[vc_row][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1496160699155{margin-top: -120px !important;}”][rev_slider_vc alias=”recipes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_text_separator title=”All Natural Easter Eggs” css=”.vc_custom_1522180172452{margin-top: -60px !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”2545″ img_size=”280×280″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_text_separator title=”Ingredients” css=”.vc_custom_1496160819501{margin-top: -60px !important;}”][vc_column_text]
- eggs
- water
- white vinegar
- items for dying eggs:
Blue: Blueberries or red cabbage
Pink: Beets or cranberries
Orange/Red: Yellow onion skins (Seriously. Yellow = red. Go figure!)
Yellow: Turmeric or saffron
Purple: Grape juice
Green: Spinach
Brown: Tea or coffee grounds or red onion skins[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1496160757597{margin-top: -100px !important;}”][vc_column_text]To produce all natural dyes:
- Decide what colours you want and collect the necessary ingredients.
- Choose how many colours you want to make (start with just a few). For each colour, you’ll need a separate saucepan – so either get out ALL the pans, or plan to work in stages. Put about two cups of your chosen ingredient into a saucepan and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the colour is as rich as you’d like. Please note – with the onion skins, just use all of the skin from about 8-10 onions.
- When you like the colour in the pot, take it off the heat and let it cool. Pour through a fine-mesh strainer and discard the solids, and stir in a few teaspoons of white vinegar.
To prepare the eggs:
There are lots of different ways to dye eggs, but broadly speaking, you need to decide if you want to dye the empty shells (which keep forever, but you’ll have to blow the eggs out and then clean the shells before dying them), dye the shells of hard-boiled eggs (which, because these dyes are all natural, you can then peel and eat), or dye the actual flesh of hard-boiled eggs (as in our marbled eggs, described below).
To dye the eggs:
The simplest way to dye eggs is just to immerse them into a cup filled with dye. If you want something a bit more advanced, here is one of our favourite techniques:
First hard-boil the eggs, and then gently crack the shells – either by rolling them on a hard surface, or by gently tapping them with the back of a spoon. **Be sure to not remove any of the shell while you’re cracking it up.** Once the shells nicely cracked, put the eggs into a shallow saucepan, add dye until the eggs are covered, and bring the dye to a simmer. Reduce the heat, and continue to simmer for an hour. If you have the time, you can let the eggs sit in the dye for up to 24 hours after simmering – the longer they sit, the deeper the colour will be. Peel the eggs and marvel at the beautiful pattern before you chow down.
Please note that natural dyes take longer to set.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]