKE? Cabbage & eggs might not be too bad. But Onion flavored eggs? LOL Sounds like a story to me. 🙂
Oh that naughty Easter Bunny! Underwear and candy? You were just a kid.
~Angi
I hate to admit this, but I think the bunny did that because I had a habit of not changing my underwear every day. (I was 5. What can I say?)
I don’t remember the eggs picking up the taste. Maybe that’s because we just used the onion peel to color them … I tried to find that story online, but it was a bust. Apparently not everything you write lives forever!
But you know that confession about the underwear will … Sigh.
I love this idea. I’ll have to try it this weekend with my boys. Thanks for the tip and for stopping by, Angi! 🙂
Thanks for having me today, Mary. I shared what I’d written about with my husband and he said, “Oh the trick about forgetting them?”
HAHA, he knows me too well. Enjoy your boys!
~Angi
Thanks for the tip Angi. My grandsons have reached that age where they no longer care to color eggs….they just want to eat the deviled eggs I make from them…smile. But I still try to keep some tradition in the holiday. Now, instead of having an egg hunt we make up small baskets and share them with some of our older neighbors and friends. The boys love seeing the smiles of those who receive such a simple thing and it helps them realize how a planned act of kindness can brighten someones day. Hope you have a great Easter.
grandmabkr at yahoo dot com
What a lovely idea !
You’re such a great grandmother, Brenda!
~Angi
Excellent egg coloring advice. Can ‘t wait to try it. Happy Easter!!
Thanks Debra. I hope it works for you!
~Angi
Just remember to keep track of where you hide your eggs… a list works. One year my parents ‘sniffed out’ a forgotten egg in the record player… yes that does date me.
EEEEEWWWWW !!!
We’ve counted and counted and counted to make certain we had the number. After we lost several (with money) I considered making a treasure map in the future. LOL
~Angi
I remember finding eggs in the record player cabinet, too. And in my brother’s stinky tennis shoes …
I’m wondering if anyone ever found missing eggs the following year?
~Angi
Guess that’d be an argument for hiding plastic eggs filled with stuff instead of real ones.
We dye the eggs every year but we hide the plastic ones because yes, we consistently miss at least one.
And I’m convinced the Easter Bunny collects the missing eggs because they never turn up. And those things don’t decompose. 🙂
Easter egg hunts always remind me of my poor nephew who found a real robin’s egg instead. It looked just like those speckled chocolate eggs so he popped it in his mouth and chowed down.
The look on his face was priceless as all that bird stuff ran out of his mouth. It was so hard not to laugh.
Bet you wouldn’t laugh if it happened to you, Clover. But it does sound hilarious for the spectators.
I am eeewwwwiiiiinnnngggg and laughing at the same time. 🙂 That’s a great story and you should use it !!
~Angi
Thanks for visiting us, Angi, and congratulations on your recent and upcoming release!
In order to get the vibrant color and still have an edible egg, could you just put the cup with the egg in it in the fridge over night? And if the color seeped through the shell, wouldn’t that make for some pretty deviled eggs? 🙂
Absolutely. And we’ve done that exact thing!!
I’ll peel the eggs for my husband to eat with his lunch the next week. They’re very cool looking.
~Angi
Oh, Clover, I’m completely grossed out. Poor nephew!
I went on my first Easter egg hunt when I was in my 20s. Now, if you want to talk about hunting for the afikomen, I’m all about that. Of course, that HAS to be found before you can finish the Passover seder. One year, we hid it on the piano keys and closed the cover. When my dad opened it, the wrapped matzo slid back INTO the piano! I don’t remember how we got it out, but we did. 🙂
Angi, if you want to eat the eggs, can you leave them overnight in the fridge?
That would have been interesting to watch him get from the piano. And yes, overnight in the fridge is great. ~Angi
Found the article. It turns out I did the work but Nancy did the writing, which is why I couldn’t find it at first. http://pharostrib.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewer.aspx?img=109348826&firstvisit=true&src=search¤tResult=0¤tPage=0
That is a very cool article. And they have the tip of leaving them in the fridge overnight for deeper shades. I like the vegetable oil rub to make them shine…or slick for an egg toss. Thanks, Arlene. I’ve bookmarked it.
~Angi
I have a rotten egg story, but not Easter related. My parents 2 niece’s, sister in law and myself planned a trip to Disney World. We went into a restaurant where my sister in law ordered a Chef’s salad and it had hard boiled eggs on top. My sister in law bite into the egg and it was bad. Of course her daughter saw the egg and wanted it, she was 5 years old t the time and it took much laughter and tears to convince her why she couldn’t have it. I was thankful I had ordered a burger. Good Luck on the contest and Happy Easter everyone!
Hey Nancy! I certainly hope lunch was on the restaurant. Yuck on rotten eggs. ~Angi
Angi,
As usual, laughter and joy follow you everywhere. Thank you so much for stopping by Chicklets in the Kitchen and sharing some of it (and your cool egg dye idea) here.
I had a great time reading all the comments. Let us know who the winner is and we’ll post the name!
Come back anytime!
THANKS SO MUCH for having me, Mary. What a great group! I’d be honored to come back. I’ll be looking forward to it.
~Angi
I love the idea of using icing dye. I just bought a new set of dyes a few weeks ago. I may use the old stuff on the eggs, since the shells will be disgarded anyways. I love that you use the Texas settings in your boooks. I grew up in Texas, and now I’ve moved back to my home state after a 14 year hiatus all over the world with my husband’s military career. Can’t wait to read your next book!
Stephanie, Texas is glad to have you back.
If you get a chance, listen to the BOWLING FOR SOUP recording of COME BACK TO TEXAS. Awesome song and that’s what I’m singing for you right now. (Seriously, the group is BOWLING FOR SOUP…they’re out of Denton, Texas and terrific!)
~Angi
p.s. I love Texas settings too and still have a giveaway/blog up about that very thing at http://Intrigue-Authors.blogspot.com/
I love that song! And their other hit, 1985. Both are on my iPod.
I always make a list of where I hide my eggs or they really smell after a while. Unfortunately, I learn this through experience!
I like hiding them in obvious places so the kids find them faster!
We had different levels of egg hunts. Never made an inventory, but we did stop hiding the real eggs after one was left for a very very long time.
My favorite thing was to leave the grass high (my standard is to never mow until after Easter for that very reason) and just toss the eggs. Obvious but great fun for the little kids. Makes it easy to take lots of pictures of them bending and picking up eggs. The older kids were hidden, of course. But the laughter came from them walking right by the ones in plain sight. 🙂 Makes me smile just thinking about those times. (and the blackmail videos)
~Angi
CONGRATULATIONS NANCY !!
You’re the winner (chosen by Random.org) of PROTECTING THEIR CHILD.
Thanks to everyone for stopping by and supporting my Easter Egg Coloring.
~Angi