Simply Living in the Northwoods: Hunt for the Easter Bunny

It was a beautiful morning; the sun was out and the air was a little chilly. All of the dogs, even Gracie, were ready for a walk through the woods in search of the Easter Bunny.

Asher deep in the woods.

Maddie thought she
heard something

Lots of smells keep the dogs' noses to the ground, a tinge of green above promises the canopy will arrive soon, but there is no sign of the Bunny.

"Let's go back home. He's
probably there!"

Sure enough, there were baskets for the dogs filled with doggie delights including pig ears, Greenies, carrots and an Easter blankie for Asher.

Doggie Baskets

Asher's basket with
blanket from Joe & Gwen

Only carrots left.

Egg dying kit of 2011.

Yesterday I faced a little roadblock when preparing Easter treats for the humans of the household. A Paas shortage! On Friday, I was in the Ironwood WalMart (yes, I have to admit it) shopping for Easter tablecloths and decided to pick up an egg coloring kit as well - there were none to be had. No Paas kits; not the tie-dye variety, nor the neon variety, nor the dinosaur variety, nor the Smurf variety - not even the plain variety. I searched through the six aisles of Easter toys, books, baskets, buckets and candy - NOTHING! I searched through the special holiday candy section in the grocery section - NOTHING! All I found in the egg & dairy section was an empty display box.

I wasn't too worried because surely Snow's Marketplace, in Mercer, would have a Paas kit or two.

Not an Easter egg dying kit left on the shelf at Snow's.

Well, this was a reminder to me that it's all about simple living. The first settlers of Mercer didn't have Paas kits to color their eggs and I would have to make due with simpler ingredients. You may be expecting a Martha Stewart-like recipe for onion skin dye or beet peelings, but I took a simpler route and headed for the baking aisle for food coloring.

Food Colored Dyed Eggs

The eggs turned out more vibrant than ever and didn't take half as long. Henrietta, Flora and Pearl provided the eggs. Twenty drops of food coloring mixed with 1/2 t vinegar and 1/2 C boiling water provided the color. I'll never buy a Paas kit again, although the dogs will miss the stickers that come with it.