Although my nest is empty, I still love to dye Easter eggs. This year I decided to dye eggs using food and spices on hand.
I started with red onion skins, blackberries, cinnamon (ground & sticks), green onion tops and cilantro, beet juice and turmeric.
After boiling water, steep each ingredient for ten minutes while grinding and stirring the various ingredients to release the juices. Add 1 Tablespoon of white vinegar to each glass.
To enhance a few of the colors, I added a bit of ground cayenne pepper to the cinnamon, spinach leaves to the green and a splash of red wine to the blackberry. (Next time, I would not use green onions—spinach worked better.)
The beet juice produced a beautiful rose color. The turmeric was vibrant. Soak in the refrigerator overnight for best results.
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| (left to right) purple onion, spinach/cilantro, blackberry/wine, cinnamon/cayenne, beet, turmeric |
A word about boiling eggs: The eggs we buy today are very fresh (i.e. free range, etc.) The fresher the egg, the harder to peel—the white membrane is not mature and sticks to the shell. A teaspoon of baking soda in the boiling water will make the egg easier to peel.
And don’t forget to use the eggshells in your garden. Crushed and sprinkled around flowerbeds, they will fend off slugs. Or mix with your soil as compost.
Happy Easter!
Grace Grits and Gardening
