Easter Eggs

I had a small person guest this weekend.  Weekends, it turns out, are really long when you have to entertain a small person guest.  We filled up some of the time making Easter eggs.  I didn't feel like boiling them, so I used hollow eggs.  Of course, to get hollow eggs, one has to make hollow eggs.

First, get a decent sized needle. (I made more eggs after an initial dyeing, which is why my fingers are stained.)

Use something to hammer the needle into the egg.  I used the handle of a knife.  Of course, be gentle.

You end up with a tiny hole.  You can do this on both sides, but it makes blowing out the egg quite difficult, so I chose an easier, slightly less aesthetic route.  The other hole will be bigger, so I put the little hole on the top (smaller portion) of the egg.

You can just use the same needle and make a larger hole on the bottom and blow out the contents.  I happen to have a meat injector, which I chose to use as an egg remover.  The needle of a flavor injector is significantly larger, so it's easy to make big cracks.

Again, use something to gently hammer it into the egg.

Very carefully pull up on the injector to remove a large portion of the egg.  You can put the injector back in, but that risks more cracking.  I decided to blow the remaining egg out.  It is probably horribly unsanitary to put your lips on egg shell, but I rinsed them off.

As you can see, the hole is much bigger, but it's not too bad.

Here's the thing about kids and dyeing eggs.  They have zero interest in keeping colors separate or keeping their fingers clean.  Fingers getting dyed is particularly a problem with hollow eggs, as they float.

Most of the eggs end up some sort of greenish brown shade, because the egg is indiscriminately dipped into all colors and everything gets mixed up.  The ones in the first row were completed before there was too much contamination.

Easter Goods & Theme Cooking & Do Mormons Celebrate Easter?

Hello, friends. I fear I am the lone author of this blog of late. Sadness.

I went to visit my friend Sarah H. for the Easter holiday, and we made a lot of food.

#1: A fruit pizza. A tasty fruit pizza.

Then on Easter Day:
I had my version of communion.


Here's our spread. For three people. Don't judge. Starting from 12:00 going clockwise, we have broccoli, homemade croissants, bacon, quiches from the French quiche lady, spoon bread, funeral potatoes, and cheese for the broccoli. In the middle is some fruit. I'm not telling what's in the little white dish.

The ham & cheese quiche was tasty, but the Roquefort was a little on the pungent side. The spoon bread was deeeeeeelightful.

The "funeral potatoes" were included because of my theme cooking needs. I am currently reading By the Hand of Mormon, a book about the Book of Mormon and how it has been viewed by critics and believers since Joseph Smith introduced it to the world. To be honest, I'm a bit stuck in it. The first part was interesting -- learning about Joseph Smith's background, the earliest followers, how it was printed, how it was "translated," etc. It was also interesting to read about how Mormon apologists have tried to use archeological data to support the historicity of the Book of Mormon. Where I am now, though, it's just, "This critic said this and then this other critic said this other thing..." Dull.

Anyway, I knew I'd have have some issues theme cooking with this book. Mormonism is an American religion, born in upstate New York, which is not, as far as I know, renowned for its culinary artistry. The ethnic background of Smith is pretty boring--kind of WASPy and not food-inspiring.

I first thought about using only ingredients that would be saved for food storage. Fun fact: it is a religious expectation that Mormons will keep a full year of food stocked for an emergency. This was originally due to end-of-times beliefs, but my understanding is that it is now just considered prudent. You can calculate your own storage needs here. I couldn't come up with anything especially interesting from those ingredients.

So, I did myself an internet search for traditional Mormon foods. The food that kept popping up was "Funeral Potatoes." They are starchy, cheesy, and processed. Good, ole American goodness. As Melissa (a non-Mormon, far as I know, but she's been known to keep a secret or two) introduced me to a very similar recipe, I think this is just a midwestern potluck type meal. But it works. Some people thought that we over-cheesed ours. I don't understand that concept, so I cannot agree.