Easter is an important holiday to people all over the world. It has religious roots and many traditions. As such, it has many food traditions too. Here in the US this includes special foods like lamb with mint jelly, candied ham, deviled eggs, colored eggs, and all sorts of egg or bunny shaped treats and candies. Easter also holds other traditions like dying eggs, rolling them, and searching for them. I have quite fond childhood memories of dying Easter eggs with my Auntie every year. We did all sorts of color combinations, and color applying techniques. I was always so proud of my ‘art’, and a big egg hunt would follow.Â
While we are all familiar with these egg traditions, where exactly did they get started? Well, that takes us all the way back to about 2,500 years ago when Persians would decorate eggs for their New Year. Next stop, the Medieval period when people would give eggs as gifts to their landlords for holidays, especially Good Friday. During the 16th and 17th centuries the coloring was added to the eggs. Often red, to signify joy or the blood of Christ. Fast Forward to the 19th century. While dying eggs are still associated with Easter, they start to become something that’s given to children, rather than members of the church or landlords. This also opens up a variety of colors and designs. During this time, in the Victorian era in particular, holidays started to shift to more family friendly activities with an emphasis of children participating in holiday traditions. Soon after, not only were kids dying eggs they were rolling them and hunting them too. Not long after came the first official US egg roll on the White House Lawn in 1876, a tradition that has been held since. The rolling, to many, represents the rolling away of the tomb of Christ after He rose. Now into the 20th century, the working class began to have some disposable income to celebrate such holidays more lavishly. This includes the big Easter Sunday dinner we all think of, as well as egg dying, hunting, and rolling. It also encompasses the tradition of Easter baskets filled with goodies for the kiddos.
Now that we have the history of egg dying under our belts, let’s talk about egg dyes. Traditional egg dyes are full of chemicals and additives, and can penetrate the shell since egg shells are so porous. The good news is that there are natural dyes that you can purchase, or easily make yourself from everyday produce. If you follow SCD strictly, I would recommend using natural dyes, as anything artificial isn’t allowed.Â
Using everyday ingredients, I will walk you through how to make yellow, orange, pink, light blue, and dark blue Easter eggs. This is an easy and fun process, especially for kids. To start you will need a quart of water and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar in a pot per color. Bring this to a boil, and add your coloring ingredient. Lower the temperature to a simmer for 30 minutes to ensure the color saturation is infused. Strain the dye, then add your eggs. Allow to sit for at least 30 minutes, more if you want a darker color, and that’s it! Â
So, what produce makes what colors? You might be surprised by some of these! Let’s start with yellow. For a deep yellow color use 3 tablespoons of ground turmeric to your simmering water for 30 minutes. Next up, orange. For this color use 3-4 cups of yellow onion skins. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes, and strain before adding eggs. If you are not satisfied with the saturation of the orange, place the eggs back into the colored liquid and refrigerate overnight to darken. On to pink coloring. For this you will want to simmer 2-3 cups of beets and strain before adding eggs. Lastly, we have blues; light and dark. For light blue, add 3 cups of purple cabbage to your simmering water for 30 minutes. Strain and add eggs. Lastly, we have dark blue. For the dark blue, use 4 cups of blueberries. Add to simmering water for 30 minutes and strain. These natural colors are easy to make, and will create memories with your kids and loved ones to last a lifetime! Happy decorating!
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