These little beauties bring back lots of childhood memories for me, we used to make these decorative marbled hard boiled eggs close to Easter using onion skins. The name Pace is thought to have derived from the French word for Easter, Pâques. If you’re wondering what I’m going on about then you’re not alone, Karen was equally as confused when I suggested doing a journal post all about them.
I remember my mum collecting a bag of onion skins for a few weeks leading up to Easter and she used to tell me the dirty skins made the best patterns. We all used to sit around the kitchen table with a dozen eggs and a huge pile off onion skins and started to wrap each egg in a few layers of skins and then finally a layer of tin foil to keep them in place.
Once we had spent time decorating and boiling the eggs we would often play games one of which we called ‘Egg Jarping’ where you knock your competitors egg and whichever one didn’t break stays on as the champion until there is a winner. I suggest picking the egg which has a good point and clench it as tight as you can, although to be honest I’m not sure it makes any difference. Or we used to go on a spring walk and all roll them down a steep hill, which ever egg went the furthest and had no cracks was the winner. I’m carrying on the tradition with my two boys, Herbie and Fran.
Why don’t you have a go at making your own, it’s a lovely activity to do with children over the Easter holidays. You won’t thank me for the strange smell that lingers in your kitchen and the onion stained pan but when you peel back the onion skins to discover each eggs individual patterns you will forgive me.
Ingredients:
A dozen eggs
Brown onion skins (you could always just gather a few extra skins when buying your onions)
Large pan (Not your prize pan)
Tin foil
Method
Wrap your egg in a layers of onion skin ensuring it is tightly wrapped and leaving no gaps.
Carefully wrap in some tin foil.
Add the eggs to a large pan
Cover with water and bring to the boil over a medium heat.
Boil for around 15-20 minutes and then remove from the heat and allow to cool
Once completely cool carefully unwrap the egg and reveal your design.
Finally polish the egg shell with a little butter to give it a deeper colour and give them a gloss.
Happy dyeing!
Lauren X
