- Hard Boiled Eggs, room temperature, or white and brown eggs, preferably not super-fresh
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar per cup of strained dye liquid
- Purple Cabbage (makes blue on white eggs, green on brown eggs)
- Red Onion Skins (makes lavender or red)
- Yellow Onion Skins (makes orange on white eggs, rusty red on brown eggs)
- Ground Turmeric (makes yellow)
- Red Zinger Tea Bags (makes lavender)
- Beets (makes pink on white eggs, maroon on brown eggs)
- Oil (canola or olive)
- Clean the eggs so there are no particles sticking to their shells.
To prepare the colored dye, first chop the cabbage, chip or peel away the dry skins from the onions, or shred the beets. In a stainless steel saucepan, boil enough water to generously cover the number of eggs you'll be dyeing. Add the dye matter and bring to a boil, turn heat down to low and simmer, covered, for 15-30 minutes. The dye is ready when it reaches a hue a few shades darker than you want for your egg. Examine a sample in a white dish. Remove from the heat and it let cool to room temperature (I put the pot on my fire escape and it cooled off in about 20 minutes).
Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into another stainless saucepan, or into a bowl then back into the original pan if that's all you have for dying, otherwise use a flat bottom vessel like a large jar, Dutch oven, etc. Stir in the vinegar at the rate of 1 tablespoon per cup of strained liquid. Arrange the room-temperature eggs in the vessel in one layer and carefully pour the cooled dye over them.
Place the dye bath in the refrigerator until the desired color is reached. Carefully dry the egg then massage in a little oil to each, then polish with a paper towel. Store the eggs in the refrigerator until it is time to eat (or hide.)
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