Let's get messy and dye eggs. But forget the coloring that comes packaged. You can use many kinds of food to dye Easter eggs, from onion skins or beets to red cabbage leaves, black tea and red wine.
I also love to use spices -- turmeric, curry and cumin, in particular -- and frozen or canned fruit (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries) for intense colors.
Keep in mind that natural dyes take longer to work and their color may be lighter than the instant colors that come in a box.
There are two methods of dyeing eggs. When you use packaged colors, hard-cooked eggs are dipped into the prepared dye.
But when you dye eggs with foods (whether scraps or liquid), you will need to cook the eggs in the dye as it brews. The exception is when using canned fruit, then start with a cooked egg and drop it in the mixture. Also, if using beverages to dye your eggs, no need to water down the liquid.
For a sheen on the eggs, rub them with vegetable oil.
Natural dyes for eggs
You will need a significant amount of food scraps to create many of the dyes. For spices, use 2 tablespoons or more per 4 to 6 cups of water. For solid food, use 4 cups or more of chopped up ingredients (beets, red cabbage, onion skins and the like).
