AmericanMum

For years, I’ve wanted to dye our Easter (or spring equinox, or whatever it is we’re actually celebrating these days) eggs from natural colors instead of buying the little Paas kit at the supermarket. What could be a better hands-on science activity for the kids than to watch veggies and other foods turn into food coloring? So, for the last two days I’ve been busy boiling various substances in the kitchen. A good $20 of beets, red cabbage, turmeric, coffee and onion skins turned the inside of our home into a smelly steam plant, the odor of which is still not completely gone.

The other problem, besides the intensive work of approximately 10 hours, was that almost every step required boiling something, and being that my children are young it was hard to involve them for much of the project. What looked so fun on the cover of Martha Stewart several years back resulted in my turning into a lunatic. “Kids, I’m busy. Can’t be helped. I’m coloring eggs. For you.” We did manage to have fun when it was time to soak the eggs - 30 minutes to an hour for each egg, versus 2 minutes in the Paas dye, but no matter that now - and it was really cool to watch how the simple act of boiling the egg directly in the dye changed the color dramatically.

And the results. The colors are so amazing - earthy, gorgeous tones more like the colors I use to decorate my home than the unnatural colors from the store-bought dye. Will I do it again next year? I just may love the colors enough to forget about the actual experience of it the following spring.