Yellow Onion Skin Dye for Red Eggs

 

With thanks to the Williams Family!

Yellow Onion Skins Method 

Originally from: http://williamsfamilyadventure.blogspot.com/2011/04/blood-red-easter-eggs.html 

Gather lots of yellow onion skins. [If you don't have enough, buy a sack of onions and take all the skins off! That should be enough.] 

On Holy Thursday, or a few days before Pascha stuff them into a pot and pour  2 Liters of water over them, plus 4 TBSP of vinegar.  [Don't overdo the vinegar! It will break down the egg shell and make them look bad. Learned the hard way!]

It is important for all the onion skins to be submerged, so squish down the onion skins with a weighted plate. Bring this to a boil and then simmer for about a half hour. 

Take the skins out. 

Place hard boiled eggs in the simmering dye for about 10 minutes. [Brown eggs make a deeper red. If you want to boil the eggs while you dye, you can do that too. It does seem like they take the dye better if it is simmering.] 

When boiling the eggs, don't pile them up or let the water boil too rapidly or you will risk cracking the eggs. I usually boil a single layer (12 or so) on a low simmer for 10 minutes, repeating until I have enough.

Someone told me to polish them with olive oil to make them pretty and shiny, and I like to do that.