We have talked for years about making Psanky (otherwise known as Ukranian) eggs. This year we finally did it! If you have not heard of Psanky, it is the craft of layering wax onto eggs, often in intricate designs. After each layer of wax the egg is dipped into dye baths. Each layer of wax and color builds up to create what is sometimes a fantastic design! Our friend Sarah was a motivating force behind this event as she has made them in the past.
Eggs were definitely the theme for the day and my chickens just happened to lay a little surprise for me that week…a teeny, tiny egg!
I am always trying to create new exciting egg dishes, especially when friends are joining me for brunch. I just so happened to get some fabulous freshly smoked bacon from a friend. When somebody says they would like to trade fresh homemade smoked bacon for your eggs, the undeniable answer is always, “Hell, YES!”
I rarely work from recipes, so all I can say is I baked thick slices of bacon in the oven, glazed the inside of some cupcake pans with bacon grease and then pressed mashed sweet potato into them. I baked these for 10 minutes then cracked an egg into each cup and baked for an additional 10 minutes. Topped with fresh herbs (oregeno, chives and thyme) a little parmesan and a smoky sweet slab of bacon. They were delicious!!
And it is a good thing we powered up with breakfast! What followed was a 5 hour Psanky and Prosecco pow wow! Sarah guided us through the steps and warned us “You’ll probably want to quit after your first egg”. I have never heard this group of girls be so quiet!
Everyone, with the exception of Sarah, was a beginner but we muscled through with some awesome results! There were definitely highs and lows (5 broken eggs in all) but we all learned a lot and I think next year we will see a lot more successes!
Check out Sarah’s great Psanky tutorial and Rake and Make debut here!!
Wow, those are some fancy eggs! The Psankys look delish.
you girls are so crafty, I’m mEGGa inspired, hee hee. Did you blow the insides out of the eggs and use those for brunch or did you dye boild eggs?
We did not actually blow out the eggs, we just left them whole. Apparently in this Pacific Northwest climate, the insides will just dry up over time. I hope. God, I hope…Otherwise, i think they explode.
That breakfast dish looks amazing and what a fun way to decorate eggs! Did I miss how you make the dye or where it comes from?
I meant to mention, I bought a beginner psanky kit from http://www.babasbeeswax.com . It came with 4 kitska and 12 different dyes! All my dyes are being kept in mason jars with lids on them so I can Psanky every year!!
However, I am sure you can use natural dyes such as beet powder,black tea, annato or seaweed. You can find all those things at
http://www.libertynatural.com/
I think the color palette would be completely different but super fun! I am looking forward to experimenting with them in the future!
These are absolutely wonderful!