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This week many families will color eggs to place
in baskets, or use as a centerpiece on your Easter
table. There are many commercial brands that you
can buy, but with this being a very "environmentally"
correct era of history, here are a few suggestions.
You can now color your eggs, enjoy the craft with
family and friends, and help in the "green" effort.
For a beautiful rich brown egg, coffee is the stain to
use. You can boil your eggs in 1 quart of strong coffee
and they can look like "chocolate" if you so desire. For
a pastel pink, then use cranberries, and if you prefer a
dark rose hue then beets it is. Quick tip, if you rinse
eggs that have been boiled with beets, then you get a
very earthy tan color. Just 3-4 tsps. of turmeric will
give you that special golden egg to place front and center
in any basket or setting. Sienna comes from onion skins
and blueberries add a dark shade of lavender, so special
next to white eggs or foil-wrapped candies. Red cabbage
will give you blue eggs not red. The blue is deep and
strong, depending on the amount of cabbage you boil
along with your eggs.
Eggs are a symbol of life and have always been used to
represent Easter. They add flavor to your Easter dinner
and can be used as a decoration item, which can also be
"crafty" as a place card by using wax to write your guest's
name on the egg before dyeing. You can use solid hue
eggs or even tie with rubber bands or kitchen string before
placing in the color of your choice and you will get designs
to suit your fancy.
If you share Easter with the little ones, then beg, steal or
borrow those old-fashioned jello egg molds and add a bit
of fun to your holiday. There is the standard recipe of
boiling water, and jello of your choice, but if you add
juice instead of the water, such as apple, orange, pine-
apple, or cranberry, then there is a "surprise" taste to each
egg. Taking this a step further, and in a very healthy way,
to your basic recipe of boiling water, gelatin of your choice,
cool your mixture for about 30 mins. place 1 cup cold milk,
and vanilla, pistachio, or butterscotch pudding in a bowl,
Stir into the gelatin mix with a whisk or you can place the
entire blended mixture into a pan and place in your
refrigerator overnight. The next day you can dip the bottom
of the pan into warm water to loosen. Using cookie cutters
of bunnies, flowers, or chicks, cut all the way through and
lift gently. Decorate with frosting, or whipped cream. Place on a bed of shredded lettuce.
Whichever method you use, this will become a family
tradition before long. Young and old appreciate the eye
appeal, taste of creamy, and the trouble you took to make
these.
Come next week, egg salad sandwiches, Cobb salads, and
creamed eggs will use up any extra if there are some.
Using eggs in your Easter plans is a perfect touch to a
holiday that brings family, friends, and faiths together.
Something to think about,
©Arleen M. Kaptur
March, 2008
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