Spring's here already, with fresh flowers in bloom, and the temperatures slowly rising up. Of course, along with spring comes one of the best holidays of the year: Easter. Time for a little treasure hunt.
While it might be easier to succumb to time-pressures and just buy a ready-made egg colouring kit, this year try a little something new. Instead of colouring your eggs with those in-edible, possibly toxic paints, try using the following recipe(s) to make some homemade colours. !
Pick the colours you would like to use for your eggs. To create the colours of the rainbow, use the following ingredients…
Violet: Grape juice or skin of red onions - 2 cups
Indigo: Red cabbage leaves with vinegar - 2 cups
Blue: Red cabbage leaves (chopped) without vinegar
Green: Spinach leaves chopped - 2 cups
Yellow: Chopped turmeric root - 2 cups
Orange: Paprika (dried chili powder) - 5 tablespoons
Red: Chopped beetroot - 2 cups
Now follow the recipe to create a colourful basket.
1. Place your eggs in a pot of water, and let them boil. Turn heat off and cover for 15 minutes.
2.Place eggs in cold water to cool.
3. Place whatever ingredient you are choosing to work with (about two cups) in the saucepan, add water in the pan to a three centimetre level and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce the heat and simmer until the colour you want has been achieved.
5. Strain the colour liquid, and add three teaspoons of vinegar to each cup of the strained liquid to help make the colour fix well(vinegar is a great colour fixing agent).
6. Use cotton or soft cloth to stain the eggs, just as you would with regular dyes. For best results, use vegetable oil after dyeing for a glossy shine.
And hey, if you really want to go all-out, use woven baskets to keep your eggs on display or to collect them during your treasure hunt. Happy hunting!
