Hi there!
It is a little a bit warmer outside, the easter is approaching, and for me, this is a time that symbolizes hope and faith in life. Decorating Easter eggs makes this time of the year even more exciting and is a part of the tradition, and our cultural heritage.
This time of the year we more aware of the importance of food. Many people think that Easter is all about food, with some of them saying » Home is wherever I’m with food«. For a lot of people, this is an opportunity to go visit their families and siblings (because they do not like preparing their own easter breakfast). And as I’ve heard so many times, they will again complain about overeating and some will even after land in the ER in the hospital, due to eating too many eggs and meat.
Food that is on the table at this time, is not just a means to satisfy our nutritional needs. Meat, eggs, horseradish, bread, and pastries, carry with them an important symbolism in the Catholic faith.
But this time I want to focus on coloring Easter eggs, which can be a real creative challenge.
For most of us (because we are low on time or maybe just on power-saving mode), it is probably easier to just buy packed colors that can be obtained in all the supermarkets. With various stickers or colors, we can then further decorate and enliven the Easter eggs.
But to be a little more original this year, I decided to paint the eggs in a completely natural way.
First I painted the easter eggs with red onion peels.
About a month before Easter, I started collecting onion peels. The more red onion peels there will be, the darker the egg (“Pirhi” in Slovenia) will become. How dark you paint them is up to you.
For decoration, I use spring grass, leaves, and flowers of daisies. I chose only the most branched as possible plant decoration because this made the pattern on the egg more beautiful.
SO LET´S START
To paint the eggs I used a larger pot, in which I put the red onion peels. Then I poured in the water. Be careful! You must submerge all onion peels in water.
Then I added a few pinches of salt and waited for them to boil, set aside, and allow to cool. Boiled onion peels will give the eggs a more pronounced dark red color.
In the meantime, I placed the selected grass or flower on the raw egg, so that the top of the grass or flower is facing the egg. I stretched a piece of nylon socks over the egg and the leaves, carefully hugging it together. Lift the egg and, on the other hand, squeeze the nylon sock together and tie it well with twine. It is as simple as tying candies.
Then I carefully placed the eggs in the already prepared water with the onion peels. When the water boils, cook the eggs over medium fire/intensity for 10 minutes.
I carefully took the eggs out of the water and waited for them to cool a bit. Then I cut the nylon socks and removed the plant from the shell with my fingers.
I think I did a good job but still, next time I can do better.
COFFEE
My favorite egg coloring is with coffee. I love coffee. For me, Coffee is the most important meal of the day. The benefits of drinking coffee wake me up, and I get to use my favorite mug!
Enough about the favorite drink of the civilized world, and let’s go back to work.
I have put as much coffee powder into the cold water as if I were making a strong Turkish coffee. Then I stirred and added the eggs, heated everything very slowly, and cooked the eggs on a minimum flame. Chicken and quail eggs turn a very nice brown this way.
TURMERIC
The recipe for coloring with turmeric is the same as for coloring with coffee. Chicken eggs, especially quail, turn a very nice yellow color.
Easter eggs are painted, but now all that is missing is a “potratna potica” (cake with walnuts and curd cheese) and, of course, an Easter bunny.
Remember: Easter egg hunts are proof that children can find things when they really want to. And do not forget to follow the Easter bunny, as he has all the chocolate.