Sunday, April 8, 2012

Easter Eggs


 Every year I feel like our Easter eggs are kind-of an after thought.  And the past few years I haven't really been into it because it hasn't mattered, but this year it really did.  So finally yesterday we boiled up our eggs (with our fail-proof timer that actually, by the way, can fail you if, for example, you forget that you put the eggs on altogether, and go in the basement to clean ...).

It was a success!  I only had one cracked egg when they were done!

After they cooled (still only the one casualty -- wahoo!), I grabbed some disposable coffee cups and did the whole dissolve-the-tablet-in-vinegar thing.  (Those tablets took a long time to dissolve, especially with impatient kiddos!)  I used the coffee cups because I remembered that last year I used little ramekins, and I ended up having to turn the eggs.  This year I wisened up and decided to let the eggs be fully submerged.

Before we dropped the eggs in the dye, CAM went and got a white crayon, and she wrote her name and some stuff on an egg.  I wrote WHM's name on an egg, too, and made a polka-dotted one, but those didn't get into the first round of dye.

Another thing I did differently this year:  I put the eggs in with the kids, but then we made a big production of setting the kitchen timer and walking away.  I set it for ten minutes to really let the eggs get nice and bright.

We could do six eggs at a time.

So after the first batch was done and we oohed and aaahed and put them in the little PAAS tray that you make out of the box, we put the second batch in and walked away.

Or at least, I thought we all walked away.  Mick was on the phone with his mom, I sat down at my desk in my ever-present challenge to clean my office, and CAM went to play with her Strawberry Shortcakes.  (I asked her to clean them up and that meant she had to play with them.  Immediately.)  I wasn't sure where WHM went.

Big mistake.

Because not very long after, all of a sudden Mick snapped his fingers at me from his phone call, trying to get my attention without interrupting his mom.  And we heard, "Oh, uh-oh ... I made a mess..."

And the eggs?

Yeah, they were smashed on the floor.

WHM couldn't leave the eggs alone and I don't know quite how, but the whole tray went crashing down.  I think the kid was a mix between scared of my reaction, and traumatized by the destruction.  Me?  I was just thankful it was the easy-to-clean eggs that fell, and not the ones still sitting in the dye cups!  I thought it was pretty funny.  The one year our eggs are coming out awesome, no cracks, bright colors ... well, can't let THAT happen!

Happy Easter, Everyone!  Hope you like Egg Salad!  (But look:  aren't the colors nice and vibrant?!)



--Jen

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