Saturday, March 23, 2013

Pysanky Time, Building Up Song, Pineapple Salsa

It's important to start with fresh dye each year.

 These are the tools used to make the pysanky eggs, beeswax and kitskas.

Each line is drawn with beeswax wax melted in the kitska over a candle flame. The egg is then dipped in dye. Then the next layer of wax is drawn and the egg is dipped into the next color of dye and so on.

A straight line means a steady hand and an even flow of wax.
1. I ordered new packages of egg dye this year, and then lost them somewhere in the kitchen for a week. I finally found them and today we dumped the old batch and mixed the new! Tess was the only one with time to make a design today, but I loved smelling the melted beeswax while she drew.
2. There are more varieties of birds singing these mornings. Winter only heard the lonely "Caw!" of a blackbird or the echo of a woodpecker knocking in the woods. These new melodies are a lighter sing-song, shared among many birds.
3. I made this pineapple-mango salsa for lunch. The sweet fruitiness is a delicious contrast on salty tortilla chips. It's bright color matched the sunshine today.

Dice one pineapple, one mango, and half a red onion. Add 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (sorry if you think it tastes like soap), salt to taste and the juice of one lime. Mix and refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving. *If you like hotness, you may add a jalapeño, seeded and chopped.

5 comments:

  1. Wow, those eggs are beautiful! You are artists!

    I love the soapy taste of cilantro actually. I copied down that recipe. Sounds yummy. And healthy.

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  2. I love cilantro. That salsa looks so good.

    So is there a stencil or something to paint the eggs by? They are so beautiful, but I can't quite think how you do it.

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    1. We draw free hand using a pencil to mark any designs before we draw over with the wax. Then the egg is dipped in the lightest color dye such as yellow. A series of drawing and dipping follows for each color dye you want to apply to the egg. It's drawn entirely with beeswax and dipped into each color. The egg is practically covered in black beeswax by the time it's completed. Than all the wax is carefully melted near a candle flame and wiped off. It seems rather an ancient art form. Youtube has some tutorials but the good ones are looong.

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  3. Wow those eggs are amazing, simply stunning. Ours are done in dyes from beets, carrots and other veggies.
    Love the salsa too!

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  4. Those eggs are absolutely gorgeous! Wow

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