Thursday, April 9, 2009

You’ll be dying to try these….

Get it dying…..ok that was bad.

Last night was egg coloring night. We usually dye our eggs closer to the weekend, but Saturday’s opening day for fishing season and my two will be up and out bright and early that morning on the pond fishing, so we colored them last night.

Evan still enjoys dippin’ eggs with me. Jesse has moved on. We asked him if he would like to participate but sadly our inquires were met with a rolling of the eyes and a muttering of “No thanks”. I think these kinds of family activities are now beneath him. Although he was busy on the phone making plans for the movies, he did come back a few times to crush an egg or two. Oh teenagers and all their angst.

Egg collage Evan


I always lean towards the earthy, natural side of things, so my eggs are no exception. I’ve been dying eggs this way for a few years now.

eggs with leaves

How did I make the lovely leaf impressions on my eggs you ask?
Let me tell you how easy it was.

All you need is some leaves (I used flat leafed parsley) and some old pantyhose or knee-highs. You don’t have to limit yourself to parsley leaves; any kind of leaf that will lay flat will work. There might have been a few out in the yard, but it was cold, damp and dark outside, so the parsley worked just fine for me. Here’s how simple it is to make these:

Cut the pantyhose or the knee-highs into 6-inch lengths (give or take, precise measurements really don’t matter).

Choose a nice flat leaf with a fairly interesting pattern.

Lay the leaf on the eggs and wrap the hose around the egg tightly.

eggs with leaves 2

Knot the panty hose on the opposite side of the egg from where you put the leaf. You can also kind of twist the hose into a knot. As long as it stays in place it will work.

Now place your egg into the dye until you get the desired color.

Take a pair of scissors and snip the egg where you knotted it and quickly peel the leaf away. At this point I gently blow on the spot where leaf was so the dye doesn’t pool back onto the white of the leaf pattern. Let air-dry.

I love my leafy eggs. I also love the eggs that my co-worker gave me from his neighbors chickens. Check these out:

egga natural 1

I know the gorgeous natural colors of these eggs can't be captured on a computer screen, but trust me are really beautiful. Nope, there not colored, these babies are SOOTC (Straight Out of the Chicken), lol. The photos don’t do them justice. The shades are so beautiful that I really don’t want to crack them and eat them! Makes me want my own chickens so I could always have blue and green eggs.

Lastly this is what happens when we let my husband play.
Yes those are eggs shells on his eyes.
Yes he looks like a deranged cookie monster.
Yes I married a dork (but he does make me laugh).

Cookie Monster eyes

7 comments:

Wendy said...

Dorks make the best kind of husbands!!

RecipeGirl said...

I've been such a bad mother this week... haven't died eggs yet with my little one! I actually have completely forgotten. Will have to do it on Saturday. LOVE the leafy eggs.

test it comm said...

Nicely decorated eggs!

Shari@Whisk: a food blog said...

Looks like a lot of fun! Can we expect some fish in the next post?

katie said...

I love the leaf patterns! how pretty!

krysta said...

how fun... i'm wondering what else i could use...

Doreen Frost said...

What beautiful eggs.

A Joyous Easter to you and yours!

Hugs,
D