Where are you guys, I wrote to you about a week ago while the preparations for Easter were still going on. We are Orthodox, so our Easter this year was on April 12. That's why today I'll raise a toast to this beautiful sunny day with HRISTOS VASKRSE! CHRIST IS RISEN! CHRIST IS RISEN! ❤️
The main thing, besides of course being all together with our families, is coloring Easter eggs. One of them, the first one, traditionally red and the most joyful, we keep as The guardian egg of the home.
This blog will be about how I dyed eggs on Good Friday. I first boiled 100 of them, really well, for about 20 minutes, because we like them hard boiled and they last longer that way, they truly are something special. Throughout the year, whenever we feel like eating a boiled egg, we tend to say it's nice, well cooked, but not like Easter eggs. And it really is always like that. I'm sure the holy water I added while they were boiling contributes to that as well, the one our priest blessed in every Orthodox home during the Easter fast.
This year, as I mentioned above, I boiled 100 eggs, out of which 3 cracked during cooking and 3 after dyeing, so in total I had 94 whole decorated eggs, and I was quite satisfied.
Sometimes almost a third of them crack… so then I take new ones and keep boiling more. This time that wasn't necessary. Ah yes, some people also put a cloth at the bottom of the pot to prevent cracking. I forgot to do that this time, but it's a good trick if you remember it. :D
I cooked them in two large pots, 50 in each. I gently placed the previously washed eggs into the pot, covered them with water, added a generous amount of salt on top so they would peel nicely, a bit of alcohol vinegar, and of course a little holy water.
Once they were well cooked, I moved on to dyeing. First, of course, I dyed the red ones. Some turned out light red, almost pink, and some a deep proper red, depending on which mix of dye packets I used. After that, I moved on to wrapping the eggs in stockings. I don't know if you're familiar with that trick, but for me it's the most interesting method every year.
You need old nylon or silk stockings, pantyhose, knee highs, whatever you have stored away and no longer wear, either you or the other ladies in your household, this is where they find a great new purpose. Or you just buy them, they are quite cheap in every store.
I usually push my hand through the stocking, place an egg in my palm, then add a leaf, a little flower, onion skin or the cut strips of paper, pull the stocking over it, tighten it well, and wrap it a few times tightly with sewing thread and snap it off, without any extra tying or making knots. Sometimes I even get carried away and tighten the stocking so much that the egg cracks in my hand, but that's only every once in a while.
Once I did this with all the eggs, aside from the first twenty or so that I dyed red, it was time to dye the rest.
As I said, I always try to make each one special, different, whether it's just a shade, it doesn't matter, as long as they're not all the same. Except for the red ones, I like them to be bright red, usually without any patterns, and as I get older I realize they are the most beautiful and that there should be more and more of them.
Maybe in the first photos they will look a bit pale and pastel, but those were taken before I coated the eggs with oil, which later gives them a special shine and also helps keep them fresh.
Do you practice that too and what do you do with the ones from last year? We always used to break the old one on Good Friday and throw it away, sometimes it gets thrown into a river so the water carries it away. Some people even eat that egg, because the guardian egg cannot really spoil, it only dries out a bit and splits inside, the yolk remains wrapped in a thin layer of egg white.
Some food is, of course, still left, so we'll be eating it in the coming days until we finish everything, nothing gets thrown away.
Thank you for reading! Sending you hugs and kisses!
