Hand-blown Easter Eggs
By Debra Holland

Wet Noodle Posse | Debra Holland

I'm not usually a craft kind of woman. However, on rare occasions, something catches my eye, and I become eager to try my hand at making my own version. Several years ago, I began making Easter eggs as decorations and gifts for family and friends. They were a great hit, and my loved ones have continued to display my gifts each Easter season. Making these eggs has become a tradition for me--a way to use my creativity in a different way, and share a part of myself with the people I love.

I'd first decorated blown eggs in second grade. My teacher, Mrs. Dunn, taught us how to poke the ends of the eggshells with pins and blow the contents of the egg into a bowl. Then we painted the shells. I'm not going to say how many years have passed since that childhood experience, but suffice it to say, there's been quite a few.

When I saw a picture of a cluster of pastel eggs in a magazine, I was taken with their beauty. I immediately became determined to make my own. I assembled decoupage glue, a small paintbrush, colorful paper napkins with pretty prints, crystal glitter, some caps from water or soda bottles, and a dozen eggs. That was the easy part. Blowing out the contents of the eggs was the difficult part, requiring a lot of huffing and puffing. Believe me, your cheeks will get some much-needed exercise. I ended up doing a small batch, then blew a few more over the next several days. I've been told that there are gadgets on the market that do this work for you. After a diligent search, I've not found one, so I still do the work the old-fashioned way. However, once you've done the hard work, the rest is fun and easy.

When I first made these decorative eggs, I was lucky enough to have some napkins that matched my dishes. My grandmother had bought the napkins in Germany and brought them home for me. I made six eggs in the "Blue Danube" pattern, and arranged them in a matching bowl. They have become the centerpiece for my table during Easter. But I also have eggs in other patterns placed around the house among the rest of my decorations.

To begin, take a pin or a tack and poke a small hole in the bottom and the top of the egg. The hole should be about as big as the head of a pin--one of those with round colored tops. Point the egg downward over a bowl or the sink. Place your lips over one hole; blow as if you were inflating a balloon. After you've gotten some of the egg white out, you might need to shake the egg so the yoke breaks and it comes out easier. Once the egg is emptied, rinse it so the inside is clean.

Next take your decorative napkin and peel the back off until only the thin top layer remains. Then cut out the pattern. If the background of the napkin is white, your cuts don't have to be perfect because the edges will blend into the egg. If you're cutting out flowers or patterns from a colored background, you will have to be more accurate. It helps to use tiny scissors.

Dip your brush into the decoupage glue and glue the cutouts to the egg. Make sure you cover the top and bottom of the egg with the paper so you can't see the holes. Once you've covered the egg with as much of the pattern as you want, then coat the whole egg with decoupage glue and sprinkle glitter over the entire surface. I hold the egg over a shallow bowl when I do this, so I can catch the excess glitter. When you are finished, place the egg on the upside-down bottle cap to dry. Once the egg is dry, you might have to apply some more glitter to any spots you've missed.

I usually group the eggs in baskets or decorative bowls. However, you can also glue a loop of ribbon on the top and hang them.
 

An inexpensive way to showcase your eggs is to fill plastic berry baskets with Easter grass. Either leave the baskets plain, or thread a ribbon around the sides. Place one or more of your eggs in it. You'll end up with beautiful Easter decorations and gifts that everyone will love.

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A Taste of Ireland
By Jill Monroe

Wet Noodle Posse |Jill Monroe

I never give up on an opportunity to find that precious "teachable moment" for my children. A fact I'm sure they'll come to resent as teenagers<g> "Come on, Mom - can't we just do something instead of making it learning?" Of course my answer is no<bg>. A BIG no. I can't pass up St. Patrick's Day without creating an opportunity to learn about Ireland. The following are from my own home lessons I've done with my children. Learning through cooking is one of my favorite ways to teach. Not only does it give you time to talk and discuss ideas with your children, but cooking helps with math, reading and science. Plus you get to eat!

Please note: The last two items mention religion.

Math Skills

Graphing is a fun way to teach pre-math and math skills. Since it's St. Patrick's Day, I use, what else - Lucky Charms. Give the child several cups of Lucky Charms. Using the marshmallows, have them first sort them into each kind. Using graph paper (although I usually make my own since their fingers are smaller), have the child color in the same amount of squares as they have for a particular marshmallow. Ask questions like, which one has the most, which one has the least? To add a fun variation, use dice and roll it. Have the child take away as many marshmallows that appear on the dice. Then ask how many are left.

Teaching History and Science with Traditional Irish Soda Bread

Soda Bread gets its name from the use of soda rather than yeast, a practice believed to have started over 150 years ago. We use yeast because it makes dough rise. Yeast is actually a single-cell fungus that eats sugar. You can't make bread without sugar. As the yeast eats the sugar, it leaves behind carbon dioxide gas and alcohol. The alcohol will burn off as the bread bakes but leaves its flavor. The carbon dioxide bubbles up and actually causes the dough to rise and makes bread fluffy. This process is called leavening.

The type of flour needed to make bread was pretty scarce in Ireland. Ireland was going through tough times (can lead to discussions of the potato famine and immigration to the United States), but the resilient Irish people began using baking soda. But because of its different composition, the baker had to add something acidic, buttermilk, to recreate what happens with yeast. Lately, I've been using plain yogurt in the place of the buttermilk.

Now make your own:

4 cups all-purpose flour (not bread flour)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup raisins
1 1/3 cups buttermilk or yogurt
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg yolk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 2-quart casserole dish. Sift flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder into mixing bowl. Cut in butter until size of beans. Stir in raisins. Combine buttermilk, egg and baking soda, and stir into flour mixture until just moistened. Turn dough onto slightly floured surface. Knead lightly until smooth; shape into ball. Place in casserole. With sharp knife, make a 4-inch cross 1/4 inch deep in center. Brush with egg yolk beaten with fork. Bake 1 hour 10 minutes or until done.

Potatoes and Economics

Potatoes actually came from the New World, but no one is exactly sure how they made their way to Ireland. Some believe Walter Raleigh brought them on one of his ships. Others think the first potato washed up on Irish beaches from one of the shipwrecked boats of the Spanish Armada.

Potatoes grew well in Ireland and were also economic because farmers could produce more food per acre than with any other crops in the past. Soon, almost every farmer began growing only potatoes. What problem do you foresee in that?

In 1845, a fungus which the Irish called "the blight" wiped out entire potato crops. Many people were left with nothing to eat, and this time became known as the Irish Potato Famine. During this time, more than a million people left Ireland, mostly for Canada and the United States.

Potatoes play a large part in Irish history as well as its cuisine. Talk about potatoes as you make Potato Soup:

6-8 medium potatoes
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
6 cups milk
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 pound Cheddar cheese (optional)

Clean and cut the potatoes and bring to a boil. Drain. In separate pan, melt butter, add flour and cook while stirring for one minute. Add 3 cups milk and stir until lumps are out of flour mixture. Add remaining milk and on medium-high heat, heat to a boil. Stir to avoid scorching. After boiling, turn heat off and add remaining ingredients.

A Potato Craft

Potato
Green paint (washable)
Shamrock cookie cutter
Paper

Cut the potato in half. Use the shamrock cookie cutter to create an image "die" in the potato. Dip the potato stamper in green paint - shamrock stamper!

Variation: use a green pepper instead. Cut in half, clean out the seeds and there you go!

Mulligan Stew

Mulligan Stew has remained one my family's favorite recipes from our discussion of Ireland. The best thing about this meal is it's easy to make and teaches a great lesson about leftovers and not being wasteful. The main idea behind the stew is to throw in just about everything you have on hand in your refrigerator - especially if you have a lot of small leftover portions, but not enough to make a full meal. I usually just throw everything into the crock pot in the morning, and it's ready by dinnertime (if not sooner).

I usually start with stew meat or leftover roast beef. Any remaining breakfast sausage is thrown into the stew. All leftover veggies go into the pot, including green beans, onions, peas, corn, carrots, celery. I also toss in cabbage, and a few cut-up tomatoes. Of course, it wouldn't be authentic Mulligan Stew without potatoes. Season to taste with garlic, salt, pepper and beef bouillon.

Learn About Ireland

Print off a map of Ireland. Ireland's main trade items are wool and lace. Cut out squares of wool and allow children to glue onto the map. Use a bit of lace (or a bit of leftover doily from Valentine's Day) to glue onto the map. Find a fake emerald and glue it on - Ireland is known as the Emerald Island. Allow the children to color the water blue. Discuss how Ireland is an island. What would be the best way to get there - allow the children to guess (boat, fly, car, swim, etc.)

All About Green

Younger children can name everything they can think of that's green and draw pictures while older children can write the words down on paper.

Give a child a baggie, squeeze some shaving cream into the baggie, then a drop of yellow food coloring and a drop of blue. Seal and let the children squeeze until they make green.

Talk about how green is one of the symbols of spring, and St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, a few days before the official beginning of spring. Look for March 17 on the calendar.

A Fun List Of Books To Read About Ireland (although there are probably a gazillion more than this short list):

Finn Maccoul and His Fearless Wife: A Giant of a Tale from Ireland by Robert Byrd
The Irish (We Came to North America) by Greg Nickles
Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato by Tomie dePaola
The Last Snake in Ireland: A Story about St. Patrick by Sheila Macgill-Callahan and Will Hillenbran
Leprechaun Gold by Teresa Bateman and Rosanne Litzinger
Look What Came From Ireland (Look What Came From...) by Miles Harvey
Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie De Paola (Paperback)
St. Patrick's Day Alphabet by Beverly Barras Vidrine and Patrick Soper
St. Patrick's Day in the Morning by Eve Bunting, Jan Brett (Illustrator)

St. Patrick and Religion

When St. Patrick arrived in Ireland, most of the people could not read or write, but St. Patrick wanted to teach the people about God. Using the nature around him, he scooped up several shamrocks. Pointing to each part, he told about the Holy Trinity. How are ways you can tell others about the nature around you?

Make the Irish Flag

Paper
Green crayons or paint
Orange crayons or paint

Ireland is made up of two main religious groups, Catholic and Protestant. The Irish national flag has three colors, also called a tricolor flag. The white in the middle symbolizes peace between the Catholic (green) and the Protestant (orange) Irish people.
 

To read last month's Stuff to Make article, click here

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