Exquisite Eggs

These hand-painted eggs from Austria are affordable pieces of art. Use them as accents on the Easter table or give them as gifts. The eggs are first blown out, then sterilized before being hand-painted in one of 40 designs, including rabbits, chickens and lambs as well as floral motifs. The eggs can be hung from a ribbon as they are in Eastern Europe, where eggs decorate branches of pussy willows in a sign of spring.

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Hand-painted Austrian Easter eggs, $6.95 for chicken egg, $9.90 for turkey egg and $15.50 to $22.50 for goose eggs. Order on the Internet at www.oldworldcraft.com. Overnight shipping available for additional charge. The eggs will be sold at these farmers markets: Temecula, 6th and Front streets, 8 a.m. to noon Saturday; Santa Monica, Main Street and Ocean Park Boulevard, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday; and Torrance, Wilson Park, 2200 Crenshaw Blvd., 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday.

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Wisconsin Winner

Pleasant Ridge Reserve Cheese won the 2001 “best of show” award from the American Cheese Society. The cheese, made in southwestern Wisconsin, tastes like a cross between a medium-aged Gouda and Gruyere. It is wonderful eaten at room temperature as a table cheese, but also works well in cooking.

Pleasant Ridge Reserve Cheese, $15 to $21.99 per pound, from Whole Foods markets and Beverly Hills Cheese Store, 419 N. Beverly Drive, (310) 278-2855.