Ok, so Easter is upon us. There’s a whole lot of egg action going on. In past years I have always hard boiled our eggs for dyeing, but often feel guilty because they don’t usually get eaten. The kids just aren’t really fans of hard-boiled eggs (and really, who is when you’re talking about that many eggs?) and they are left out for various hunts and activities for so long that they get funky anyway.

So this year I thought we’d try blowing out some of the eggs. A lot of the craft-type things for Easter like hanging them from branches and making egg garlands utilize blown out egg shells, plus it allows me to cook the eggs throughout the week (you can blow them into a container and seal it in the fridge for later use). So that was the plan.

But OHMYGOODNESS have you ever blow out eggs? It’s impossible! Of the five eggs I tried yesterday I successfully avoided shattering two of them. Not to mention the fact that I nearly passed out and turned bright red trying to blow them through the tiny freaking hole, and that I’m lucky I didn’t pierce through my own hand trying to poke said holes into those shells with tiny, sharp implements of death including skewers and screw drivers.

Oh, and it’s kind of gross, sealing my lips around egg shells full of raw eggness. I’m also lucky I don’t presently have salmonella. Have I missed something here? Is there a secret to egg blowing? Do share, because now when I look at photos of those lovely egg garlands involving chains of a dozen beautifully pastelled eggs I just wanna laugh.

Anyway, what did I do with the five eggs, two of which were successfully blown out and three of which essentially crumpled in my hands?

Quiche.

If you’ve never made quiche, you may not know that if you have young children, quiche is your friend. In my mind, anything that allows you to make just one entree that everyone in the family will eat is your friend, and for us “Egg Pie” is one of few.

The wonderful secret of quiche is that you can control what filling goes into each person’s portion because the filling ingredients are placed into a pie shell first, then the egg mixture poured over the top. So, for example, if you have a kid who just is not going to eat broccoli in his quiche, but has no problem with eggs, pie crust, and cheese, you can accommodate. See?

I’ve got a pie shell filled with some yummy raw, shredded cheddar over the bottom of the whole thing, and then covered with some blanched broccoli for those of us who will eat it. Then the egg mixture goes over the top, like so:

And you can do this with any combo of fillings you want. We’re big fans of the broccoli and cheddar above, but I also like to sautee some onion with spinach or chard and put it partially over some Swiss. I typically go with meatless options, but certainly some bacon or sausage wouldn’t hurt.

For whatever fillings I’m choosing, I usually use the same recipe for the egg mixture that goes over top.

Here’s my go to quiche recipe:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Fill an unbaked pie shell with your fillings (whatever kind of crust you use for pies - store bought, homemade, whatever - the one above is the frozen roll-out crust from Trader Joe’s, because Trader Joe’s is my friend just like quiche), strategically placing each individual item so that no child can scream that something green might be touching his personal piece of egg pie.

Beat together:

4 eggs

1 Cup half and half

3/4 teaspoon salt (I’d use less if I was using another salty ingredient like bacon)

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

Pour this mixture into the pie shell over your filling. Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes, and then reduce the heat to 350 degrees to bake for about 45 minutes more. You’ll probably be able to tell when the center is set because it will be a little jiggly but solid, and if you’re not sure insert a knife and just make sure it comes out clean. Let the quiche/egg pie stand for about 10 minutes before cutting.

And I’m sorry I have no photo of the finished product. But in my house the 10 minutes leading up to dinnertime is total madness, and pulling out the camera to get a final photo was just so not happening.

How do people who blog about food do that? Take, like, 20 photos of every step of their cooking? This must be why I never post recipes . . .

This and the fact that I can’t blow out eggs.