Natural Onion Skin Dye for Easter Eggs: My grandmother's traditional Russian recipe. The most beautiful, cheap, easy and natural egg dye for your Easter brunch. It gives an amazing range of various shades of red and brown.
0 Boil the onion skins in 1 liter (3 1/2 cups) water for 45-60 minutes. The longer you boil it, the darker will be the dye. Use a sieve to drain the dye and discard the onion skills. While the dye is boiling, start decorating your eggs.
1 Lace bands or ribbons: Wrap a lace strip across your egg. Fix it with a normal pin or a safety pin. Alternatively, knot the ends of the lace strip and cut the excess. In this case the pattern will be uneven at the spot of the knot. The finer the lace is, the less visible the pattern will be. Make sure the lace strip is attached very tightly to the egg. It's the most important thing to pay attention to, regardless of which pattern you choose. Pull the nylon stocking over one hand and place the egg over it. Invert the stocking over the egg, while trying to keep the lace strip at its place. Twist the stocking at a base and tightly tie a string around the base. Straighten the lace in case it has moved.
2 Twine or wool yarn: Wrap a twine or wool yarn strip 3-4 times around the egg. Knot the ends of the strip and cut the excess. Make sure the twine is attached very tightly to the egg. It's the most important thing to pay attention to, regardless of which pattern you choose. Pull the nylon stocking over one hand and place the egg over it. Invert the stocking over the egg, while trying to keep the twine strip at its place. Twist the stocking at a base and tightly tie a string around the base. Straighten the twine string in case it has moved.
3 Herbs and leaves: Wash an egg and place a herb leaf on it. Cilantro and parsley work the best as they attach the best. Pull the nylon stocking over one hand and place the egg over it. Invert the stocking over the egg, while trying not to fold or wrinkle the leaf. Twist the stocking at a base and tightly tie a string around the base. Very carefully move the leaf under the stocking to reposition it.
4 Physalis peels or more onion skins for marble effect: Wrap physalis peels or onion skins around an egg. Pull the nylon stocking over one hand and place the egg over it. Invert the stocking over the egg. Twist the stocking at a base and tightly tie a string around the base. Move the peels under the stocking to reposition them.
5 Rice or other grains: This is my favorite technique. It looks so lovely! Put 3-4 tablespoons of uncooked rice (or other grains) into a small bowl. Wash an egg and roll it in rice. Pull the nylon stocking over one hand and place the egg over it. Invert the stocking over the egg, while trying to keep the rice at its place. Twist the stocking at a base and tightly tie a string around the base. Move the rice grains under the stocking to reposition them.
6 Add the salt and boil the wrapped eggs in onion skin dye for 15-20 minutes for longer storage. You can use the dye more than once, but your next batches will be darker than your first one. After eggs are cooked, drain the dye and place eggs in cold water (I also add ice to it to make them cook faster). Wait until they are cool and cut away the stocking. Remove all the laces, rice, etc with a paper towel.
7 To make them shiny, coat an egg with olive oil and wipe away the excess with a paper towel. Use the oily paper towel to rub the rest of the eggs with. Enjoy!
