Mid-Atlantic Gardening: My 2 little Easter Eggs! , 1 by Gitagal

Gitagal wrote:
I haven't done Easter eggs for a couple of years, but here is what they look like when you are done.

The brown color comes from onion skins (that the eggs get cooked in) and all the "designs" are from your garden or anywhere else. leaves and small blooms or even just grass--and in the picture--one of them I wrapped a foil doily around the egg--then you wrap the whole (raw) egg up in sheer gauze and tie it all over with thread to keep everything on the egg.
Then you boil the eggs in the pre-cooked "mush" of onion skins. After boiling for about 10 minutes--you turn off the fire and let the eggs seep in the brown stuff for another 15 or so.

Then you fill your sink with cold water and put all the eggs in there to cool a bit and th=en start unraveling the thread off of each egg to reveal your one-of-a-kind egg. Rinse off all the vegetation and admire it.

The great thing is that even kids can do this--and they all are beyond beautiful! Make it a real family affair.

I think I have more detailed directions in my Documents.
This is an ages-old Latvian tradition doing eggs with onion skins. I really DO NOT like all the brighr dyes used!
I like the natural look.......:o)

Let me see if I caan transfer the link to my directions here: NOPE! So--Here is a c/p for you. Print it out and pass it on--this is an ancient craft......
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ONION SKIN EASTER EGGS (The LATVIAN way)
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(helpful guidelines) by Gita Veskimets

1. Collect the dry, brown, outer onion skins all year so you will have enough, or go raid your Grocery’s Onion bin. You will need a veggie bag totally full to do about a dozen eggs.

2. Place skins in a non-reactive (SS or Corning Ware), large pot and cover with enough water to submerge all the skins. Bring to a boil and keep cooking until it has gently boiled for a good 15-20 minutes. Add about ½ cup of regular vinegar and continue simmering for another 15-20 minutes. Turn off the fire and let sit while you are “doing” the eggs.

3. Before you start all this, go plant/weed/flower hunting in your yard. Weeds make the best designs. So do new Rose leaves, Forsythia blossoms, Pansies, Onion Grass, regular grass, Violas, Dandelion blooms and leaves, especially…etc. Keep in mind that all you will see transferred is the shape of the leaf/flower/grass. NOT the color.
Some blooms transfer a slight tinge of color onto the egg, like Pansies, Forsythias and
Violas. Clover works awesomely for outlines! Think SHAPE! Think OUTLINE!

4. You will be working with raw eggs. Have a small, shallow bowl-shaped dish to work in or a thick layer of paper towels. It will help to keep the egg from rolling around and cushion them if you should, accidentally, drop one. You will also need some small squares of gauze to wrap the decorated egg in and secure all the attached leaves/blooms, etc.
You can buy gauzy Cheesecloth (cut it up in 6x6 inch squares) or hit someone up that works in a Hospital for the 2x2”, folded gauze squares. Open these up—single layer to use. You will also need some old thread to wrap all the gauze in place (tightly) over the decorated egg—ALL over—so none of the applied vegetation will come loose. Just go round and round………rotating the egg in one hand as you wrap with the other.

5. Lay a square of gauze down first. Wet the raw egg. Anything you want to apply to it has to stick to the egg—fairly flat! Do one side at a time. Then flip the egg over and try to keep all the attached petals etc. on the egg. Finish the other side and then, carefully, wrap it up--all tight in the gauze. Wind the thread all over the egg to keep everything in place. You are now DONE with the hard part! Do all the rest the same, decorating with anything, and any way, that strikes your fancy. They will ALL turn out BEAUTIFUL! Guaranteed!!!

***Note: Keeping all the stuff, as you “designed it” on the egg is the hardest part. You can also try to lay the greenery on the opened gauze—and then place the egg on top and pull the corners and sides of the gauze over the egg. Even a handful of grass turns out beautiful! Or a string wrapped around the egg…Try foil doilies for some “pizzazz”!

6. Now place all the wrapped eggs in the warm onion skin pot, making sure they are all submerged. If you want solid brown eggs, just put them in the pot “as is”. Use a wooden, or plastic spoon to mix or to remove the eggs to keep them from being scratched.
Bring the water back to a boil VERY slowly (to warm the eggs), then lower the fire and let them gently bubble/boil for about 10-15 minutes. Turn off fire and let eggs sit in the broth for another 15 minutes or so to intensify the color.
**Note:You can reuse the onion water for one more batch. Nothing will go wrong if you do it for more than that, but the color will be less intense with each following batch. Still OK!

7. Using a slotted spoon/spatula, carefully remove the hot eggs to a large bowl, or a sink-full,
of cold water. Let them cool a bit. When OK to handle, start unwrapping each egg. To do this the easiest way—find the loose end of the thread and just keep pulling on it—allowing the egg to roll around, cushioned in the deep water. When all thread has been removed—carefully remove the gauze and vegetation from the egg and rinse it in the water. Set it in a dish, or the egg carton to dry, until all the eggs are done.
This WILL BE the time for “Ohhhs and Ahhhs!!”/b> as the beauty of each egg is revealed. Yes! It will!!!! You won’t believe the beauty of all the shades of chestnut brown colors and the beautiful imprints of the greens and flowers you have applied. Each one is one of a kind! AMAZING!!! Rub a bit of mineral oil on your hands (like hand lotion) and gently rub each egg to give it a bit of a shine. It really brings out the colors!

8. IF YOU PLAN TO ADMIRE THESE EGGS AND THEN EAT THEM—
Refrigerate them in due time and treat them as regular boiled eggs. If any brown has seeped through the shell, remember—it is all natural stuff and of NO concern. Boiled eggs can be displayed for about one day and then they do need to be refrigerated.

IF YOU PLAN TO PRESERVE THEM FOR POSTERITY—you can rub a little bit of
Mineral Oil on them (to give them a pleasant shine) and just leave them out in a bowl.
Over years-- the insides of the egg will just shrivel up. After years, when you pick one up,
There will be nothing but a slight rattle of the dried up contents inside. The shell will
remain intact and the colors will not fade. There should not be any bad odor unless the
shell is cracked.

*****Have fun!!!! This is a wonderful, family activity to indulge in. No matter how inexperienced the “designer” may be, every egg will still turn out beautiful!

Love, Gita