I asked the babushka who gave us those beautiful eggs how she did them. She said that she just took some random leaves, put them up against the eggs, and tied them up tightly in stockings. (I wonder if she used leaves from a flower arrangement, because I recognize fern and rose leaves?) Then she boiled them with onion skins. That's the standard way to get the reddish colored eggs that are so common for Easter in this part of the world. She didn't say that she added vinegar, but most people do. Apparently they turned out so dark because she started with brown eggs instead of white. It sounds so simple that maybe we'll try it this week.
I do have vague memories of doing something similar with Mom when I was little.
4 comments:
Thanks for the explanation. The eggs are so beautiful. I think it would be fun with beets for really rich color (and beets always remind me of you and Leetra!).
Love, Aunt Lindy
We dyed our eggs with onion skins and vinegar this year. I used a cup of vinegar for 2 dozen egg and the skins of one onion per egg. Since that was 24 onions I decided that next year I would save our onion skins during the Great Fast and freeze them. Then we won't waste the onions.
You have to boil the onion skins for 30 minutes and then cover your eggs with onion dye and vinegar. Boil them for 15 minutes and then let them soak overnight in the dye water in the frig. They turn from orange to reddish brown.
I know a Greek woman who makes the leaf prints on her eggs. They're stunning. She uses parsley leaves.
With love in Christ,
katherine
Thank you Phyllis!!!
When I was growing up my mom would save onion skins all winter to use at Easter. I have always loved that color! The stockings may be a bit of a problem... I decided a number of years ago that there wasn't a good reason to torture myself that way and so I used them to tie up my tomatoes. I think they're long gone. We'll figure something out.
And thanks Katherine for the specifics. You have a beautiful blog!
Hi Phyllis, my Serbian grandmother used to boil the eggs with vinegar to make them red. I don't know whether she put anything else in the water. We would have an egg fight, gentle obviously, at the table, then peel and eat them. The person whose egg stayed uncracked the longest was the winner!
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