Elegant Easter Eggs

Name: Elegant Easter Eggs
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 1 Dozen, 6 serving(s)
Ingredients: 1 dozen white egg; 1 -4 quart white vinegar (optional); 1/2 cup paprika (PEACHY SALMON); 1 cup lavender flowers (LIGHT GREEN); 1 cup canned cherries in syrup (RED); 1 cup frozen strawberries (PINK); 4 cups chopped red cabbage (BLUE); 1 cup canned blueberries, with syrup (BLUE); 1 teaspoon blue chamomile essential oil (ROBIN'S EGG BLUE); 3 ounces dried safflower oil, petals (BRIGHT YELLOW - DARK GREEN); 3 tablespoons turmeric (YELLOW); 1 1/2 cups calendula flowers, and heads (YELLOW); 12 medium onions, skins only (YELLOW to ORANGE); 1 (2 ounce) can beets (PURPLE); 1/2 cup purple grape juice concentrate (PURPLE); 1/2 cup green tea, plus; 1/2 cup ground rubbed sage (LIGHT GREEN); 1 cup fresh spinach leaves (GREEN); 5 tablespoons very strong well regular grind coffee (TAN-BROWN)

Submitted by Johnney

"Did you know that you probably have everything you need to dye Easter eggs naturally, right there in your kitchen cupboard? Vegetables such as red cabbage, onion skins, and coffee can be used to color plain white eggs and turn them into beautifully muted, soft pastel colors - Easter treasures! Kids really enjoy figuring out what color different materials will produce -- pretty much the same way our foremothers did when they were experimenting with homegrowns! *Vinegar acts as a dye mordant or dye set. Vinegar works best with spices such as turmeric or beans such as coffee. You do not need to add vinegar to dyes made with berries or herbs. It may morph your color to grey or brown."

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Ready In:: 50mins
Ingredients:: 19
Yields:: 1 Dozen
Serves:: 6

ingredients

1 dozen white egg
1 -4 quart white vinegar (optional)
NATURAL COLOR SOURCES
¹⁄₂ cup paprika (PEACHY SALMON)
1 cup lavender flowers (LIGHT GREEN)
1 cup canned cherries in syrup (RED)
1 cup frozen strawberries (PINK)
4 cups chopped red cabbage (BLUE)
1 cup canned blueberries, with syrup (BLUE)
1 teaspoon blue chamomile essential oil (ROBIN'S EGG BLUE)
3 ounces dried safflower oil, petals (BRIGHT YELLOW - DARK GREEN)
3 tablespoons turmeric (YELLOW)
1 ¹⁄₂ cups calendula flowers, and heads (YELLOW)
12 medium onions, skins only (YELLOW to ORANGE)
1 (2 ounce) can beets (PURPLE)
¹⁄₂ cup purple grape juice concentrate (PURPLE)
¹⁄₂ cup green tea, plus
¹⁄₂ cup ground rubbed sage (LIGHT GREEN)
1 cup fresh spinach leaves (GREEN)
5 tablespoons very strong well regular grind coffee (TAN-BROWN)

directions

Other items you will need:-MATERIALS NEEDED: three-quart pot/s (or larger), slotted spoon, small bowls- for cold process, paper towels drying rack DYE PROCESS.
Select a natural dyeing agent, and place the recommended amount in the pot.
Add 1 quart of soft or purified water and 2 tablespoons white vinegar* per pot.
If you are making larger lots of eggs, increase the vinegar at the rate of 1 tablespoon per 16 oz.
water.
Bring everything to the boil, then lower the heat.
Allow to simmer for 30 minutes.
Strain dye into a bowl, and let cool a bit.
-.
HOT PROCESS EGG DYING:
This method involves boiling the eggs in water with the natural colorant.
The heat forces the color into the porous egg shell and allows the dye to saturate it thoroughly.
This gives a really intense and completely uniform color to the shells.
Vinegar fixes the color.
Vinegar can"morph" certain colors, such as berries and herbs.
Place raw eggs in a pot of strained dye; bring to a boil and allow eggs to cook in the dye-water for the amount of time required to get the color you want, up to 20 minutes.
You can allow the eggs to sit in the dye water off the heat for as long as you wish, but place the eggs and dye-water in the refrigerator.
Remove eggs, pat dry with paper towel and allow to thoroughly air dry on a drying rack.
COLD PROCESS EGG DYING:
This is the method I use most with my kids.
First, we boil our white eggs, remove from water and set aside to cool.
With the slotted spoon, carefully lower the eggs into the bowl of strained dye and allow to soak for 20 mins to overnight, til you reach the color intensity desired.
Follow drying technique for hot process egg dyeing, above.
You can, of course, mix colors.
First, dip or soak your egg in color#1, then remove soak in color#2, til you reach the desired shade.

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Reviews

I used this recipe yesterday for Easter eggs: we tried the red cabbage, spinach/sage, and turmeric. They all looked beautiful, and the blue and yellow eggs had especially vibrant colors. We served them in a raffia "nest" for breakfast. Thanks so much for this guide to natural Easter eggs!

A Messy Cook
We used this guide yesterday. The results were outstanding. Thank you for the ideas. The Paprika didn't quite do the red we were looking for, so I added a packet of Kool-aid. That sure works. I had many different teas to use as well.

LilPinkieJ

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Johnney

Bakersfield, California

I was born to John and Barbara Messmore, Mothers maiden name of Rupe, My family roots are from Kentucky, We moved to Chicago, Ill. when I was 2yrs of age so I consider that to be where Im from.I lived half of my life there then my family moved to west to San Francisco, Ca. and thats when my life really began, I never learned so much about life as I did living there, It was a melting pot of people, I grew up during the "LOVE" era where it seemed that everyone shared everything with eachother,Kinda like here at Zaar, There were no expectations, no demands and it seemed that life was slower and full of energy, I miss that today. I started cooking at the age if 15 learning from my Grandmother "Bertha Rupe" She was a Manager of an apartment building in San Francisco on the corner of "Post & Polk" Street where all the old ladies just thought I was so "Cute" a lot of my recipes as I can remember them come from all of them.Later in 1971 at the age of 17 I joined the Navy and thats where most of my culinary training came from, I was a cook on my ship the "USS KIRK DE-1087" Whats weird is that the building address on post and polk was 1087, It was a Destroyer Escort to the Carrier "Kitty Hawk", I cooked for a crew of about 300, Its funny, when I got out and cooked for friends and family I could'nt keep from making a lot of food.I now reside in Bakersfield, Ca. where I met my love of my life online, I lived in San Jose at the time with my younger brother Mark and his family, We met and fell in love so I moved here, I just have to say tis "The things we do for love" Ive been here for 5 years now and I hate this city with a passion, Its hell in the summer but winters here are ok, However THERE IS NOTHING HERE! and the drivers in this town do not know what a stop sign means, Anyone out there that has driven here knows what Im talkin about.I now am on disability due to a heart transplan in 2000, I do most of the cooking here, The GF's son in law loves my Pizza.My GF and her daughter has started a bead business making Magnetic Hematite necklaces, Thier really kool lookin' You can see them on the website Im building for them: <A HREF="http://www.thenortheastshop.com/">"The Northeast Shop.Com"</A> <HR WIDTH="100%"COLOR="#FF0000" SIZE="4"> <MARQUEE bgcolor="#FFFFFF" loop="-1" scrollamount="5" width="100%">Never Drive Faster Than Your Guardian Angel Can Fly!</MARQUEE> <HR WIDTH="100%"COLOR="#FF0000" SIZE="4">

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