Monday, March 15, 2010

Natural Dyed Easter Eggs




Here at StoneGable, I continue an Easter tradition that spans back many generations. I have vivid memories, as a little girl, dying onion skin eggs. These special eggs, dyed with papery onion skin, were prized above all the pretty pastel and sherbert-colored eggs. They were tradition.  My grandmother, Nani, learned from her mother. It was the way in the old country.

This proceedure is so easy and  even more satisfying to do. A basket of these almost magical eggs are a real treasure! Deep oranges, warm browns, soft terracotta. Not your typical Easter colors. But once you see them you will understand!

I hope you will make these beautiful, earthy harbingers of Easter and start your own tradition...



Things You Need To Make Onion Skin Dyed Eggs:
*The pappery skin from yellow onions. To dye 1 dozen I used the skin from about 3 lbs. onions.
*1 dozen large white eggs
*Large pot
*Cold water to just cover the eggs

Proceedure To Make Onion Skin Dyed Eggs:
Rub or peel the outer papery skin off of onions. 

Put onion skins in a large pot. Add 1 dozen clean large eggs and enough water to just cover them. Gently swirl the onion skins in the water so they envelope the eggs.
Put the pot on the stove and cook uncovered on medium low heat until water comes to a steady boil.  Ocassionally stir onion skins around eggs.
When water boils, turn off heat and put lid on pot.  Let pot sit for 17 minutes.
When time is up, remove eggs and onion skin to a bowl with a slotted spoon and put in the refrigerator. Arrange onion skin around eggs. This will give them a more pronounced mottled look. Eggs can sit awhile. I usually let them sit in the onion skins for about 1 hour.






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Remove eggs from bowl and rinse. If there is any dried onion skin on them scrape it off. 
I keep the onion water and let it cool. If I want a couple of darker eggs, I put eggs in the onion water in the refrigerator for an hour. Remove eggs and rinse. Discard onion skins and water.
Keep refrigerated until ready to eat.











I hope you enjoy this beautiful and natural way to dye eggs.


35 comments:

  1. These are beautiful! My youngest and I will be doing eggs this way for Easter instead of those nasty tablet things! I just tweeted a link for other moms!

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  2. Such pretty eggs! Thanks for sharing the technique.

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  3. They look so nice - I'd never even heard of onion dying!

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  4. These are beautiful. Thanks for sharing your tradition!
    Robin

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  5. Yvonne, I have never heard of dying eggs with onion skins, that is fantastic. They look fabulous. I am tucking that one in my memory bank. BTY thanks for visiting me and your sweet comments on my black cabinet redo. Blessings always, Marla

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  6. Yvonne, I have done this with my Girl Scouts and my own kids for years. We've actually tried several vegetables. Beets and onion skins make the most beautiful eggs
    xoxo Pattie

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  7. Yes, I knew about this, but haven't done it....in fact I posted last week about several natural veggie alternatives to dye......check it out. I love your blog!

    Suzanne

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  8. I too have wonderful memories of dying eggs with my mother and brothers and sisters. We used to poke two holes, one on top and one on bottom and blow the yolk and egg out...we didn't like hard-boiled eggs! Yours are beautiful. Joni

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  9. I made Easter eggs this way last year. It is the way of the old country. My husband's family is Armenian and this is how they did it. It was very fun, and you are right, the colors are so beautiful. Pastel is an American thing!

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  10. Thank you for visiting my blog:) I love your eggs, so much prettier than boxed dye. My ex-husbands grandmother dyed her eggs this way also (Russian Armenian). I'm going to add myself as a follower and explore the rest of your blog:)

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  11. Yvonne Dear, Yes, I have vivid memories of Nani and you as a beautiful little girl....and us doing these eggs. I am so happy you have kept these beautiful times and memories alive for us and so many others. Mother

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  12. I love this technique, they are simply gorgeous!

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  13. Whoa!!! These are gorgeous!!! Unbelievable! I wish my husband and I liked onions...my heart sank a little bit when I read 2 lbs of onions. I wonder how many you could make with 1 onion...?

    Great job!

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  14. I love these. I always have onions around.

    Your blog is wonderful. I put your button on my blog. I now follow your blog also. Thanks for such a great blog.

    Have a blessed day.

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  15. The eggs are so beautiful, forget those pinks and blues. These speak of nature, the way it should be. LOVE, love, love the post. I'm off to get onions and eggs! Thanks for sharing!

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  16. listen here - you are the sweetest thing! your comment thrilled my heart to no end!!! seriously. thank you so much for your sweet words.
    yes! i will take pics of them drawing & frame them.
    now, let's talk about your blog & this post! i have never heard of this! will have to try. as i am typing i have robin blue, cream, & bark brown paint dried on my fingers from painting eggs! lol.

    look at your pretty table settings! i love tablesettings. i don't have a lot of dishes, but trust me when i say - i make the most of what i have!
    i can't wait to come back for more visits!
    i'm a follower now too! how could i resist your lovely blog & your kindness!!!
    have a beautiful day!
    kellie

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  17. What beautiful eggs! I had never even heard of using onion skins...amazing!...Debbie

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  18. Wow...how pretty those eggs are! I've never heard of this before...so old school, love that! Thanks for stopping by Finding Fabulous the other day!

    Jane @ Finding Fabulous

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  19. Hi Yvonne, finally getting round to returning your visit to my blog and thanking you for the comment on my silhouette mugs.
    I love dyed Easter eggs - and had forgotten the how-to. Thanks for reminding me.

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  20. Hi Yvonne...

    Ohhh...this is an awesome post, my friend! I have never heard of onion skin dyed eggs! You are absolutely right about the great color...I love it! Thank you for sharing this great tip with us!

    Warmest wishes,
    Chari @Happy To Design

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  21. How pretty..so soft and natural...
    Yvonne, I missed you at my party. Come stop by for some soda bread..:)

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  22. Hi...thanks for coming by...
    I had a look at your older posts..and I love the cherry blossom wreath! it's perfectly beautiful! and your white tea with pink roses photo...is soooo yummy!
    hope you'll come again...I'll follow you now darling!

    ciao bella
    carmelina

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  23. WOW! Who would have thought? Love the soft terra-cotta color.

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  24. My grandmother used to dye eggs for us this way. Don't think we appreciated the beautiful colors, though. Little kids are like that. Thanks for sharing. ♥♪

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  25. Thanks so much for the tutorial. I am going to dye some eggs. I'm also saving the skins from red onions to see how that might work as well.

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  26. Thank you for sharing this beautiful tutorial, my dear mother-in-law always did her Easter eggs with onion skins and I had planned on doing a tutorial about it. You have included such specific directions that it will make my efforts much easier this year. I plan to refer my readers to your tutorial.

    Have a God Filled Day
    Shirley

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  27. I am just seeing this, I don't know how I missed it! I really want to try this now, it sounds wonderful! Thanks for telling us the procedure! XO, Pinky

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  28. OMGoodness! Yvonne! How I miss you! Are you coming back, or just visiting a bit? Which ever it is, it was very exciting to see you bring this post back.

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  29. Yvonne!! You're baaaack!!! Yay!!!! And I am so honored that you linked up your lovely eggs to cowgirl up. Thank you and welcome home!

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  30. Thank you for posting this!! My grandmother did this every year at Easter. She brought it over from Poland and I loved making these with her. This post brought back special memories. Thank you.

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  31. Oh this brings back memories of dying eggs with my grandmother. I'm going to bring this tradition back to my family and hopefully pass it on.

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  32. I'm just about to start coloring eggs and my onion skins are ready (collecting them for a few weeks)I'm fron Serbia and it's tradition in our family. So glad to see other people like it.
    Happy Easter!

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  33. I am going to do this over the weekend. I love this and not such a mess. Thanks for the post.

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