An egg shows up as a prop in that play we’re working on (I forget what it’s called — you must know it by now). I said, “Oh, we can just blow the egg out of an eggshell and use that!” Famous last words.
I had done the egg blowing thing once, in the distant past. I think it was the ’70s, a more artsy-craftsy time. I had seen pictures in magazines of these gorgeous eggs made by gluing about a million itty bitty beads onto a blown out egg shell. Fired with ambition, I blew out an egg, the shell of which sat on my dresser for about six years, till the damn thing finally broke, beadless and bare. I retain no memory of the actual blowing of the egg, only the knowledge that I did it once.
So I tried it and experienced absolutely no success. When I finally got sick of huffing and puffing, I finally cracked the egg the regular way and fixed my breakfast.
Well, it’s not the ’70s any more; it’s the 21st century. I did what any self-respecting denizen of the 21st century does: I got on the Internet. I have never had good luck with searches, so I took a more personal approach: I went on Facebook and asked my friends if any of them had ever successfully blown an egg and did they have any tips for me?
I learned that you have to poke around in the egg first to break things up, sometimes adding a little water helps, shake well, and some eggs are just going to be stubborn about it. My friend Rachel, who makes those gorgeous Ukranian eggs, offered to send me a tool specifically made for the purpose. That was tempting but seemed like a lot of trouble for my friend to go to for one (extremely) silly play. I tried the old-fashioned way one more time.
Poke the pin in, woosh it around, add a little water (is any water getting in that pinhole?), shake it, shake it, shake it. Blow. Repeat above process several times. At least I didn’t get sick of huffing and puffing this time. My finger went through the shell mid-puff. At least my hands were clean. I cooked that egg, ate it, then went upstairs and contacted Rachel via Facebook.
The proper tool arrived Monday. I couldn’t wait to use it. I could blow a half dozen eggs! Maybe start with one. Rachel included instructions.
The tool consists of a pointy piece on a rubber bulb and a separate narrow metal stick. The pointy piece is a drill, not a punch; you rotate it to make the holes. You use the stick to stir things up inside the shell. Then you put the pointy part back into the hole and squeeze the bulb to blow the egg stuff out. Don’t squeeze too hard or too fast, Rachel warned, or you might blow out the egg. Apparently this is not a dramatic explosion with shell and egg everywhere. Still, I was glad it did not happen to me (this time).
A little surprised, too. I got really tired of pumping patiently. I’d stir it again, shake it some more, try the water thing. Eventually a blob of white made itself seen.
Well, I won’t sit here and describe every pump, stir and shake, but I will say it took longer than expected. I might also mention that the egg was to form part of my supper and I was HUNGRY! Still, it worked. It really, really worked. I did a little dance while the egg cooked.
I was very happy with my egg blowing tool, and very grateful to Rachel for sending it. Perhaps after the show I will look into doing some artsy-craftsy things with egg shells, so I can continue to put it to good use.
