Throwback Thursday: quilling

Here is a trip in the Wayback machine to 1988. My Mom was into quilling and we were decorating eggs. My Dad recently sent me photos of one of the eggs we worked on together.

Photo description: white egg with yellow and orange shades of quilling paper and a double brass ring base
Photo description: back of the same egg with different quilling patterns

This is a 37-year-old paper, glue, and egg project that has lived in a cupboard and been moved around the country a few times. I don’t think the colors faded or pieces fell off. Quilling is great for developing fine motor control and patience. (The egg was blown out before it was decorated.)

Powdered eggs

Powdered eggs is going to be my go-to method of long term egg storage! My hens are laying up a storm, and I finally had an excess of eggs to try dehydrating eggs. I followed the Dirty Gourmet’s instructions (here). I hand whisked the eggs until they were slightly foamy. Five 50g eggs fit in each of my fruit leather trays (I did two trays), just like hers did. I dehydrated at 140 degrees for 10 hours, then removed all the dry bits, but had to flip over a section on each tray and dry another couple hours. At this point it was bedtime, so I put all the bits in a gallon freezer bag in the freezer. In the morning I put all 10 dehydrated eggs in my food processor and blended until it was a coarse powder.

Dehydrated egg straight from the freezer processed in the food processor

I weighed the resulting powder and figured that each egg was reduced to 12 g. The Dirty Gourmet recommends reconstituting with 1 Tablespoon and one teaspoon of water. I tried that, but the eggs were still quite thick. I weighed an egg shell (7 g) and taking the weight of the whole egg (50 g), figured that 31 g of water was lost for each egg (that is 2 Tablespoons). I used this ratio to rehydrate 3 eggs worth of powder and made two batches of pancakes, one with fresh eggs, and one with the powdered eggs. Both mixed and cooked up fine, and my family said they couldn’t taste a difference. I think the powdered eggs made a slightly finer textured pancake. The best part is that I think I can probably store 50 dehydrated eggs in a single gallon bag. I am storing the powder in the freezer as recommended, but the space savings is considerable! I think I can also comfortably process 15 eggs at a go. Maybe I won’t have to buy eggs next winter. Maybe.

Almond and oat pancakes made with fresh eggs (left) and reconstituted powdered egg (right)

Things that make you go … ah.

I was putting away the last two pieces of egg casserole and chose to share with you this blissful moment. A perfect fit. Opposite corners of the original pan, almost looks like it was baked in the storage container. Ah. #LittleThings

Last two pieces of egg casserole fit perfectly in a storage container

The recipe is here, if you need it. May your own cuts be blissful.

Egg casserole

Egg cassarole

We’ve been lax on egg consumption, and even though the hens aren’t laying as many eggs, the numbers are still building up. Egg casserole to the rescue!

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb Hot sausage (ground)
  • 12 small eggs (or 10 large eggs)
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup shredded cheese (I used a Mexican blend)
  • 3 Stoplight bell peppers (yellow, red, orange)
  • 1 medium onion
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • Salt and pepper

Cook sausage on medium heat, use a spatula to break the sausage into small pieces as it cooks. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl, add milk and cheese and stir to combine. Chop the garlic and onion. Wash and chop the peppers. Cook vegetables with sausage until onions are translucent. Mix sausage, vegetables, and egg mixture. Grease a 9”x13” pan and pour in combined ingredients. Bake at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes. Reheats well!