My ds is sensitive to food dye so this year we are attempting to dye our eggs "naturally". I have grape juice for purple, tumeric for yellow, red onion peel for red, tea bags for brownish-red, and spinach for green. I am wondering, though, whether or not these "natural" dyes will add nasty flavors to the eggs. Anyone know???

By Kate on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 05:18 pm:

Interesting, Stacy! I've never known anyone who ATE the Easter eggs, LOL! Occasionally I'll use a few for egg salad sandwiches, but not often. You could always waste a carton of eggs just making them look pretty, and use regular non dyed ones for eating purposes. I have no idea about the natural dyes transferring their tastes. I wouldn't THINK so, but I can't say for sure.

By Tunnia on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 06:33 pm:

Yes, we eat the eggs. I didn't know that other people didn't eat them! LOL My ds is quite fond of hard boiled eggs and he eats the bulk of them, that's why we are going with natural dyes this year instead of regular food coloring or a dye kit. I usually make some of the eggs into deviled eggs or egg salad, but the bulk are peeled and eaten by my children.

By Reds9298 on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 07:32 pm:

We always ate them growing up, too!

By Nicki on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 07:55 pm:

Same here, I remember my mom sending them in my lunch box the week after Easter!

By Annie2 on Friday, April 14, 2006 - 08:35 pm:

I would like to eat them but my kids handle them constantly and they get cracked.

Let us know how the natural dyes work. Beet juice would be a nice color, too.

By Vicki on Sunday, April 16, 2006 - 11:37 am:

My MIL makes onion skin eggs and yes, the eggs do get a slight onion taste, so I do know the flavor can transfer to the eggs. Likely a little late now though. LOL

By Colette on Sunday, April 16, 2006 - 12:13 pm:

It's to late for this but I thought I'd post it for next year.

To make your own natural dyes, boil common ingredients in water with a tablespoon of vinegar until desired shade is reached. Strain to remove solids.
For Yellow, use:
Yellow onion skins, turmeric
Orange:
Same as yellow, with added beet juice
Pink:
Cranberry juice concentrate
Blue:
Canned blueberries, red cabbage, grape juice concentrate
Brown:
Strong brewed coffee or tea
Red:
Beets, paprika
Green:
Spinach and/or kale

By Karen~moderator on Sunday, April 16, 2006 - 07:04 pm:

Thanks for posting that, Colette.

By Tunnia on Monday, April 17, 2006 - 08:16 am:

We used the natural dyes and didn't notice any unusual flavors when we ate some of the eggs yesterday. I even took a batch of deviled eggs over to my Mom and Dad's last night and no one complained. So I guess they turned out good on the flavor issue. On the down side, I thought the eggs, with the exception of the grape juice ones (they were a very nice dark purple), were ugly. The colors weren't bright and cheery, the shades of the colors were not pretty and the eggs simply looked dingy. What surprised us all is how the pink/mauve colored dye we made from the red onion turned the eggs a yellowish-green color rather than a pink or red. Oh and we all agreed that the tumeric dye was really stinky! LOL

By Conni on Monday, April 17, 2006 - 10:57 am:

My yellow lab was eating them yesterday!!! *eyes rolling* I had to chase her down and put her in the house - funny the older dogs didnt care a thing about them and of course left them alone. lol

My yellow lab is such a ding a ling sometimes!