Eggs (two different kinds)

Today the nephews came over for a few hours. I engaged in some avuncular corruption of their minds by presenting them with Wacky Packages, product parody stickers and cards that formed an important part of my formative years and have now come back in time to have the same effect on my nephews. They then settled in for some drawing, playing with toy cars, and watching The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy.

After a few hours of this it was time for them to dye. Dye Easter Eggs, that is. We did it old-school style, with food coloring, vinegar, and boiled water. (Not extremely-old-school style, mind you, which is to boil the eggs together with some onion skins to turn them brown - though that's the way I normally boil my eggs to differentiate hard-boiled from raw.) Above are the results. There are only ten eggs here instead of a dozen because each of them took home his favorite egg - nearly-identical blue and pinkish-purple mottled eggs created by dipping an egg in multiple colors. (The tie-dyed egg was mine, done by adding and removing thin, torn strips of masking tape between short dips in the dyes. By overlapping and adding tape you can create complex color combinations. I read about it in a Scholastic magazine 25 years or so ago.)

My mom used to make chocolate covered cream cheese Easter Eggs. She hasn't done it in years, but a chance encounter at the bake sale that was part of our parish's Chinese Auction a few weeks ago put us both in the mood for it. I'll be doing them myself for the first time. I plan on making peanut butter, coconut, maple walnut, and I'm thinking of a mixture using honey and Rice Krispies. I'll let you know how they turn out! Here's the recipe, more or less exactly as it appears on the sheet (in the background of the picture above) my mom pulled out from somewhere:

Chocolate-covered Easter Eggs
Eggs:
1 1/2 sticks butter
8 oz. package cream cheese
Add at least 2 boxes of powdered sugar a little at a time
(you'll need a third box to add powdered sugar to thicken the batter after you've added the flavorings)

Mix all ingredients together well.

Divide and add as desired:
- coconut & vanilla
- peanut butter
- walnuts & maple flavoring
- well-drained (almost dry) chopped cherries & almond flavoring
NOTE: If eggs are too sweet, add a pinch of salt.

Chocolate coating:
Melt large package chocolate chips & 1/2 cake of wax in double boiler.

Shape cream cheese mixture into eggs and dip in melted chocolate. Place on waxed paper to set.
NOTE: Do not allow eggs to touch while chocolate is setting or some of the coating will peel away. Save leftover chocolate for patching holes.

Decorate with icing leaves and color-coded icing flowers.

Title note: The title of this post is a reference to the song Pigs (three different kinds) from the Pink Floyd album Animals.