?EASTER TIME IS THE TIME for eggs.? So said a character in a cartoon that my brother always watched on our circa 1960s TV.

Easter is always equated with the egg hunt, one of the summer activities that kept me and my siblings busy enough so we wouldn?t get bored.

The older siblings were in charge and so, obviously, we were not included in the main hunt. Instead, we painted the hard-boiled eggs, then scattered them about the pocket garden when the younger ones took their siesta. When the younger ones could handle painting the eggs themselves, we let them. I can still see their delighted faces as they discovered their egg masterpieces.

There was a year the sister after me decided that the eggs should contain gelatin instead. She must have learned this in one of her cookbook readings. And so Holy Saturday was spent punching a tiny hole on the rounded end, letting the egg white and yolk slip through, then replacing that with liquid gelatin, sealing the hole with scotch tape, then allowing the gelatin to harden in the refrigerator. In the heat of Easter afternoon, the gelatin, of course, had almost melted. But the younger ones looked happy enough peeling each egg and letting the gooey strawberry, cherry and orange (no lime green, please) mess up their hands and faces.

We didn?t reach that point when the sister after me could have suggested another alternative Easter egg. Instead of gelatin, molten chocolate could be poured in. I read that in a magazine article but was wise enough not to tell the others. I knew what that entailed?lots of hours away from my reading.

Egg-shaped chocolates

Today, there are egg-shaped chocolates with fancy wrappers made to look like painted Easter eggs. When my own children were growing up, those were what they hunted for with their cousins. Why didn?t I ask the children to paint the eggs like my siblings and I did? There were only two of them and their cousins were still too young for that activity. And they could not be cajoled to sit still for a few moments to paint eggs. They?d rather play with Mazinger Z.

If the boys, their now grown cousins and aunts and uncles could be prevailed on to Easter egg hunt, nothing but balut will do. Who wants to eat boring hard-boiled eggs, gelatin or even chocolate? Better to have the wonderful ducks? eggs, 18 days old, the liquid (amniotic fluid?) and one of the best flavors in the universe enjoyed in one sip.

Another egg creation I received was not for Easter but was a Christmas gift. The eggs came in a cardboard container which came with directions on what to do with it. Turned out the egg was already transformed and inside was panna cotta. There was admonition to keep the eggs in the refrigerator until ready to be eaten.

The egg had to be peeled halfway, the panna cotta poured with some of the accompanying syrup. It was great to taste the panna cotta eggs, as my sons named them, two boys who shared in the booty from their Tita Myrna.

E-mail pinoyfood04@yahoo.com.