By Lauren Scott, Arizona Farm Bureau Intern
Every year around Easter eggs begin to fly off the shelves. After the eggs get home, they get hard-boiled, and then dyed many different colors, and many different patterns! Most of us have dyed eggs before, but do you know where the tradition comes from? There are many different beginnings to dying eggs in the spring. In Christian culture, Easter eggs can represent the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and sometimes in Catholic culture they are dyed red to represent the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross.
There is also some evidence that Easter eggs and Easter are named after the goddess Eostre. Eostre is the pagan goddess whose name is where the word Easter is derived.
Now that you know a little history about dyed eggs, it’s time to learn some fun techniques that will make dying eggs a spring tradition in your home!
Before you dye your eggs, hard-boil them and let them cool.
Classic Egg Dying – Quick and easy, great if you’re low on time!
What you will need: An egg dying kit from the store, eggs, water or vinegar, bowls
What to do: Follow the directions on the kit!
Dye with Kool-Aid – Cheap, and no vinegar required
What you will need: Whatever colors (flavors) of Kool-Aid you want, water, eggs, spoons, and bowls
What to do: Add two packets of the same flavor of Kool-Aid into a bowl, add two tablespoons of water to the powder and mix until it is dissolved, repeat these steps with the other colors you have chosen, run tap water over your hard boiled eggs, use a spoon to pour your desired colors over the eggs, try multiple colors on one egg for a water colored look!
Naturally Dyed Eggs – You might have all this stuff in your kitchen already!
What you will need: Red onion skin, red or purple cabbage, grape juice, turmeric, coffee, black tea bags, vinegar, eggs, bowls
What to do:
- For red onion skin eggs: Add lots of skins and RAW EGGS to a pot, fill pot with enough water to cover the eggs, bring to a boil and hard boil your eggs, when the eggs are done, let the mixture cool a bit then carefully transfer the eggs and dye to a heat safe bowl, and refrigerate overnight.
- For red or purple cabbage eggs: Add a few handfuls of cabbage and RAW EGGS to a pot, fill pot with enough water to cover the eggs, bring to a boil and hard boil your eggs, when the eggs are done, let the mixture cool a bit then carefully transfer the eggs and dye to a heat safe bowl, refrigerate overnight.
- For grape juice eggs: Place hard boiled eggs in a bowl, fill the bowl with enough grape juice to cover the eggs, let sit in refrigerator until they are the desired color.
- For turmeric eggs: Add RAW EGGS to a pot, fill pot with enough water to cover the eggs, add as much turmeric as you’d like to color the water, bring to a boil and hard boil your eggs, when the eggs are done, let the mixture cool a bit then carefully transfer the eggs and dye into a heat safe bowl and refrigerate until they are the desired color.
- For coffee eggs: Place hard boiled eggs in a bowl, in a separate bowl mix together one cup of hot coffee and 1/8 a cup of white vinegar, pour coffee mixture over eggs and place in refrigerator until they are your desired color.
- For tea eggs: Place hard boiled eggs in a bowl, in a separate bowl mix together one cup of hot water and three black tea bags, let the tea steep until it is very dark, then add 1/8 cup of white vinegar, pour tea mixture over the eggs and place in refrigerator until they are your desired color.
Caution: Eggs will probably take on the flavor of their dye component.
Rice dyed eggs:
What you will need: Long grain rice, food coloring, Tupperware bowls with lids, eggs
What to do: Put ¼ cup of rice in multiple different bowls (use different bowls for all the different colors you want), add quite a few drops of the food coloring of your choice to each different bowl, close the lids and shake the food coloring and rice until the rice is saturated with color (you might have to add more food coloring to get a good saturation), open the lids on the bowls, place a hard-boiled egg in each one and gently shake until the egg is coated in color, take the egg out when it is the color you desire and let it dry.
Shaving cream dyed eggs:
What you will need: White shaving cream, food coloring, cookie sheet, toothpicks, paper plates, eggs
What to do: Evenly coat a cookie sheet with shaving cream, drop the food coloring colors of your choice across the top of the shaving cream, swirl the colors together with a toothpick, roll the hard boiled eggs in the shaving cream, place them on a paper plate