A FAMILY EVENT OF EASTER-DYING EASTER EGGS

8 ways to dye Easter eggs naturally Published March 23, 2016.  

Looking to keep your table festive this Easter Sunday but trying to avoid artificial colors and dyes into your food? For many families, dying eggs usually means boiling a dozen eggs, purchasing a few packets of PAAS egg dye and rounding up whatever stickers are in the house to slap on the colorful shells. But this year, with more and more food companies forgoing artificial dyes and ingredients in popular foods, maybe you want to follow suit. For over a century the FDA has been cracking down on artificial dyes . In 1950, many children became ill after eating Halloween candy containing Orange No. 1. The FDA found later the color was toxic. In 1976, the agency banned Red No. 2 because it was suspected to be carcinogenic. While food quality testing has come a long way, if you'd rather not take the risk, here are 8 suggestions for keeping your eggs au naturale this year. 1.  Prepping  When you finish hard boiling your eggs, use the hot water as a base for your dyes. Pour the hot water into medium-sized bowls, one for every color. For each 'cup' of dye, make sure to add 1/8 'cup' of distilled white vinegar to each color once the water has cooled slightly. This will ensure the color does not fade once it is on the egg. Remember, just because the dyes are natural does not mean they won't stain your clothes. Wear latex gloves and old clothes and cover the surfaces where you are working with newspapers. 2.  Blue  There are several ways to make the color blue. You can add a 'cup' of blueberries into your bowl of hot water, let them sit for 10 minutes and then strain. Another method for making blue is to use one red cabbage, chopped into two-inch chunks, and leave the cabbage in the water until the water has fully cooled. Then strain. 3.  Green  For a lighter green, add two tablespoons of green tea powder to your water/vinegar solution. For a deeper color green, use the skins from six red onions. Let them simmer in the solution for 15 minutes and then strain. 4.  Yellow  This cheery color is probably the strongest of all natural dyes. It is made by mixing three tablespoons of dried turmeric to your water/vinegar solution. The golden spice is a key ingredient in Indian curries and will leave a stain on nearly everything it touches. If the fear of having yellow fingers for days is too strong, you can always make yellow by simmering the peels of six oranges in your water/vinegar solution for 20 minutes. 5.  Red/pink  The whole spectrum from red to pink depends on the amount of time an egg is left to soak. So, when making red dye, remember you also have pink at your fingertips. Red can be made from adding a can of sliced beets to two 'cup's of boiling water with a teaspoon of vinegar. Let simmer for 10 minutes then strain the beets. The color can also be made from cranberries, although a bag of fresh cranberries has to be soaked in the water/vinegar solution overnight. 6.  Orange  The color orange is made from adding a tablespoon of paprika powder to your solution. Be careful, even the smallest whiff of paprika packs a lot of heat. If you are working with very young children, skip the spicy coloring and use two tablespoons of annatto seeds instead. Let them simmer for 10 minutes before straining the seeds. 7.  Gold  For making a bronze/gold dye, simmer two tablespoons of dill seeds in one 'cup' of water for 15 minutes. Then strain the seeds and add a tablespoon of white vinegar. 8.  Purple  Purple is made from boiling a 'cup' of     grape juice and adding in a tablespoon of vinegar as the liquid cools.