Sunday, April 4, 2010

Sunday Salon- Happy Easter!


This past week was a little weird for me; my husband was away on business for a few days, and I spent lots of time stuck inside due to the incredible amount of rain we got in Massachusetts. I got a lot of work done, and a lot of around-the-house stuff, and spent time being thankful that I work from home!

Today I won't have much time to read, but what I do have will be spent with Gina Ochsner's The Russian Dreambook of Color and Flight, which I got from the library. I know, I know- I have to read Solar but The Russian Dreambook takes priority because it's a library book and so comes with a deadline. I'm also reading Cassandra at the Wedding, a shortish novel in the NYRB Classics series, by Dorothy Baker. Cassandra was a Christmas present and I'm enjoying it.

My husband and I colored eggs yesterday; he did most of the work, including the pretty rainbow eggs. If you're celebrating Easter today, I hope you have a great time. I'm heading over to my inlaws soon to finish frosting cupcakes (I made coconut cupcakes for dessert, with cream cheese frosting) and have dinner with family and friends. Should be great!

UPDATE: He posted the "recipe" for the rainbow eggs in the comments if you're interested!

More Sunday Salon here.

23 comments:

rhapsodyinbooks said...

Those are beautiful - I love the rainbow eggs!

I hope you have a lovely Easter!

Anonymous said...

Have a wonderful Easter!

Blodeuedd said...

Those are some pretty eggs :)
Enjoy those cupcakes

Harvee said...

Beautiful eggs, especiall the multi colored ones. Happy spring! My Sunday Salon.

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

The eggs are beautiful; enjoy your day Marie.

bermudaonion said...

Happy Easter! I love the rainbow eggs.

Laurel-Rain Snow said...

Happy Easter! Beautiful rainbow eggs, and I must tell you that the coconut cupcakes sound delectable! I'm a freak for coconut.

Here's my Salon:

http://laurel-rainsnowsaccidentallife.blogspot.com/2010/04/sunday-salon-happy-easter.html

SuziQoregon said...

Pretty!! Love the rainbows. Have a great Easter.

JoAnn said...

Beautiful eggs... somehow we never got around to coloring any this year. Happy Easter!

Trisha said...

I miss coloring eggs! I really should start that up again. My mom and I colored and hid eggs for each other well in to my 20s, but once I got married the tradition stopped. Happy Easter!

Anonymous said...

Recipe for Rainbow Eggs:

You'll only need red, yellow and blue dye for this. Percentages are approximate.

If you have an egg dipper (like the Paas copper thingy), that can help you to control the egg. However, don't rely on the dipper exclusively since an egg sitting on a dipper will tend to roll when it hits the liquid, and this is all about dipping the egg steadily and evenly. Use your dry fingers to steady the egg.

Also, it is important to dry the egg as instructed between steps. I tend to blot the egg dry on a clean paper towel (to avoid dye spots) and then let it sit on an inverted egg carton for a few seconds.

So, here goes:

1) Dip pointy end of egg into yellow dye until ~60% of egg is submerged. Dye egg until bright color is achieved. Dry egg.

2) Turn egg over and dip rounded end of egg into blue dye until ~60% of egg is submerged (forming green band at middle). Dye egg until bright color is achieved. Dry egg.

3) Dip rounded end of egg into red dye until ~20% of egg is submerged (i.e., leave a blue band above the surface of the dye). Briefly dye egg (coloring rounded end of egg indigo). Dry egg.

4) Dip rounded end of egg into red dye again, but this time just until the very bottom (~10%) is submerged (leaving an indigo band above the surface of the dye). Dye egg until there is a clear distinction between the indigo band and the rounded bottom of the egg (which should be violet or magenta). Dry egg.

5) Time to check what you've got so far. You should have an egg where the top ~40% of the egg (starting from the pointy end) is yellow, followed by green, blue, indigo and violet bands as you go down the egg toward the rounded end.

6) You've probably figured this next bit out already. Reverse the egg and dip the yellow, pointy end into the red dye until 20% is submerged (leaving a yellow band above the surface of the dye). Only dye the pointy end briefly until it is orange. Dry egg.

7) Dip the pointy/orange end of the egg into the red dye again until just the very tip (~10%) is submerged, leaving an orange band above the surface of the dye. Dye egg until there is a clear distinction between the orange band and the pointed tip of the egg (which should be as red as you can get it). Dry egg.

8) Mystify friends and family with rainbow egg.

Enjoy!

-- Mr. BB

Anonymous said...

One additional thought:

You can still recover if the egg slips in step one; just dye the whole thing light yellow and then continue as before. You'll need to leave the egg in the dye a bit longer in steps 2-4, and the whole egg will come out with a bit of a warmer tone, but it will still look good. The left hand rainbow egg in the photo is a recovery from a slip.

If the egg slips in step two, enjoy your green egg. Green eggs are cool.

-- Mr. BB

Anonymous said...

Have a wonderful Easter :)

Dana said...

Happy Easter!
Really beautiful eggs! We have a tradition to colour and paint eggs with traditional motives (it's a special technique) or to cover them with beads, but I must say these are lovely.

Darlene said...

Happy Easter to you and your husband Marie! I hope you have a wonderful day! I'm drooling over the coconut cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Yum!

Marieke said...

Beautiful eggs! And Gina Ochsner! I have her People I Wanted to Be and really love her voice.

Alexia561 said...

Gorgeous eggs! I haven't colored eggs in years, but I remember the fun we used to have. Have to say that your DH has more patience than I do, but his eggs turned out beautiful!

Happy Easter to you and yours!

Dawn @ sheIsTooFondOfBooks said...

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Easter, Marie!

We didn't color eggs this year ... I forgot to pick up white eggs (oops!)

Mr. BB is much more patient than I am ... very impressive (maybe we'll mystify our friends NEXT year!)

White Lightning! said...

Hope that you had a good Easter!

Zibilee said...

Glad to hear that you enjoyed time with your family for Easter! And those eggs are absolutely beautiful!! I hope that you enjoy The Russian Dreambook of Color and Flight as well. I have that one on my shelf and am excited to get to it!

Zibilee said...

Glad to hear that you enjoyed time with your family for Easter! And those eggs are absolutely beautiful!! I hope that you enjoy The Russian Dreambook of Color and Flight as well. I have that one on my shelf and am excited to get to it!

Frances said...

Love the eggs and the juggling of the books to be read. Hope that your Easter was lovely!

Anonymous said...

A belated Easter greeting, my friend. Your eggs are gorgeous; your husband did you proud with the rainbows. ;)