Why, that will be the eggs themselves, of course. They will be hunted, decorated in a special tent, and rolled, of course, with large spoons.
This year, those eggs will have traveled a circuitous 493-mile route to the grassy expanse at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. from a family farm in North Carolina, which pulled off a massive effort to hard-boil, dye and deliver 30,000 eggs.
Washington will be awash in eggs — about 15,000 more will be used in the food served to the tens of thousands of attendees, and 36,000 more are being donated this week to the Capital Area Food Bank by Sauder’s Eggs, a Pennsylvania egg producer, as part of a nationwide donation campaign by the American Egg Board, which has long helped sponsor the White House event.
But getting the eggs to the big show took a crack operation.
“It’s like being in Santa’s workshop,” says Trey Braswell, whose Nashville, N.C.-based company, Braswell Family Farms, donated the eggs destined for the South Lawn. “It’s such an honor.” Braswell, who is in the fourth generation of his family to run the farm, says the business has provided eggs for the event several times in its 145-year history. But last year, the request came in with a not-so-insignificant asterisk: The eggs would need to be delivered hard-boiled and colored in vibrant Easter tones.
“The guy who does our marketing said yes right away, figuring it was better to ask forgiveness than permission,” he recalled. “We could produce them, but we didn’t have the capacity for the rest.”
For the hard-boiling and dyeing, Braswell enlisted the Stocked Pot, a catering and events company in Winston-Salem with which the farm has worked. Last year, the farm’s operators contacted Andrew McMillan, the chef and co-owner, about preparing eggs for the White House roll. They would need to boil and dye about 12,000, McMillan said. A week later, the number went up to 14,000. Then 16,000. They eventually prepared 18,000.
This year, when he heard the number — 30,000 — “My mouth dropped,” McMillan said. “But I knew we would figure out a way.”
And they did, a days-long process that involved mixing dyes to get the five colors that match the commemorative wooden eggs that the White House Historical Society provides all attendees. He came up with an assembly-line process — eggs going into four pans boiling at once on two commercial stoves, then being cooled in an ice bath, dropped into a solution of vinegar and food-safe coloring, hand-dried, and finally tucked into cartons and refrigerated.
The different dyes are absorbed at varying rates, McMillan noted, so they had to be carefully monitored and timed to reach the exact shades of neon pink, green, orange, royal blue and aqua. Ten thousand were boiled but left undyed for children to decorate.
Braswell’s trucks then started the process of ferrying the goods. The eggs are being stored in the company’s Virginia facility and will be delivered to Washington in time for the big day.
Of course, there has been a nationwide egg shortage this year triggered by an outbreak of avian flu and other supply-chain problems — all of which have pushed egg prices up. Braswell said that did not deter him from donating, even though it meant it was a bigger gift than in years past. “We look at it as an opportunity to do our civic duty,” he says. “We do it joyfully and gladly.”
And after the last egg has been hunted, it still will not be over for the event’s yolk-centered dignitaries: The egg board has arranged for a company that specializes in food recycling to compost the eggs for use in parks and community gardens.
That’s a more modern twist for the event, which began in 1878 during the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes. In addition to the titular activity, the annual event — typically the largest the White House hosts — has come to include musical entertainment, other games and plenty of photo ops.
Braswell attended the egg roll as a child, during the George W. Bush administration. He remembers the majesty of the White House grounds, the thrill of getting a peek at the president in person, and the fun he had. “It’s just surreal to get to be a part of it,” he says.
