It’s Holy Thursday today in Greek Orthodox tradition and we need to dye our Easter eggs.

In red?

Traditionally, yes. However, we prefer to use only natural ingredients and a slightly different approach and resulting colour palette.

Try this instead:

.

Our 7LR own-style natural dye recipe.

INGREDIENTS

We love earthy colours, namely a palette of light yellowish, brown & red accent.

To achieve this you will need:

-2/3 tbsp of fresh turmeric powder or more if you want more intense colours

-4 tbsp of white vinegar

-12 eggs or more

– boiling water in low temperature for each casserole used half full (see below)

-2 tsp olive oil or as much as you need depending on the quantities of eggs used

-3 large red onions

-2 large avocados or 3 medium ones

TOOLS

-2 small casseroles (or one small and one medium)

-Kitchen paper

-the net from the onions & some elastic bands

-your creativity & patience

1. Prepare your two separate casseroles and fill them with fresh water from the tap (start boiling gently in low temperature)

2. Casserole Number One: Add the skin of the avocados and the tumeric/add vinegar around 2tbsp

3. Casserole Number Two: Add the skin of the onions and then the onions/add vinegar around 2tbsp

4. Bring each to the boil and keep at low temperature throughout

3. Add carefully the eggs in each casserole, one by one, and boil them for approx. minimum 20 minutes or slightly longer. Gently whisk them around to make sure the natural colours penetrate, but be careful not to break the eggs

4. You can use a ladle to add some of the red water from the onions into casserole Number One and blend it with the green-yellow colour of that palette, so to achieve variation of colours

5. Even if you’ve finished boiling the eggs, you may need to keep them in the casseroles for a while until you see the desired colour effects

6. Check your eggs and if you are happy with the colours gently remove them from the casseroles. Remember that you can always mix and match by adding them for a few minutes interchangeably in each casserole.

7. When you achieve the desired colour and you let the eggs dry outside the casseroles, you can paintbrush them with a touch of olive oil, or keep them matt. We prefer to add a touch of the olive oil into the kitchen paper and gently brush the eggs with it.

8. To achieve the patterns, remember that some will occur naturally because of the touch of the natural ingredients in the casserole or the kitchen paper. Others can be created with a touch of imagination. For example, wrap some eggs in the net (use the band to secure it tight) and boil them as per above inside the net. In the alternative, you can gently rub the finished boiled coloured eggs with the net to create patterns, after you have removed them from the casserole and are not too hot in the touch (avoid burning!)

ENJOY! HAPPY GREEK ORTHODOX EASTER!