Monday, April 30, 2012

Chicks Dig It

I saw the cutest idea for Easter chicks deviled eggs, but as I wasn't cooking an Easter meal this year (as we traveled and ate with friends and family) I didn't make them...but I sure thought about it. Maybe I'll just make them for fun one of these times. My husband gives me a hard time because he thinks I want to take deviled eggs to any potluck, and I do...but they're so good! While I haven't given this a try yet, Janelle decided to go for it and had a bit of a Pinstrosity.

The Original Pin


I've been looking around trying to find the original source for this picture (as the Pinterest link doesn't go anywhere and I really want to give credit where credit is due) and as far as I can figure out from Google Image search and the comments on the pin, the original pinner saw this picture of deviled eggs that her friend's daughter made on her Facebook page and uploaded it to Pinterest. I don't know where the idea came from, (one commenter claims her daughter made these up) but it's cute and I can see why Janelle gave them a try. Since it was just a photo though, and not a link to a tutorial or ingredient list or anything, Janelle had to wing it and ran into some slight problems.

The Pinstrosity

Not too bad really, in my opinion. I looked at the picture first (confession, I usually do) and I wasn't really sure what the problem was but once I read Janelle's email I understood. Here's the story in her own words:


"I wanted to make the really cute deviled eggs that looked like chicks for Easter. I realized quickly it wasn't as easy as it looked. Trying to get the yoke out of the small opening mostly meant that the white split. Or I would try to slit the top of the egg off only to find the yoke right there or at the other end. There was no consistency where the yoke was as evidenced by the odd shaped egg chicks in the picture."


"Also I had asked my husband to pick up olives for the eyes thinking this would be the best option. It probably would have been but he got me chopped (or minced) olives. I had to try to gather bits of the chopped olive to make eyes. They look horrible! Then I asked my 11yo son to cut the carrot noses because I was short on time and company was coming soon. He had no consistency to his method so all the noses are odd shaped too! (I can't really blame him, thankfully he doesn't have a lot of knifing experience!)"

"Then when I went to display the eggs on a plate, they all slipped, I had no way of displaying them in the up right position. So I put a piece of paper towel on the bottom at least they were face up."


So...how to help fix this for future tries? I've found a few ideas online. 

How to Fix It

I found the same idea on athriftymom.com where she has a tutorial on how to make these chicks deviled eggs and she gives some good tips. 

To help keep the whites from splitting as you get the yolks out, she suggests slicing into the yolk. I would imagine a paring knife would work best...but any little sharp knife should work. Then use a small spoon or fork to gently scoop the yolk out. 

For the eyes she suggests cutting up a pickle into small slices. Just an alternative for those that don't like olives. 

And then to make the eggs stand up and not roll over...cut a small slice off the bottom of the egg to make a flat resting surface. 

Another idea from mrsfieldssecrets.com is to cut the whites in a zig-zag pattern to look like a cartoon broken egg. This will be harder than just slicing the egg open, but it sure does look cute.




Another idea from familyfun.go.com is to put a sprig of parsley at the top, and they added a second carrot slice to the beak, and a carrot slice for feet. 






One final idea I'll link to is this one from allrecipes.com. Instead of using small slices of olives for the eyes, they've used cross sections slices for large owl-like eyes.





8 comments:

  1. Gaahh! Wish I would have looked a little harder for directions. Great links! ~Janelle

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  2. thank you and Janelle for another sight to add to my computer. I didn't make the chicks this year because I forgot to tme my eggs while trying to multitask. But will try them with these helpful hints for my next barbque. Diane

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  3. Another suggestion for the eyes... I took black olives, and a cake decorating tip (large piping tip) and "punched out" the eyes. They were perfectly round and the same size. :)

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  4. Just found your blog today and really enjoying reading through it. Couldn't resist adding to this one, even though I have never made these before. Well, at least never made them to look like chicks! If I were going to attempt these (and I just might!) I would buy one of those gadgets they were advertising at Christmas. Remember Eggies? There wouldn't be any peeling to do, and they cook with a flat bottom already, so no danger of slicing through your yolk if it's near the bottom. I had always said that I wouldn't buy Eggies because devilled eggs would look silly cut in half with flat sides then showing, and I'm basically too "cheep" to use a whole egg for a devilled egg! But, if they looked like chicks, well then I would not be able to resist! Thanks for sharing your experiences!

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    1. I have never made Deviled eggs but if you are going to use an Eggie, why not cook only the white and then a seperate one for the yokes. That way you dont have to search for the yolk. Just scoop out a nest for the whiped yolk and you are all set. Just a thought.

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  5. I made these for easter and stored them in the original egg carton. Can I just say, how unbelievably hard is it to get them out of the carton to eat?!?!? Near impossible. Also, I took a cracked egg and made it "Chinese Tea Egg" style in blue dye and that chick was FABULOUS. I had the same problem about the whites splitting, especially when the yolk was uncentered not just top-to-bottom but off to one side so the white was paper-thin in some cases. Still cute though!

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  6. I made these and decided to just do a few of the chicks and the rest normal devilled eggs. The ones that had the yolk most in the "middle" ended up being the chicks. I used crinkled tin foil in the bottom of the plate to make the eggs stand up.

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  7. I made these little babies for Easter and had basically the same problems. Those little guys are slippery when made! I didn't have an egg white/yolk issue at all, maybe I have made a few deviled eggs in my day and that gave me an advantage, don't know. But, my solution for the tippy slippery eggs was to cut a bit off the bottom to flatten it. You still need something to keep them in place on a glossy serving plate, but a bit of the yolk mixture dotted on the bottom seemed to do the trick. They still were cute and were oohed and aahed by all at the Easter gathering, so it was a success.

    DawnW

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