This morning when I took Darcy out for a walk, I saw the Easter Bunny scurry through our neighbor’s lawn. I thought today would be a perfect day to dye eggs. I usually buy my eggs from a local farmer, but since they all have brown shells, I committed a sin and bought a box of white shelled organic eggs from the supermarket. I am hoping that the chickens were treated in a humane way before the eggs got into my egg carton.
I am very much against the use of artificial food dyes in food, so I sought out a way to dye eggs without using those little colored tablets that remind me of my childhood. After some research on the subject, I found some interesting ideas out there.
I went to work scouring my cupboards for anything that might change the color of a vinegar water solution, which would in turn dye the shells of my eggs. The things I came up with were turmeric powder, a mixture of Korean red pepper flakes and red pepper paste, blueberries, and pureed spinach. While allowing my eggs to cool after hard boiling them, I mixed 2 cups of water and 1 TBS white vinegar with the “coloring” of choice and brought them to a boil. I turned down the heat and simmered the mixture for about 15 minutes. I poured the solution into a coffee mug and allowed it to cool before adding the egg. I added one egg to each cup and left them there for about 20 minutes or so, turning them with a spoon every so often.
I am very much against the use of artificial food dyes in food, so I sought out a way to dye eggs without using those little colored tablets that remind me of my childhood. After some research on the subject, I found some interesting ideas out there.
I went to work scouring my cupboards for anything that might change the color of a vinegar water solution, which would in turn dye the shells of my eggs. The things I came up with were turmeric powder, a mixture of Korean red pepper flakes and red pepper paste, blueberries, and pureed spinach. While allowing my eggs to cool after hard boiling them, I mixed 2 cups of water and 1 TBS white vinegar with the “coloring” of choice and brought them to a boil. I turned down the heat and simmered the mixture for about 15 minutes. I poured the solution into a coffee mug and allowed it to cool before adding the egg. I added one egg to each cup and left them there for about 20 minutes or so, turning them with a spoon every so often.
Some of the colors worked better than others. The spinach solution turned a horrible shade of brownish green and resulted in a sad looking “Easter” egg which was nothing more than white with little bits of dried spinach stuck to the shell. The turmeric produced some lovely yellow colored eggs, while the blueberries turned the shells a nice shade of purplish blue. Finally the red pepper combo made for some light orange shells. Overall the blueberries and turmeric were the most successful.
This experiment was pretty fun although very time consuming. I would definitely try again next year, but hope to have a different variety of things in my cupboards to make the dying more successful!
Let's see. At 20 minutes per egg, how long would egg dying have taken in the Cassserly household in years past?
ReplyDeleteNeat idea. Wonder if tea leaves or coffee would have produced an interesting color. I think I saw Martha Stewart use onion skins once. You are a more patient person than I and I appreciate your efforts. Happy and Blessed Easter.
ReplyDeleteI did read during my research that coffee and tea work well as does red onion peels. I think I will try those next time.
ReplyDelete