A tisket, a tasket

One of the flamingos came through the winter with a broken leg, so we decided to use it as the centerpiece for an Easter basket we are putting together for Rich and Peggy. There was a basket in the stuff in the basement that fit pretty well, so Tom glued the flamingo (now legless) to a bit of 2x4 and then fastened that to the basket. We got some colored grass and plastic eggs and stuff at WalMart. We filled the plastic eggs with a trail mix that included raisins and M&Ms, because Rich and Peggy are somewhat careful about diet. We also picked up a couple of chocolate bunnies -- a bunny for Rich and a bunnette for Peggy -- because they are not fanatics about their diet, and a couple of plastic eggs with model cars in them (that's a whole 'nother story.) In addition, we got a dozen real eggs to decorate. While Tom was out at one of his meetings this evening, I boiled the eggs so they would be ready to color.

Seems simple, right? The idea was to bring water to a boil, then cover the pot with the boiling water and eggs in it and turn off the heat. Let it sit for fifteen minutes or so and the eggs would be hard boiled. I have done this a zillion times without a problem.

Problem. When I went to uncover the pot, the lid had sealed itself to the pot and would not come off. Wouldn't even budge. I twisted, I pried. I ran cold water. I ran more cold water. I fumed and fussed. Finally I put it out on the deck to sit in the cold weather. It took about an hour, but eventually the differences in temperature of the water and the pot and the internal and external air pressures and whatever else reached a point that enabled me to get the lid off. Fortunately nine of the eggs were uncracked, two were slightly cracked and the third was cracked enough to prove that the eggs were sufficiently done. Nine eggs will be enough. The basket is pretty full as it is.

Nevertheless, I think I'll just let Tom take it from here.