Happy Croatian Style Easter

I spent 4 hours yesterday dyeing Easter eggs the way my husband learned to when he was a little boy in rural Croatia. Z & I make these eggs every year to give to his choir members, co-workers and various friends & family. They are always a big hit, and I end up spending a lot of time answering questions about how they are made. This year I decided to document the process for all my crafty readers (read below for the “recipe”).

Ingredients:
-Wildflowers, leaves and pretty plant bits.
-Old pantyhose.
-Lots of onion skins (purple is best). You can pick up tons of skin scraps for free at your local grocery store.
-Dozen white eggs.

First I go out and pick wildflowers and plants, keeping an eye out for particularly interesting leaves with intricate patterns. This is fun to do with our little dog, Ringo, but your kids would have fun too!

Next I prepare the (unboiled) eggs. I wrap the eggs with little plant pieces and then cover the plants and the egg carefully under my hand. Next is the tricky part. Firmly grasping the egg (and keeping your fingers in place over the flowers) push it gently into the foot of some old pantyhose. Pull the hose tightly with the other hand while simultaneously removing your fingers and twisting the top of the hose. I find it helpful to use your other hand to hold down one part of the plant so that the tightening of the hose doesn’t push it off the egg. Tie the hose into a knot on the opposite side from the flowers. It may take some practice before you get the hose tight without accidentally mangling the delicate plant bits.

Furthermore, I save a lot of money by getting the most eggs possible to fit into one old pair of hose. Instead of cutting the hose after each egg is tied off, I simply connect one to the other… like little sausage links. I got lucky this year by picking up packs of knee highs for .70 cents a piece from TJ Max. Since the leg part is the only piece you can really use, this kept me from wasting the stomach section of a pair of pantyhose. Woot! Having the eggs all connected together also makes it much easier to remove them from the pot so you can quickly plunge them into ice water to prevent them from continuing to cook inside their shells. You can see from the pictures above, the egg links also make a fabulous temporary necklace. ;-)

Once the eggs are all prepared, boil them with the onion skins using whichever hard-boiled egg method you prefer. The onion skins will dye the eggs naturally. All the parts covered by the plants with remain white, while the rest of the egg will turn a gorgeous caramelly brown color. Sometimes the color from certain plants will transfer to the egg. I try to make a note of which ones have this effect so that I can find those plants again the next year. After cooking, simply cut the hose off! Kids will also like cutting the eggs out of the hose because how each egg turns out is a big surprise. It is almost like unwrapping an Easter present. Whoever makes the prettiest egg gets a chocolate bunny!

Enjoy! Happy Easter!

P.S. I’ve never seen anyone else use this particular method, but I’ve always wondered if any other cultures besides the Croatians dye their eggs this way. Anyone else grow up using this method?