Coloring Our Spring

by Pam Ripling

Well, I was going to talk about Cadbury, and the history of the chocolate Easter egg. Faberge eggs, too, and how all this sweetness got its start in Europe. But gosh darn it, J.R. and Jackie have already done such a good job with this topic, I've been scooped.

So instead, I'll answer J. R.'s question. What do we do, as a family, to celebrate Easter? Well, plans are already underway to put together our annual egg-coloring event. Every year, rain or shine, my sister & I and our two daughters break out the Paas pills and vinegar, boil up a whole mess of eggs and arrange 8 coffee mugs with spoons. We have the requisite white (or colorless) crayon handy. Newspapers spread on the counter, and a rag or two at the ready. We decorate, with rubber banks, decals, stickers, etc. Ooh and ahh, and compete for the prettiest egg.

• "Whose egg is still in the purple?"
• "Oh no! Another one cracked!"
• "Did we make one for Mema yet?"
• "How did yours get so blue???"

And so it goes. Our girls are teens now, so the Big Bunny himself sorta skips our houses these days, but we determined and dedicated moms have taken over the tradition by mimicking the traditional egg hunt on Easter morning. In keeping with the eggy-day, I make a wonderful Serbian Eggs casserole for brunch, and we are often blessed with weather warm enough to sit outside and reflect on the beauty of spring and those sinfully excellent Cadbury eggs.

Happy Easter!

Oh, and by the way, Paas has an excellent page here on creating your own Easter egg eggstraveganza!

Pam Ripling is the author of middle-grade mystery, LOCKER SHOCK! Buy it at Quake, Fictionwise or Amazon today! E-book version now available for your Kindle! Visit Pam at www.BeaconStreetBooks.com.