Looking ahead: Good Samaritan egg hunt will benefit food bank

We are fast approaching an annual time of great consternation in homes throughout the country and, in fact, around the world.

There are two great questions that have perplexed generations: What in the world is a bunny doing delivering Easter eggs? And why, after all these centuries of tradition, do we only have two reliable recipes for using those leftover Easter eggs – deviled eggs and egg salad?

Easter Egg hunts are one of those traditions we savor, mostly because it involves little children running around, searching for a trove of dyed, hard-cooked eggs hidden throughout a park or yard. Just watching the sheer joy on the little cherubs faces is a genuine treat.

Good Samaritan Village, 17121 E. Eighth Ave. in Greenacres, has made an annual event out of the Easter egg hunt. Residents of the assisted living facility will spend the coming week dying and decorating hard-cooked eggs and filling plastic eggs with candy donated from area grocery stores.

Next Saturday, starting at 1 p.m. sharp, kids in sixth grade and younger will take off in search of eggs. Special areas are reserved by age groups so that everyone will find eggs.

“This is open to everyone and it’s free for everyone,” Good Samaritan spokesperson Merry Young said. “If you bring a nonperishable food item, you get to have your picture taken free with the Easter Bunny. If you don’t bring a food item, you can still get your picture taken for $2. All of the proceeds benefits the Spokane Food Bank.”

Residents look forward to the annual event, Young said, especially since it attracts grandchildren and great-grandchildren to do the hunting. But, she stressed, the hunt is open to everyone.

“We get little ones in their new Easter outfits and others dressed in everyday clothes,” she said. “We get some with their own Easter basket and others that just use a plastic sack.

“Either way, it’s still a lot of fun for everyone.”

All of which does little to answer that age-old question about why a bunny delivers eggs. Perhaps the Easter chicken just doesn’t have a ring to it.

As to the second great, perplexing Easter question – what do you do with all those leftover Easter eggs – there are still just two main options.

The Internet is filled with recipes for that old Easter stand-by, the deviled egg.

Some recipes suggest adding a dollop of black caviar to liven things up. Another suggests adding a teaspoon of dried tarragon, a half teaspoon of dry mustard and a quarter cup of mayonnaise to the yolks of six hard-cooked eggs to make something different. Others suggest replacing traditional paprika with hot sauce, curry powder or wasabi paste to turn the bland deviled egg into a taste treat.

The same can be said for egg salads, the other primary use of leftover Easter eggs. Most recipes merely tinker with the ingredients. Call it macaroni salad or potato salad, it’s still hard-cooked eggs, mustard and mayonnaise.

And then we stumbled on a Web site devoted to frugal living. If anyone can figure out new uses for left-over eggs, it would be a frugal cook.

Here are three suggestions:

Put leftover eggs in liquid from pickled beets and leave them in the refrigerator for a week or so. The eggs come out both colorful and tasty. Or, to spice things, do the same thing with the liquid from pickled jalapeños or hot pickles.

Or, cream six eggs with six ounces of cream cheese and a quarter cup of sour cream or plain yogurt in a food processor or blender. Add bacon bits, chives or onions to make a chip dip. The recipe suggests adding a touch of salsa to the dip for a tasty alternative.

And finally, serve chopped hard-cooked eggs, parsley and butter sauce with asparagus.

Bunny appetite.