Egg-cellent!

March's Food Group Activity is themed around eggs and Easter. This is the demo I decided to do for the sisters. I found the recipe online (no pictures or tips), they used a lot of fancy-schmancy stuff so I dumbed it down for the rest of us. Okay, maybe just for me, I'll be honest!

First things first, pucker up and blow! Fill the 9" balloons so that they are roughly the size of a giant Naval orange. Wash, dry, set aside. With a cookie sheet lined with was paper, spritz some cooking spray then do the same with each of the balloons, especially on the bottoms and sides. Major step, don't forget.

I don't have a double-boiler so I stuck a pot on top of another filled 1/4 of the way with water, lit it up and tossed in the melting chocolate. Vanilla, pretty inexpensive at Winco in the bulk section or you can use white chocolate chips, either one will work just hunky-dory. When the chocolate is melted - and cooled a bit - dip the balloons. This step seemed a lot like making taper candles. Dip, hang, dip, hang, dip, hang... etc. etc. until you've achieved a decent coating. Then set on the greasy wax paper. If it's lopsided, no worries, I know you're just off center too! lol

WARNING: Be sure your chocolate is warm but not hot. If you can stick you finger in it and it doesn't feel warmer against your skin then you're good to go. Otherwise... POP!!! I had chocolate spots 13' away! Learn from my boo-boo's unless you really like cleaning your kitchen and need an excuse to slurp the melted chocolate up off your counter.

Once the balloons are covered, place them in the fridge for awhile. Meanwhile, go try to clean the mess you just made. Twenty minutes later I brought them back out into the sunlight and carefully snipped the necks. Ease the air out slowly. Sounds of flatulence may occur and when they do, the kiddo's will think your cool in a gross, boyish sort of way. I discovered that sometimes the balloon gets stuck and you need to help it along a bit. Remember, its supposed to look like a cracked egg so don't stress if chunks come off. (I had to keep telling myself that.)

Next I made my two-second, disposable piping bag (Ziploc filled with goo and the corner snipped off) and filled the bottom of the egg with Cheesecake flavored pudding. Finishing the egg-look off was the lemon pie filling as the yolk.

Labels: Home and Garden