Easter chick crackers, salt dough easter eggs, and an egg hunt

It has been a fun Easter.  We have made chocolate easter egg nests, painted salt dough eggs, baked (and eaten) lots of sourdough hot cross buns, made easter chick crackers for a lunch and had a fun colour coded egg hunt.  Having a 5 year old about is fun.  Sylvia has been very excited about the Easter bunny and eager to go to church to hear stories about Jesus.  So here is a rundown.

On Good Friday, we stayed at home and kept ourselves busy.  Too many hot cross buns were eaten.  At lunchtime I decided to make a light lunch of crackers and cheese.  For a few years I have admired some cute cheese and cracker chicks.  Finally I made them myself.

The chicks were made of garlic crackers, cheddar cheese, black sesame seed eyes and carrots for beaks, feet and hair.  They were easy and yummy.  We also snacked on some smoked almonds so I had fun making them into a nest.

We enjoy chocolate Easter eggs but I love some alternatives, especially when home made.  I decided it would be fun to make salt dough egg cut outs with Sylvia.  I didn't have an egg shaped cutter but we found a cap off a doll's baby drinking cup that seemed about the right shape.  We had also thought about doing flowers.  Any shape would do, especially at other times of year.

Despite following a recipe, the eggs were a little puffy and soft when they came out of the oven.  Not unusual for my oven to be slower than others.  We managed to paint one side of the eggs before Sylvia went to bed.  I painted the other side while she was refusing to sleep.

We took the salt dough eggs to my parents' place when we went there for Easter.  They have a little seasonal tree on the sideboard.  My mum had also made some dough eggs with my nieces.  They had rolled out a dough of flour and water and made decorations on them by colouring some leftover dough and sticking it on the eggs before baking.  All the eggs were strung from the tree and made a very striking centrepiece on the table on Easter Sunday.  And we gave some with Easter eggs to Sylvia's cousins.

As always we ate well when at my parents' house.  On Saturday we had burgers for dinner before going to mass.  Everyone else had meat burgers but my mum grilled some saganaki for me.  It was so good with the charred edges in toasted buns with fried red capsicum. lettuce, onions, tomato and sauce.  Reminded me of the ones we had when I was a child.  Or perhaps it tasted so good after an afternoon swim in Geelong.

I also took along a golden beetroot nut roast for the roast dinner on Sunday.  Plus some chocolate cake (that I will write about later.)  I loved the Toblerone cheesecake my mum made for dessert on Sunday.  And there were hot cross buns galore.

Sylvia had made a special basket for Easter bunny to put eggs into.  She was also very excited about an Easter egg hunt.  I had seen an easter egg hunt with colour coordinated easter eggs.   My dad organises the easter egg hunt and embraced the idea of each child collecting a different colour.  Below you can see his colour chart.

The egg hunt was great fun.  My dad had done a great job of hiding the eggs.  Almost too good, in some cases.  Colour coding the eggs meant there wasn't the mad scramble to be the kid to find the most and there was some interesting cooperation between the kids.  The only drawback was having an extra child unexpectedly turning up.  Fortunately one of the toddlers hadn't turned up yet and never missed it.

Above is another sneak peak of my chocolate cake and just some of the Easter eggs lined up.  E gave me a Koko Black easter egg.  He said he had to queue for it.  Having sampled it tonight, I can understand why you might queue for it.  The chocolate was far superior to many Easter eggs I have tasted.  And that is just the way I want my Easter to end.  With some great chocolate.

I am sending the Easter chick crackers to Louisa from Eat Your Veg for the Family Foodies event which focuses on Healthy Snacks in April. It is hosted on alternate months with Vanesther from Bangers and Mash.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
One year ago: WSC Chocolate Chip and Honey Scones
Two years ago: Zucchini Layer Cake plus random thoughts
Three years ago: Marzipan choc chip cookies
Four years ago: Curried Paneer and Birthday Cheer
Five years ago: Easter Nut Roast and Feasting
Six years ago: NCR Moody Mushroom Stew

Salt Dough Easter Eggs
From Design Mom

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup water
egg shaped cutter
chopstick
paint
string

Mix flour, salt and water.  Knead briefly until you have a smooth dough.  (It was slightly tacky but didn't really need extra flour).  Roll dough out on baking paper to about 0.5cm thick.  (I am not sure this is essential but it keeps the work surface clean.)  Cut out egg shapes (I used one of Sylvia's toys because we don't have cutters).  Transfer to lined baking tray.

Use a chopstick to poke holes towards the top of the eggs.  Bake at 120 C for 2 hours.  (Mine were not quite done after this so - some had some softness still but I didn't have the time to leave it longer.)  Cool the eggs.

Paint eggs on one side, let dry, turn over over paint other side.  When both sides are dry, threat a piece of string through each egg and tie a knot.

On the Stereo:
Blonde on Blonde: Bob Dylan