Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Egg Facts

Did you know that a hard boiled egg left unrefrigerated
for more than two hours should be discarded?

Egg safety is important because eggs provide the perfect medium
for bacterial growth.  Any cracked or damaged egg should be discarded.
Did you indadvertantly leave the carton of eggs on the counter over night?  Toss them.

Raw eggs kept refrigerated will remain fresh for 4-5 weeks.
A hard boiled egg may safely be refrigerated for up to one week.

When we were kids, we would color the eggs, place them all in a big basket and they sat out as decoration for......who knows maybe a week!!  Then on Easter Sunday we'd have an egg hunt, find the eggs and then they'd sit in our baskets, until someone got hungry.
As I said, "It's a wonder I'm still alive."
Unlike eggs, egg cups do NOT need to be refrigerated!

I don't really collect egg cups, but generally a collection
 is defined as three or more of any related object.
So I guess I have a collection of egg cups.
Which came first the chicken or her eggs?
In this case I first collected the vintage Fiesta salt and peppers.
The hen came later in the game.
The basic shapes of egg cups can be generalized as single, double, bucket and figural.

If you collect egg cups, you are a “pocillovist” (pronounced PO-SIL-O-VIST).
Pocillovy is the name given to the hobby, which comes from the Latin,
pocillum ovi, meaning a small cup for an egg.


No eggs or humans or chickens were harmed in shooting these
images.  All eggs, both raw and hard boiled were returned to
the refrigerator within the two hour recommended time frame.

You can see that these egg cups vary widely in shape and size.  The use of egg cups is
still pretty common in Europe, but less and less so here in the states.  In the early
decades of the 20th century there was a great interest in egg cups, sets of egg cups and the implements like special "beheading" scissors and oddly shaped spoons designed just
for eating soft boiled eggs placed in egg cups.
The larger "bucket" shaped egg cups are vintage Fiesta in the original six colors.
The foot is not usual for the bucket shape, but the size of the bowl is fairly standard.
This shape isn't really suited to a single egg and it is thought that it was meant
for toast "soldiers' (a piece of toast cut into strips lengthwise) and an egg
to be eaten with a fork or spoon.
The tiny vintage Harlequin individual egg cups are more delicate than
many vintage egg cups and of course they come in wonderful bright colors. 
The egg cups in this contemporary caddy are fairly typical of a standard
egg cup used on a daily basis since the beginning of their popularity.
There were porcelain egg cups made by many of the major china
manufacturers and they were added to china services by many Victorian households.
This little egg holder is purely decorative and was mine as a child.
We had a whole set of them, but sadly this is the only one which has survived.
The Hankscraft "Fiesta" Egg Cooker in vintage Red is shown with 3 of its
matching egg cups.  These are "double" egg cups with one end being larger
for larger eggs, like duck or turkey eggs you might have had access to if you
lived on a farm or raised poultry.  You can read more about my Hankscraft
Egg Cooker on a post from last fall called Breakfast At Grandma's House.
Thanks for coming by !

24 comments:

  1. Yes, I think you are a Fiesta Posilovist...for sure! Very interesting info on EGGS and Egg cups. I may never eat another Boiled, Dyed, and Hidden Easter Egg....Chocolate Eggs??? Oh Yeah! Great post and photos for the Letter E!

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  2. Wow. You have taught me so much about collecting from when I've started reading your blog.

    And I don't know why I'm always surprised that you have more knowledge to share.

    This was great information...and I love the size, shape and color of your egg cup non-collection 'collection'.

    This was really an interesting stop on my little journey through Alphabe-Thursday.

    Thank you for linking.

    A+

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  3. So enjoyed this 'E' post - yr whole blog too!

    XOXO LOLA:)

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  4. I'm loving your Fiesta...
    great post.

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  5. I think I could use some of your egg cups to show off the eggs on my post! I also have some fiesta ware old and new. No egg cups in my house though. Thanks for stopping by loved your post.

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  6. I remember using an egg cup when I was little. I don't think we have any in our house now. Love the ones you have.

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  7. This is great! I love those egg cups.

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  8. Everything is so eye-popping in color! I love the egg cup from your childhood! Its so original. Thanks for sharing.

    Anne-Marie

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  9. Ooooh ahhhh such beautiful Fiestaware. Looks like you've got F covered as well!

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  10. What an interesting post! Your pieces are beautiful. I'm envious!

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  11. i only have two egg cups, so safe to say that i am not a posilovist ... what an interesting theme you choose, this was totally interesting and boy i love those fiesta egg cup!!! well done!

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  12. Oh my! What a neat collection! And thank you for all the egg safety information.

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  13. I have a collection of wooden carved and painted eggs from Poland but my collecting stops there. Your collection is truely beautiful and I adore your hen

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  14. The egg cups are just so cute! My grandmother always served a soft boiled egg in one for breakfast when I stayed with her. It made me feel so special!

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  15. I've never owned an egg cup. Of course, I hardly ever eat eggs either, and I much prefer them scrambled. However, the collection looks beautiful. I especially loved the one that was your grandmothers. I just love vintage things. It looked like something I would probably buy from an antique store. Thanks for letting me stop by and enjoy! :-)

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  16. This was most informative, as well as lots of fun to view!!

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  17. What beautiful egg cups; so colourful! We have a few egg cups in our house. Some are wooden and have names burned into them. Others are pot and were collected from seaside resorts.

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  18. You always manage to make everything look gorgeous. I love that egg-filled chicken!

    =)

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  19. Everything DOES look gorgeous! I can't believe you used to eat eggs that were out for that long! Yuck!

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  20. My favorite late aunt had a beautiful set of fiesta ware. Lovely post! I love those egg cups and I am an egg person too! Anne

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  21. Wasn't this both Fun and informative! Fiesta really knew their colors... fantastic. Oops, that's all F. And I came here for E, for Eggs, for Exciting, for Enlightening! :-D

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  22. Welcome all you EGG lovers! And thanks so much for your lovely comments and for visiting for the letter "E".

    Next week's letter "F" - it would seem only natural to highlight FIESTA.....but maybe I'll try for something not quite so obvious! LOL

    Candy

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  23. I so need a few egg cups and have never owned one so.....I am impressed with your collection! Loved the Fiesta colors. Love the letter E!

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  24. Thanks PP!

    Stop back later today for the letter "F" - it's frightening!

    Candy

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Thank you for your lovely comments.

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