Easter recollection

[designerotter]

In my childhood I recall Easter Saturday dedicated to coloring Easter eggs, using those dye kits produced by PAAS since … since forever. My mother would have a series of empty jam jars lined up on the kitchen table, one jar for each of the color tablets supplied with the kit. She also taught me to place a flatware knife blade under each jar as

Comments

[barak]

Toast 'em like marshmellows on a campfire, when you burn that sugar it caramelizes into something out of this world...

[designerotter]

Oooh, a nifty idea! …which, oddly enough, I've never done with Peeps. And thanks for mentioning 'carmelizing' - also something I don't usually think about, but nice to know.

[holy13nation]

My parents grew up in the North East of England. My paternal grandfather and great grandfather were pitman, miners. As were my uncles. In fact, my grandad had broken his legs so many times in accidents down the pit he had to come down stairs on his butt. He died of pneumoconiosis. My lovely Uncle Pat lost most of his fingers beneath the wheels of coal carts. My father and mother moved down to Yorkshire but we would always visit at Easter. Three was a local tradition. Egg jarping. Once the eggs were dyed with food colouring the game began

[designerotter]

Thank you so much for sharing this! - it's such a rich memory, and you've given it a context I know almost nothing about. (Alas, I'm poor on English geography - picturing Yorkshire as somewhere 'up north' …an impression I got from reading The Secret Garden.)
I'd never heard of 'egg jarping' before. I consider it a special gift to be given a glimpse into the celebratory experiences of a friend who comes from a background so different from my own.
Blessings on you - you've made my day.

[dan4behr]

I have to admit, I've never eaten a Peep. Nor had any desire to. When there's Easter Ham, why bother with Peeps!

Peeps are always prevalent at my school this time of year. Teachers love to use that microwave experiment to demonstrate how air expands with heat ( I believe it's the sugars and water molecules that warm the air bubbles in the marshmallow ). The hallways always smell like burnt sugar around Spring break.

I'm sure it's that way in lot of high schools :)

[designerotter]

I didn't realize that Peeps also provide an educational experience for the young - so much the better ! I love the idea of a 'burnt sugar' holiday memory …makes me chuckle :0)

[mrdreamjeans]

I remember that you like the peeps. This will be the first year ever that I haven't had anything Easter-related in the house. At least the weather is to be 70 and sunny! YAY for that!

After reading the first part of your post, I can't really remember if we dyed eggs as kids. I'm usually good about remembering such events, but there's no memory there, so perhaps we didn't.

I do have to ask ... the blade of the knife goes under the base of the jar? Why or how does this keep the jar from cracking? What an interesting fact!!

HUGS!

[designerotter]

It's 79 over here right now - would you believe !

Yes, the blade goes under the glass jar (butter knives tend to fit best) - though it might work just as well if you place the knife in the jar. Apparently sudden extreme heat can cause glass to crack (it's a popular custom to put glass marbles in the oven so that they'll crack in interesting random patterns -without shattering. ) The heat from the boiling water is quickly transferred to the metal of the knife-blade which is much more conductive than glass - and the hot water helps to break down the dye tablet which provides a coloring medium. ATYHI :0)

Hugs!

[mrdreamjeans]

What a delightful and useful piece of information!! :)

HUGS!

ps ... 79? Hurrah!

[bearhedded]

why not just use a metal container, i wonder.....

i bought a bunch of plastic eggs, after easter...i like to use them in the robots, along with empty medicine jars, etc....

[designerotter]

Oh, I don't know …. I imagine it was far prettier and more fun to use glassware - you could see the jewel-like colors of the dyes more easily. Besides, several glass jam jars of roughly equal size were a lot easier to round up than metal containers.

Would love seeing more pix of your robots !