Growing up in Ramallah I always felt that Easter is one of the most fun times of the year, the spring, the Holy Week, the light parade, the cookies, eggs coloring, and everything around that time brought so much joy to my heart as a child.
This all inspired me to write my first children’s storybook Easter in Ramallah. In the story, I share all those fond memories with my special one, my son Faris and with the rest of the world.
So coloring eggs can be a fun activity for both kids and adults as we prepare for Easter. In Palestine, the fun goes further into Easter day where eggs are also offered during the exchanged visits between family and friends as part of celebrating Easter. So kids compete of whose egg is stronger by smashing each other’s eggs in what we call ta’esh in Arabic which translates to crack.
When I grew up my mother always used natural dye to color the eggs, and they always turned so beautiful.
So in addition to following my mother’s lead, I try to find coloring options that are less harmful to the environment and to our bodies, especially if you have kids. You really don’t want those harmful dye that are full of chemicals to get into the eggs that your kids will be eating. So, I highly encourage you to use natural dye, and as you can see from the photos the results are amazing.
Here I only used five different items from veggies and one spice, you can be creative and try other things as well following the same method.
You basically need fresh vegetables: Beets, fennel, onion skin (either yellow or red onions) red cabbage, and turmeric powder.
Start by cutting the vegetables into large sizes, then place each separately in a small pot and cover with water. Let it boil for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, boil eggs separately.
Strain vegetables and use water only, place each in a separate cup. Add 1 tablespoon of distilled vinegar to each cup, then place boiled eggs. For best results keep overnight.
The results are amazing and interesting, and sometimes you notice that the color can vary with the same vegetable.
For best results keep overnight in the fridge.
Easter Eggs – Natural Dye
Ingredients
- 1–2 small beets cut in large squares
- 1/2 a fennel cut in large squares
- 1/4 of a red cabbage cut in large squares
- two handfuls of onion skin (yellow or red onions)
- 1 tablespoon of turmeric powder
- water to boil vegetables
- 5 tablespoons of distilled vinegar
Instructions
- Start by cutting the vegetables into large sizes.
- Place them each in a small pot and cover with water.
- Let vegetables and turmeric powder boil for about 20 minutes.
- Strain vegetables and use water only, place each in a separate cup.
- Add 1 tablespoon of distilled vinegar to each cup.
- Place previously boiled eggs to each cup
Notes
For best results keep overnight in the fridge.
My son and I had so much fun following your recipe to color some eggs, it was a huge success.