Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs

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Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs/ By Arwen O'Reilly


	People have been coloring eggs to celebrate spring for literally thousands of years, starting with those cultured Persians. The practice has become ever more complicated as it spread around the world, with everything from stickers and tie-dye in the U.S. to marbling and elaborate wax drawing in parts of Europe and Russia. Crafty early Christians ensured that colored eggs are now mostly associated with Easter, but in Sweden they dye eggs to ring in the summer solstice. Decorated eggs are beautiful at any time of the year, and if you're not attached to the electric pastels of commercial dyes, you can make them with food and spices you probably have lying around the house. When I lived in New York, my friend Emma's mother used to make us a traditional German Easter brunch every year (traditional, that is, if Germans were vegan instead of being the regretles and proud carnivores that they are). Anna would decorate her light-filled apartment with flowers in defiance of the bare winter outside and lay the table with plates and plates of food. And while the final dishes were simmering, we'd make Easter Eggs. We knew to show up with the very first leaves and flowers of spring, as well as a patiently collected bag of onion skins. It always amazed me when the flowers and leaves appeared as reverse shadows on each shockingly orange egg. I don't live in New York anymore, but it has been a particularly rainy spring here in Northern California, and decorating eggs seemed the best way to combat the gloom. You don't have to use onion skins--there are a whole range of things you can use as natural dyes, as I'm sure you've experienced accidentally--but I love the process and subtle colors of natural dyes.

For Anna's eggs, you will need:

White eggs (I used six)
Flowers and leaves to decorate eggs
Pot of water
Dye (onion skins, turmeric, beets, asparagus, tea...)
1 T vinegar (to intensify the dye)
One pair old stockings (in a color that won't bleed)
String


	Step 1: Cut up your stockings into 4-5" sections. Tie off one end.


	Step 3: Choose your leaves or flowers carefully. Leaves with interesting and distinct shapes work best, and choose flowers that can be pressed flat. You're looking for two dimensional graphic interest here, since the specimens will be pressed tightly against the egg. Flatten them first if necessary, and then wrap around the egg. Keep in mind that stems can add interest, so think about making a spiral or doing something else fun with them. In planning your design, also keep in mind that the knots in the stocking will leave a swirling pattern in the dye.


	Step 2: Wash the eggs in mildly soapy water to clean off any oils or residue that might keep the dye from being absorbed. Dry them off.


	Step 5: Boil your chosen dye. Onion skins give you a surprisingly deep orange, turmeric a rich yellow, and there are a host of other dyes. I chose to work with beets, since I love the color.


	Step 4: Carefully place the egg in the stocking pouch. This is the hard part, as your carefully placed plant will invariably move around. Have patience, and you'll get better at intuiting the best way to hold the plant matter down against the egg as you place it. Tie off the other end of the stocking, making sure the stocking is stretched as tightly as possible around the egg to hold the leaf in place.


	Step 6: When the water is saturated, add the vinegar and then your eggs. Leave them in for as long as it takes to boil an egg, or longer if you would like the color to be deeper.


	Finish: Remove the eggs, cut off the stockings and leaves, rinse off, and voila! You can rub with vegetable oil for a nice finish. These can be eaten, although if you boiled them for 30 or 40 minutes, don't expect them to actually taste good. Enjoy, and happy spring...