In Which I Whine (Wine) About Easter...

Keep in mind that my children are not vegan.

And as further warning, if you're violently opposed to the celebration of a Christian holiday rich in culture, tradition, pagan ritual and symbolism.... well, my dear reader, today's blog may be a bit much. Otherwise, consider yourself warned, and enjoy.

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Now, it so happens that our church operates a food bank, and every Easter season they ask for volunteers to purchase and dye eggs to go in, and decorate, the Easter Dinner food baskets they distribute to less fortunate families. Our family adopted this as an Easter tradition years ago when the girls were too small to even care about bunnies and chocolates, so it's what we do...

Now right here, many of you will insert the argument that I could supply a vegan substitute like plastic eggs, cookies or those Styrofoam craft eggs. And I certainly could.

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However this is not only a family tradition, but a community service opportunity my kids voluntarily offer to help with; and I'm not going to temper that enthusiasm - they save up their pennies to purchase eggs and dye, and look forward to our egg-dying adventures each year. Plus, the food bank specifically asks for 'real' eggs so who am I to argue. It's the one time every year I'm willing to forgo a vegan kitchen. ..

To my kids' credit, they make sure to buy "cruelty-free" eggs, (which certainly aren't the perfect solution, but hopefully the lesser of many evils involving the poultry business which I won't go into today).

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I will tell you, we're all just as happy we don't have to eat the eggs. Even though they're not vegan, my kids have never liked eggs and I used to always feel bad when Easter rolled around and they wanted to dye eggs that would just languish away in my fridge. This year even the dog made a gagging sound when we tried to offer him one of the cracked failures......

I have to admit, I love the spring colors and the whole simple science of watching a perfectly white egg turn brilliant purple. My 8-year-old discovered the "magic crayon", which, if you've never dyed eggs, is simply a white crayon that writes invisibly on the egg, but resists the dye, magically creating a message when the eggs come out of the dye.

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I know, pretty basic, but so exciting if you're 8-years-old!

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She had a great time creating "secret" messages that appeared on the eggs - mostly about her older siblings and their boyfriends. "Sissy loves Mario" or "Jordan hearts Sissy".

Yeah, I'm not sure how amused they were.

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Then she proudly showed ME the eggs she had thoughtfully created for ME!

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Hmmmm... I'm thinking maybe we won't send those along to the church Easter event.

'Tis true though, it took me several glasses to get through the evening! And wine is Biblical, right? I think so.

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At any rate, a fun time was had by all, the eggs are distributed, my kitchen is once again vegan and the mess is cleaned up.

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I'll leave you with a picture of some of the very pretty and all-vegan Easter goodies I got for my older daughters; they claim to be too old for Easter treats, but I heard no complaints Sunday.

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The box is full of vegan chocolate-hazelnut truffles from Rose City Chocolates, they are heavenly!! (The youngest wanted HOTWHEEL cars in her basket so that's what she got! Easier to find, less sugar and and cheaper too!)

No matter how you choose to celebrate, here's hoping each of you had a great weekend and spent time with your family and those you love.