Paste eggs

First of all, let me just say that I have no idea why they're called paste eggs, they just are okay?  They were always an Easter tradition in our house when I was growing up.  My mom would make a big batch of them to give to friends and family - kind of a goodwill gesture I suppose, because who really wants to get a hard-boiled egg as a gift?

Making the paste eggs was a laborious process that took hours and hours.  I wasn't allowed to actually help of course, due to the very real possibility that I'd find a way to screw it up, but my finger was always needed to hold the thread in place while Mom tied the knots.  Eventually I was made redundant when she switched to using tin foil to hold the onion skins in place instead of tying them with thread.  The tin foil versions were okay, but they were never as pretty as when they were done the old-fashioned way.

You have to start saving onion skins several months ahead of Easter.  Sure, you get some funny looks when you go to the market and buy one onion and then fill the bag with all of the loose skins from the onion bin, but that's part of the tradition...I just happened to have a bag full of skins on hand because I was going to make them last year and never got around to it.

So, I wrapped the raw eggs in onion skins and tied them up with thread. It didn't take me long to figure out  that that's easier to do if the skins are wet.  I don't remember my Mom ever soaking them - so it's no wonder it was such a chore.

  Pop 'em in a pan to boil.

And voila!  Beautiful paste eggs - just like Mom used to make.

Now as I recall, you pick out the prettiest one and give it to your best friend.  Then she gives you the prettiest one from her batch.  Then you roll them on the ground and smash them into eachother, then you eat them.  Or toss them into the nearest trash can when Mom isn't looking.  I mean really, as beautiful as they are, they're still just yucky hard-boiled eggs.