| Mrs. 'Boro: Easter eggs bring out devilled ones |
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By: JEANNE BRAGG, Post Columnist
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Posted: Sunday, April 4, 2010 12:00 am
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Happy Easter, everyone.
Easter time brings memories sunrise services and crummy weather in recent years. Hopefully today will be an exception.
It also brings memories of dying eggs. Remember using a table and vinegar to get a pale-colored egg? That’s before the plastic ones came out. Reality these days is plastic Easter eggs.
One year I followed Martha Stewart’s directions to dye eggs with onion skins, beet juice and turmeric. The colors weren’t intense, but they were beautiful.
The eventual reward of REAL-egg dying, however, is eating deviled ones. That’s the big pay-off in good Southern homes.
I’m the “sous chef” of deviled eggs at my house; making those is the Mayor’s responsibility. He offered to help once when I was busy, and because he became such an expert at it, it’s his job now.
His specialty is adding horseradish in just the right amount and he stuffs them using a pastry bag (or a zip lock bag with a hole in the corner). Not only are the eggs pretty, but it’s a lot more efficient.
Deviling eggs reminds me of one of my very favorite household tips ever, which is: When faced with a hard-cooked white that tears or is unsuitable for stuffing, grate it with a microplane grater (or smallest grater you have) and add to the yolk filling to extend it.
You can hardly tell it’s white once it’s mixed.
And sharing this tip led me to other hints that have made my life easier these days. I’d like to share a few with you.
At Michael’s Craft Store I picked up a tear-off pad of small weekly calendars in the dollar bin. It was named “Menu-shopping magnetic list pad.”
I use my iPhone and computer to keep track of commitments, appointments, etc., but have truly enjoyed keeping this little half-page reference.
On it I record my daily tasks and shopping list. I also write down what we have for dinner for future reference. It is especially useful when I write set goals for the next day the night before. I find that if commit them to paper; they’re more likely to get done.
Dr. Junior Nelson introduced to the vitamin (or supplement) Biotin recently. It sells in nutrition centers as “Hair, Nails and Skin,” but at grocery stores and drugs stores it is biotin. I have nails that peel easily and I noticed an immediate improvement when I took the recommended daily allowance. My nails still split and tear; but they’re stronger and longer before they do! It’s worth the $3 investment.
Easter is a good time to buy clear cello wrap at the Dollar Stores.
I enjoy making gift baskets and they are enhanced by the professional touch wrapping them in cello gives but often hard to find, it is available these days at the Dollar Stores.
While you’re there, stock up on plastic bowls and containers for taking food somewhere when you don’t need your vessel returned. They have a great variety and also have good foil cake pans and disposables (not very green, but useful).
It’s also time to buy the State Fair Zinnias at the Co-Op (introduced to me by Kirby McNabb). These zinnias — large, showy ones — are truly enhanced when fortified with the 13-13-13 fertilizer from Hooper Supply.
Another great tip I read (no doubt in an article on organization) was to spend 10 minutes before you leave your office (and, in my case, sewing room) to clean it up.
This seems simple — but is something I never did before (except in the kitchen). Now that I am implementing it in my office and sewing room, it has been the most gratifying habit ever. Return to these rooms is like having a burden lifted. Try it.
Dr. Carol Northrop who wrote a book on middle age in women gave me a big hint on PBS one recent Saturday. She said: “Give up Perfect.”
That was comforting when the cupcake appliqué I sewed was off-center on grandbaby’s birthday bib. I doubt anyone else would notice and I’ll try to forget it, too.
And finally, if you have family members that live far away, invest in a webcam for your computer (if you have a Macintosh computer the camera is already built in).
It has been three months since I have physically held baby Jeanne, but I have seen her go from sitting up to crawling and now pushing a toy around and almost walking, thanks to the Skycam. And I can replay it on video. A wonderful feat of technology.
Easter and spring bring offers of hope and new beginnings in lots of ways.
Incorporate some of these “hints” to begin making your life a little easier.
‘Til next week. |
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