News Taffy

Today is Good Friday with Easter just a couple of days away. Have you been enjoying all the activities with your kids to celebrate the week? We've been going through our Resurrection Eggs to learn the story of that first Passion week and read through the story of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection in their Jesus Storybook Bible. Sunday morning, we'll have Empty Tomb rolls for breakfast that I shared last year with you (http://www.jonesboro.com/newstaffy/item/4752/Little+Hands+are+Ready+for+Easter+with+Empty+Tomb+Rolls) . Today, we're dyeing eggs. I decided this year to use natural dye from foods rather than food coloring. My children love boiled eggs and will eat the entire batch, and because I try to avoid feeding them artificial food dyes (google and you'll know why) I wanted to try this.

I attempted to dye some this week, but did not follow instructions well and no matter what, all the eggs came out looking like some shade of brown. We normally buy brown eggs instead of the white we used, so my children were particularly unimpressed. Today, I decided to actually read the articles and follow instructions. :) This week has been insane, so unfortunately, I was out of several things that I thought we had but refused to run to the store again. I wanted to try frozen blueberries for blue eggs and tumeric powder for yellow.

I baked the eggs first in a muffin tin. Thank you, Pinterest, for making life easier. Instead of boiling eggs, you can place each in the muffin tin and bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes, then put them in ice water to cool. To make the dyes, you put what you want in a medium sized pot and bring to a boil, then simmer until the desired color is attained. After the dye is ready and the eggs are cooled, you strain the liquid from the pots and put into bowls or jars. Stir in a teaspoon of white vinegar and then put in the eggs. Let them sit in the dye until they are the color you want. I put them in mason jars and put them in the fridge. We tried cumin for yellow, coffee for brown, frozen strawberries for red, and kale leaves for green. The green may have to sit overnight to get dark green. Here is a list of what ingredients will make certain colors. I wish I could have tried more colors, but the smells were hard to deal with for this expecting mama. Try it out and let us know how it went!

*Color* *Ingredients*

Lavender: Small Quantity of Purple Grape Juice, Violet Blossoms plus 2 tsp Lemon Juice

Red: Zinger Tea

Violet: Blue Violet Blossoms, Small Quantity of Red Onions Skins (boiled), Hibiscus Tea, Red Wine

Blue: Canned Blueberries, Cabbage Leaves (boiled), Purple Grape Juice

Green: Spinach Leaves (boiled), Liquid Chlorophyll,

Greenish Yellow: Yellow Delicious Apple Peels (boiled)

Yellow: Orange or Lemon Peels (boiled), Carrot Tops (boiled), Celery Seed (boiled), Ground Cumin (boiled), Ground Turmeric (boiled), Chamomile Tea Green Tea

Golden Brown: Dill Seeds

Brown: Strong Coffee, Instant Coffee, Black Walnut Shells (boiled), Black Tea

Orange: Yellow Onion Skins (boiled), Cooked Carrots, Chili Powder, Paprika,

Pink: Beets, Cranberries or Juice, Raspberries, Red Grape Juice, Juice from Pickled Beets

Red: Lots of Red Onions Skins (boiled), Canned Cherries with Juice, Pomegranate Juice, Raspberries

Until next time, Heather