Monday, September 22, 2008

Mealtime Magic: Natural Dyes

I know it's not Easter yet, but these natural dyes can be used for anything - be creative!

Place the eggs in a pan. Add water until the eggs are covered.
Add one tsp vinegar.
Add the dye material. Use more dye material for more eggs or for a more intense color.
Bring water to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
If you are pleased with the color, remove the eggs from the liquid.
If you want more intensely colored eggs, temporarily remove the eggs from the liquid. Strain the dye through a coffee filter (unless you want speckled eggs). Cover the eggs with the filtered dye and let them remain in the refrigerator overnight.

Dyes:
Lavender - grape juice or violet blossoms with lemon juice
Violet blue - violet blossoms
Blue - blueberries or grape juice or boiled red cabbage leaves
Green - boiled spinach leaves
Yellow Green - yellow delicious apple peels
Yellow - boiled orange peels or boiled lemon peels
Brown - coffee
Orange - boiled yellow onion skins
Pink - beets or cranberries or cranberry juice or raspberries
Red - boiled red onion skins

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