All-Natural Dyed Easter Eggs

In my house at Easter, we always have a Central European spread full of babka, ham, fruit, and, of course, eggs. However, no matter how much child-me begged, neon synthetic dyes for egg coloring were strictly banned at Easter time. It was all-natural dye in my house.

We had a strict Easter division of labor—mom made the babka and dad and I colored the eggs. That’s it, nothing else. A few days before Easter, dad and I would go to the store and grab massive produce bags filled with red and yellow onions, parsley, cabbage and whatever other colored vegetable we decided to try that year, and the real fun came the day before Easter Sunday. In the evening, we would set up an assembly line for the eggs and start batches of monochromatic vegetables bubbling on the stove. By the end of the night our fingers would be burnt and stained along with the pots we used, and there would be a dozen brightly colored eggs cooling on the counter, waiting for morning.

For my family, onion skins and cabbage were the traditional dye-producing ingredients, but sometimes we’d mix it up and try something new. Feel free to experiment to find which one you like best, but be careful to cover any surface you care about; it’s called dye for a reason.

Original recipe and instructions by Kathleen Almy
1. Wipe eggs with vinegar
2. Prepare dye baths using 2 cups of water for every cup of dyestuff (except the turmeric which should start with a teaspoon and adjust to preference)
3. Bring water to boil and simmer
4. If desired, place parsley leaves on the eggs and wrap with coffee filters (We usually sealed them with rubber bands), this will produce a leaf pattern on the final product
5. Add eggs gently and cook 10 minutes for hard-boiled eggs

For dye preparation
Color                        Dyestuff                                Mordant
Pale yellow              Safflower                              1 teaspoon vinegar
Yellow                      Orange marigold petals     None
Golden yellow         Turmeric                              1 teaspoon vinegar
Greenish yellow      Yellow marigold petals      None
Orange                      Yellow onion skins             None
Rusty red                  Red onion skins                  None
Salmon                      Sandalwood                        None
Pale grey-purple      Cranberries                         1 teaspoon vinegar
Pale blue-lavender  Red cabbage                       1 tablespoon alum
Bluish purple            Blueberries                         None
Pale lavender            Raspberries                        None
Chocolate brown      Walnut hulls                       None

-Chloe Kaczvinsky

cover photo: www.babble.com

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