Spring is in the air and it’s almost Easter! One of the things I loved about Easter as a child was dying and decorating Easter eggs. I have particularly enjoyed decorating eggs using natural dyes. They turned out amazing, so I thought I would share the instructions so you can give it a try at home!

Many of the ingredients you may already have in your fridge or pantry. The other ingredients you will be able to find in grocery stores fairly inexpensively. I used the following items to dye the eggs:

• Tea (brown)
• Turmeric (yellow)
• Blueberries (blue/purple)
• Grape juice (grey)
• Beet juice (red)

Reading list: If you are looking to add some Easter reads to your weekend, check out these books for young readers from our collection. 

Dying Instructions: 

Notes: For these eggs, I hardboiled the eggs before dying them. The longer the eggs sit in the dyes, the darker the colour. To achieve a rich, dark colour, let the eggs sit in the dyes for at least 20 minutes. Let eggs dry on a cookie cooling rack.

Tea:

• 3 bags of tea (I used Earl Grey. But you can use other teas. Different teas may create other colours, such as herbal teas, which may turn your eggs a purple or pink colour)
• 1 cup hot water
• 1/8 cup of white vinegar

Steep the tea for at least 5 minutes to make very strong tea. Put the eggs in the water so that they are completely covered. Let them sit in the tea mixture until the desired colour is achieved.

Blueberries: 

• ½ cup frozen blueberries (thawed and smashed)
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar

Roll the eggs in the blueberries until desired colour is achieved. For darker colour, let them sit in the blueberries and rotate every couple of minutes.
I let pieces of blueberry dry on the egg to get the different colours.

Beet Juice: 

• ½ – 1 cup of beet juice
• 1/8 cup white vinegar

Let the eggs sit in the beet juice until desired colour is achieved.

Grape Juice: 

• 1 cup of grape juice
• 1/8 cup white vinegar

Let the eggs sit in the grape juice until desired colour is achieved.

Turmeric:

• 3 Tablespoons turmeric
• 1-2 cups of warm water
• 1/8 cup white vinegar

Roll the eggs in the turmeric water mixture until desired colour is achieved. 

Paper plate Easter basket:

Now you need a basket to put all your eggs in!

Supplies:

• Paper plate
• Paint, markers, or crayons
• Scissors
• Stapler
• Pipe cleaner or ribbon
• Decorating supplies (optional)

Instructions: 

• Paint one or both sides of the paper plate. Let dry.
• Cut four even slits (a few inches long) on each side of the plate.
• Fold up the sides and staple them together at the top to secure. It should now resemble a basket.
• For the handle, attach the pipe cleaner, ribbon, or twine on either side of the basket. You can either staple or use a hole punch to punch a hole on both side and secure the pipe cleaner.
• Optional – decorate the outside of the basket with stickers, decals, glitter, etc.

The weather in March is so back and forth, it doesn’t hurt to have a warm and hearty dish – especially one that includes a hotter spice! Cumin is the dried seed of the parsley family and is thought to have originated in Central Asia, Southwestern Asia, or the Eastern Mediterranean.

This month’s recipe, pabellón criollo, is considered to be Venezuela’s national dish – incorporating several favorite foods, including shredded beef, rice, beans, and plantains. A popular variation includes placing a fried egg on top of the dish.

While the Spice Club is now full, we have shared this month’s recipe below so you can cook along from home!

FUN FACT: Cumin is sometimes confused with caraway – however, cumin differs from caraway in that it is hotter in taste, larger in size and lighter in colour. 

Pabellón criollo*

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 lb beef
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 cups beef stock
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 4 tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• 2 ripe plantains, peeled and cut in 3-in pieces
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 8 cups cooked rice
• 6 cups pre-cooked black beans

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cook meat with bay leaf and stock until very tender. Cool in liquid, then drain, shred, and reserve.
2. Cook onion in olive oil until soft.
3. Add garlic, tomato, spices, and salt and pepper to taste. Add shredded meat and set aside.
4. Brown plantains in vegetable oil. Drain.
5. Arrange the meat mixture, rice, and beans on a rectangular platter, making 3 stripes with the rice in the middle. Arrange plantains on the edges of the dish.

*Recipe from Global Road Warrior™️ by World Trade Press. Access this online database for free with a Huron County Library card to get information about holidays, festivals, culture, travel essentials, and other beneficial travel knowledge.

Enter our Nature Photography Contest by showing us the plants, animals and natural landscapes from across Huron County that inspire you!

Presented in partnership with Ontario’s West Coast, entries must be submitted by March 24, 2022 for a chance to win a high quality, 16×20 framed and matted print of your winning photograph. Two runner-ups will also be awarded a framed and matted 8×10 print. Thanks to 519 Prints & Frames for the prizes. The winning photograph will be selected by jury. There is a limit of three photos per person and should be current photos taken anytime through 2022.

Please submit your entries by emailing them to askalibrarian@huroncounty.ca or tag us with your nature shots using @HuronCountyLibrary on social media, but make sure to hold onto a higher resolution copy of that photo for printing, should you be the lucky winner!

Looking to start your day off with a kick? Or prefer to save your sweets until after dinner? If so, this month’s recipe, Sikarni, will work for any time of the day! This Nepali dessert has a tart and sweet taste – combining the flavours of this month’s feature spice, cardamom, with cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper, and pistachio! Be sure to start prepping this recipe well in advance, to allow time for draining the yogurt/sour cream mixture and chilling the finished product.

Don’t like the look of this recipe? Get creative! We’d love to see what you come up with instead! While the program is now full, we have shared this month’s recipe below and invite you to follow along and join the discussions on the Facebook Spice Club event page!

FUN FACT: Cardamom has been produced since ancient times – used by the Babylonians, Assyrians, Greeks and Romans!

READING LIST: If you are looking for some more inspiration to keep adding cardamom to your recipes, check out these cookbooks from our collection.

Sikarni*

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 cups plain yogurt
• 2 cups sour cream
• 1 tsp saffron (or tumeric)
• 1/4 cup heavy cream, lukewarm
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• Pinch of black pepper
• 1 tsp cardamom
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup unsalted, thinly sliced pistachio nuts
• Whole, shelled pistachios for garnish 

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, mix yogurt and sour cream together.
2. Pour the yogurt mixture into a large colander with a cheesecloth liner.
3. Allow to drain for about 12 hours.
4. Transfer the mixture into a mixing bowl.
5. Dissolve saffron in lukewarm cream.
6. Add sugar, cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom, nutmeg, dissolved saffron (or tumeric), and pistachio nuts to the yogurt mixture; fold in thoroughly.
7. Chill overnight in refrigerator.
8. To serve, scoop a cup of chilled dessert onto a serving plate, topped with a generous amount of unsalted, shelled, whole pistachio nuts.

*Recipe from Global Road Warrior™️ by World Trade Press. Access this online database for free with a Huron County Library card to get information about holidays, festivals, culture, travel essentials, and other beneficial travel knowledge.