Dying Easter Eggs is great fun for kids, the result is beautiful but it becomes such an unbelievable mess if not completely controlled; yet if it is completely controlled well then it is the adult coloring eggs and not the little ones that should be experiencing it.
I was an art teacher for 7 years and still teach art to 2 year olds so you would think Easter egg dying would not rattle me, but it does. When my kids mention it, I think – “ugh.” When we dyed one egg a piece with my preschool class I was more uptight and stern with them than I have been all year. Maybe I had a bad egg dying experience as a child that I have repressed because I am the usually the first to pull out bubbles, finger paint, shaving cream on the table, play-doh . . . but with Easter Eggs I shut down.
Despite my leeriness I know The Easter egg experience is a wonderful one for a child. It is right up there with all the things they should have their hands in this spring – planting, mud pies, sand castles, rock hunting, tree climbing, the list goes on. My kids are on spring break this week and on the first day they came home covered in enough dirt to last the whole week. They ruin clothes with dirt, torn holes and Easter egg dye. They drop rocks on their legs and scream that they just broke a leg, they cut themselves on an assortment of unclean jagged things in the wild, they get rope burns, bee stings, bike wrecks, they run into snakes and scream, they argue with friends about who is going to be the bad guy. But they experience Spring – live it – and I am so thankful for that.
I can experience Spring too but I can’t experience it for them, like with the Easter eggs I have to let go and let them have their own Spring that is just for them to experience. It may hurt them a little and it makes a mess but I am so glad it is theirs to claim. Here’s a handy recipe that will help you take care of all those colored eggs you have in the fridge!
12 bacon slices
8 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped pimiento-stuffed green olives
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
12 slices white sandwich bread, toasted
12 red leaf lettuce leaves
-Sauté bacon in heavy large skillet over medium heat until brown and crisp, about 8 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Cut bacon slices crosswise in half.
-Combine chopped eggs, celery, and olives in bowl. Mix in 1/4 cup mayonnaise and mustard. Season with salt and pepper.
-Place toast slices on work surface; spread lightly with remaining mayonnaise. Divide egg salad among 6 toast slices. Place 4 bacon pieces, then 2 lettuce leaves atop egg salad on each. Cover with remaining toast slices, mayonnaise side down. Cut sandwiches diagonally in half.
By Leigh Sackett [email protected]
