Easter Eggs Au Naturel

I saw this great little poster floating around on the interwebs, and it reminded me of making Easter eggs with my Grandma Gwen. By the time that my sister and I were born, Grandma was out of the farming trade, and no longer raised chickens of her own. She did, however have a good sized kitchen garden. While we didn't have the luxury of farm fresh eggs to work with, let alone multicolored eggs, we had Grandma's depression-era knowledge base and a bountiful garden to work with to make our Easter eggs pretty, and we did.

The tricks that I remember Grandma employing were using boiled onion skins to get a rich orange/brown color, boiled beets to make a happy pink egg, and rubber bands wrapped around eggs in crazy ways to make stripes. Grandma was definitely about using what you already had!

Little did we know that there were scores of spice and veggie colorants available to us beyond our orange and pink standbys than ran the gamut from red to violet. Then again, Grandma had likely never heard of pomegranates or turmeric, so it's probably just as well that we were happy enough with what we had.

But in this age of everything available everywhere anytime, at least a few of these natural dye-producers are likely to be found in your fridge or pantry right now! So if you're too far away to buy my purty-purty, naturally rainbow colored eggs, try out a few of these non-artificial, non-scary, food-based colorants on your eggs this year. ;)

From Better Homes & Gardens' website-

*Bluish-Gray
Mix 1 cup frozen blueberries with 1 cup water, bring to room temperature, and remove blueberries.

*Blue
Cut 1/4 head of red cabbage into chunks and add to 4 cups boiling water. Stir in 2 Tbsp. vinegar. Let cool to room temperature and remove cabbage with a slotted spoon.

*Jade Green
Peel the skin from 6 red onions and simmer in 2 cups water for 15 minutes; strain. Add 3 tsp. white vinegar.

*Faint Green-Yellow
Peel the skin from 6 yellow apples. Simmer in 1-1/2 cups water for 20 minutes; strain. Add 2 tsp. white vinegar. Simmer 4 oz. chopped fennel tops in 1-1/2 cups of water for 20 minutes; strain. Add 2 tsp. white vinegar.

*Orange
Take the skin of 6 yellow onions and simmer in 2 cups water for 15 minutes; strain. Add 3 tsp. white vinegar.

*Faint Red-Orange
Stir 2 Tbsp. paprika into 1 cup boiling water; add 2 tsp. white vinegar.

*Yellow
Rich yellow: Simmer 4 oz. chopped carrot tops in 1-1/2 cups water for 15 minutes; strain. Add 2 tsp. white vinegar.

*Various shades of Yellow: Steep 4 bags of chamomile or green tea in 1 cup boiling water for 5 minutes.

*Mustard-yellow: Stir 2 Tbsp. turmeric into 1 cup boiling water; add 2 tsp. white vinegar.

*Pale yellow: Chop 4 oz. goldenrod and simmer in 2 cups water for 20 minutes; strain. Add 2 tsp. white vinegar.

*Faint yellow: Simmer the peels of 6 oranges in 1-1/2 cups water for 20 minutes; strain. Add 2 tsp. vinegar.

*Brown-Gold: Simmer 2 Tbsp. dill seed in 1 cup water for 15 minutes; strain. Add 2 tsp. white vinegar.

*Brown: Add 1 tablespoon vinegar to 1 cup strong coffee. (Other suggestions - boiled Walnut shells, black tea)

*Faint pink: Chop 4 oz. amaranth flowers and simmer in 2 cups water; strain. Add 2 tsp. white vinegar. Simmer the skins from 6 avocados in 1-1/2 cup water for 20 minutes; strain. Add 2 tsp. white vinegar. Mix 1 cup pickled beet juice and 1 tablespoon vinegar.

*Dark pink: Cut 1 medium beet into chunks and add to 4 cups boiling water. Stir in 2 Tbsp. vinegar and let cool to room temperature; remove beets. (Other suggestions - pomegranate juice)

*Lavender: Mix 1 cup grape juice and 1 tablespoon vinegar. (Other suggestions - Red Zinger tea (hibiscus tea))