 |
| By Gytha69 (Wish You all a happy Eastermonday!) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
Do you remember The
Great Egg Race TV programmes from the 1980s, presented by the wonderfully
eccentric Heinz Wolff? Several episodes can be viewed in the BBC archive here -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/great_egg_race/ Many of the contestants will now be grandads
and I am sure they will be enthusiastically passing on their ingenious and
devious problem-solving and engineering skills to their grandchildren.
Programmes like this demonstrate that problem-solving and
building solutions together can be great fun as well as an opportunity to learn
a great deal from each other. The Dangerous Book for Grandads has several great suggestions for such
activities, and now the weather is finally warming up a bit Grandad and the
grandkids can venture into the shed to try some dangerous experiments, build a
Heath Robinson contraption or, perhaps, to create a record-breaking
egg-carrying machine.
In the USA egg drop projects are a popular and fun way to
teach scientific principles to young children – see, for example, http://eggdropproject.org/ A recent
episode of Modern Family featured an
egg-drop competition between Manny and Luke, demonstrating what a smashing time
can be had by all the family when problem-solving together!
Of course, as TheDangerous Book for Grandads points out, Easter is the best time of year for
egg-related activities. There is a section on Easter traditions that Grandad
may like to partake in with his grandchildren. For example, painting eggs, egg
rolling and pace-egging. What is dangerous about this you may ask? Well before
you paint an egg you need to blow an egg – and this comes with the risk of
getting egg on your face (and everything else) if you don’t do it correctly.
Luckily our friends at the fantastically useful Instructables website (ideal
for the creative Grandad) provide a guide to blowing eggs successfully: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Blow-Egg-Out-of-Egg-Shells/?ALLSTEPS
 |
| St George slays Bold Slasher - Heptonstall Pace Egg Play - geograph.org.uk - 818905 |
Pace-egging, a tradition from the north-east of the UK, has
the potential to descend into violence as rival teams try to steal pace eggs
from each other, although actual violence is rare and is played out in the pace
play or dance instead. For more about pace-egging read The Dangerous Book for Grandads.
When I was a child we used to roll painted eggs down the
steep hill on which the village church stood. We would blow eggs, paint them
and then roll them down the hill to see which would travel the furthest without
breaking the shell, with a ‘valuable prize’ for the winner. Dangerous for the
eggs, particularly when the dogs joined in and chased the eggs down the hill,
and grandads and grandchildren may take a tumble if they run after the rolling
eggs. There was also a competition for the best painted egg (which took place
before the egg-rolling for obvious reasons!).
Easter egg rolling takes place all over the world and is a
centuries-old tradition. There is an annual egg roll at the White House, presided
over by the US president:
Also egg rolling is popular in Russia and Slavic nations –
they use a chute rather than a hill to roll the eggs, probably because it is
still too cold to venture outside at Easter in those countries.
So, what do you do with all the egg you have blown out of
the egg shells? Why you make lemon curd of course! Our book, Jam-making and Preserves by Mrs Beeton,
includes a simple recipe, as follows:
LEMON CURD
Take 4 eggs, 1 lb. of castor sugar, 4 oz. of butter and the
rind and juice of 4 lemons.
Break the eggs separately into a basin, beat slightly, add
the other ingredients and stir over a gentle heat in a pan of hot water for
about 20 minutes, or until thick. Pour into dry jars, cover down securely, and
store in a cold, dry place.
Lemon curd is a wonderful addition to whipped cream used in
a spring Pavlova or roulade. It can be used as a filling for lemon sponge cakes
and it is super on toast for breakfast.
If Grandma has plans for all her real eggs for her Easter
baking then you could make papier-mâché eggs instead. This is very easy – you
use a balloon as the base, blown up to the size of ‘egg’ you are after. Then
you soak strips of paper in flour and water paste (or some other glue) and lay
the soaked paper strips on to the balloon in several layers. Try to create as
smooth a surface as you can as this will make painting the finished eggs
easier. Dry the papier-mâché eggs thoroughly. When they are dry you can pop the
balloon using a pin by the knot (leave the deflated balloon inside the egg or
make a small hole in the top of the egg so that you can gently remove the
balloon). Once the eggs are completely dry the grandchildren can paint them to
create Easter decorations. Varnish the painted eggs and they will last for many
years. Please note that using papier-mâché eggs for egg rolling is cheating!
Eggs represent new life and the resurrection in the
Christian tradition but eggs also symbolise fertility and the rebirth of spring
in many ancient pre-Christian traditions too. Now spring has sprung and the
grass is rizz thoughts often turn to love. That old romantic William Heath
Robinson took the opportunity to portray Easter eggs as a useful tool in wooing
a potential partner. This is a technique that he did not include in How to be a Perfect Husband surprisingly
so this is one for hopeful swains to add to their springtime wooing toolkit:
Finally, we are extremely grateful to Kerry Norris for the
fantastic review of The Dangerous Bookfor Grandads that she sent me this morning. We are so glad that you and
your family grandads enjoyed the book.
For
more reviews of The Dangerous Book for
Grandads visit the web page for the book at http://www.wordstothewise.co.uk/the-dangerous-book-for-grandads.html
Have
a very Happy Eggy Easter!
No comments:
Post a Comment