Easter Eggs (l to r) 1. Artichoke leaves with vinegar; 2. Red onion skins with vinegar; 3. Yellow onion skins with vinegar; 4. Yellow onion skins, no vinegar;

A basket full of goodness!

We’ve had fun creating different natural looks for this year’s Easter baskets. Take a look at some of what T did, and let us know if you have questions! We’d love to hear from you!

The key to producing these beautiful, earthy colors in Easter eggs is using natural food dye.

Onion skins create magnificent colors on egg shell – and it’s easy and inexpensive to make.

Red Onions ready for peeling

1. Remove the skin from 3-5 medium to large onions, place in 2 quart saucepan with 3 C water. Place saucepan over medium high heat and bring skins to boil. Reduce heat, and cover. Boil for 20 minutes to a half hour, or until water is a deep coppery/brownish color.

Yellow onion skins

2. Strain the onion skins, reserving the liquid in a heat-safe bowl. Transfer liquid back to saucepan. Add 1 – 2 T white vinegar. Stir.

3. For hard-boiled eggs:

• Place raw eggs in the colored water. Bring to rapid boil. Remove from heat, cover and let stand 12 minutes.
• Carefully remove eggs from saucepan and drain on paper towels. The less you handle the eggs, the better because the moisture and oils from your hand can alter the dye on the egg.
• Reserve the onion skin liquid for more dying, or toss.

4. For blown-out eggs:

• Use this helpful (and funny!) video to learn how to blow out eggs. T actually (carefully!!) used a bicycle pump to blow our eggs out this year – works like a charm and saves the headache of blowing them out using your own lung capacity.
• Place the blown out eggs in the saucepan (a few at a time) and “baste” them with a tablespoon (because they float, this is a good way to get the color as even as possible.)
• When the eggs reach the desired color, place them carefully on paper towels to drain, being careful not to handle them too much.

Have you ever tossed artichoke water down the drain and thought “what an amazing green color!” No? Me neither.

Photo cred: Pinterest

To use Artichoke Leaves to dye Easter eggs, follow these steps:

1. Place fresh artichokes in a soup-sized (8 Qt) pot of boiling water. Bring back to boil, and cook artichokes until tender – about 35 minutes. If you plan on eating the artichokes when done, please use this helpful recipe – a yummy taste treat!

2. Remove the artichokes from the water – do NOT toss the water! Strain the artichoke residue from the reserved water and add 1/4 C white vinegar.

3. We discovered that the earthy green artichoke water needed a little help to create the deep green we were after, so we added several drops of green food coloring to the liquid.

4. Follow the instructions (above) for dying hard boiled, or blown out eggs.

Have fun creating some beautiful, natural eggs this Easter!