© Janet Davis

How to eggs-plain it? – egg-cept to say I suppose I had a tiny (almost egg-istential) “Martha moment” that day in early April, standing staring at the $2 egg cup bin in the kitchen goods store.

It had never occurred to me to think much about these little oddities – I prefer my eggs sunny-side-up, in the frying pan. And they certainly weren’t quality pieces, not like the Victorian china, Louis XV silver, or Susie Cooper Art Deco rarities that egg cup collectors or “pocillovists” might lust after.

No, they were just mass-produced ceramic and colored glass schlock, a far cry from the ancient egg cups found in the ashes of Pompeii. (Proving that Romans didn’t fret much about cholesterol -- not that artery-hardening would be an issue, what with Vesuvius about to roast the hens.)

But the more I stood gazing at the sweet little cups with their delicate shape and pretty pastel designs, the more convinced I became that this was an affordable home accessory looking for a place to happen. Far from being a mere receptacle for the 3-minute breakfast special, it could become a repository for other things. But what?

That’s when I had my design revelation. Egg-sactly! All those diminutive spring blossoms just now opening in gardens I’d passed on my way to the store -- that’s what I’d use.

On my Easter dinner table, I placed a different egg cup filled with flowers in front of each guest’s place: tiny purple crocuses and miniature daffodils, perky primroses and snowdrops, early viburnum blossoms packing enough perfume to scent the room, scilla and chionodoxa, purple reticulated irises under pussy-willow arbors, luscious little ranunculus, grape hyacinths, forget-me-nots and sweet violas with happy faces.

And without eggs-aggerating in the least, the entire table looked utterly eggs-quisite!!

Adapted from an article that appeared originally in the National Post

Back to Bouquets, Crafts & Containers