Food

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL EGGS RIGHT NOW

Spring is full of fresh new things to eat. By the time winter is near its end (now) we are so longing for lighter, brighter, younger tastes. While we have eggs available all year long, in early spring, we’re making lots more omelettes! And we’ve gathered a basket of beautiful eggs, made even more exquisite by incredible artists and artisans.

Artist Franc Grom drills thousands of tiny holes into a single egg shell -- each eggshell is pierced 2,500 to 3,500 times! His intricate art is inspired by traditional Slovenian designs. Grom lives in the small village of Stara Vrhnika, near the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana. He only began creating egg art once he retired, when he invented his egg-drilling process.

Vietnamese craftsman Vnarts gently carves illustrations on eggshells, and then puts an LED light in each one. His work can be purchased at the Dieu Khac Mien Tay gallery.

This is an etched goose egg, created by artist Katy David. The white lace design you see is the eggshell itself, which looks so beautiful against the robin's-egg blue background. David creates and sells these and other gorgeous Pysanka eggs, made using the traditional Ukrainian method of batik-like wax-resistance and dye layers.You can appreciate the beauty of eggs simply by finding them. No fancy artwork necessary.

Mary Jo Hoffman, of StillBlog, gathers natural objects that she finds near her home in Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota, as well as along the way when she travels. She finds bits of beauty wherever she goes.

The nest shown above wasn’t exactly found this way, she admits. She arranged a found robin, cardinal, and turtle dove egg together in the perfectly formed nest. It may not be biologically correct to have them all in one nest, but it is breathtakingly beautiful.

We also love this collection of bird eggs that Hoffman found as she took a Spring stroll.

StillBlog-inspired prints, textiles, stitched wall-hangings, themed card collections, and other products are available for purchase or licensing. Check them out on StillBlog.

This collection of beautifully colored eggs is all natural. No dye. No lie. They come from a variety 10 breeds of chickens raised by Vitality Farm, near Corvallis, Oregon. The chickens are Certified Organic, Pasture-Raised, and happy.

They live in custom-designed, mobile houses that are moved to fresh, organic pasture every 3-4 days. Every day of the year, their hens feast on a diet of greens, bugs, and worms in addition to certified organic feed.

These happy hens lay eggs that are higher in vitamins, minerals and omega-3 fatty acids, lower in cholesterol and saturated fat than a conventional, cage-free, or free-range egg. And, so that you know how fresh they really are, Vitality Farms stamps the date on each egg on the day it was laid. Beautiful!

These eggs aren’t new. They are an old collection, gathered by Edward Hyde Greg (1827-1910) of Quarry Bank House and owner of Quarry Bank Mill, in Cheshire, England. The collection consists of three wooden chests, with multiple drawers full of wild birds’ eggs, found in Great Britain. They were collected during the mid 19th century.

It is wonderful to see the array, from owls, black and red grouse, ravens, hens, shrike, pheasants, kestrels, puffins, robins, and more.

The study of bird eggs, known as oology, was especially popular among landed gentry in the 1700's and 1800’s. Some of the collections, like this one, were very well documented and provide a lot of information about species that are now rare for scientists today.

This gorgeous egg, painted with a peacock feather motif, was submitted by Li Shen to the Great Goose Egg Auction to raise money for the Open Fields School in New Hampshire.

With Easter around the corner, we are loving what we are finding in natural egg-dying ideas. These, from WonderHowTo, look like they are made of granite. They were made simply, using fruits and vegetables to create the colors.

According to WonderHowTo, most colors start with a cup of boiling water with a teaspoon of vinegar added. Then you add something for color such as:

Red: Beets, cherries, cranberries
Orange: Onion skins, turmeric, paprika, annatto seeds
Yellow: Citrus peels, yellow onion skins or turmeric
Green: Green tea powder, leaves of spinach or other greens, red onion skins (the reaction with the vinegar turns them green)
Blue: Blueberries, red cabbage
Purple: Grape juice (or whole grapes), blackberries, lavender
Pink: Hibiscus flowers, strawberries, rose petals
Brown: Coffee, black tea, walnut husks, cumin seeds

For more ideas, check out this huge list of plants that can be used for natural dyes (and how to use them).

And WonderHowTo offers cool ideas for dying techniques.You’ll be rewarded with gorgeous eggs that are custom designed and chemical-free.

Artist Jennifer Jackson creates incredible marbled eggs for Easter and all year round, whenever she feels like “jazzing up my hard boiled eggs.”

She simply places hard boiled eggs into a wire colander, drizzles them with a bit of cooking oil, then drips a few drops of food coloring onto the eggs and rolls them around to create the marbelized effect.

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