Naturally Decorated Eggs: Marbled Technique

Don't these look incredible?  I am amazed how they turned out. I can thank my third grade teacher for this idea!! Don't you want to know how to make these?  Keep reading.  We collaborated with Rachelle from Tinkerlab and she has some amazingly beautiful Vegetable Dyed Eggs too, be sure to check them out! Click on the link after this post!

 First of all you'll need some uncooked white eggs---no need to hard boil them because this is part of the process.

Besides the uncooked white eggs you'll need:

About a 9x9 inch piece of fabric for each egg

(I cut apart an old dress shirt)

string

for the pigment you'll need:

Onion skins (red,brown,yellow)

spinach

blueberries

cranberries

for texture you'll need:

(I used what I had)

rice

barley

lentils

cooked spaghetti

a cooking pot

water

vinegar

The first step is to take a raw egg and place it in the middle of your fabric.  Be careful---the eggs are uncooked! I had to keep telling my daughter this! This girl is such a ham----or I could have posted the picture of her intensely frowning!!!! (those were my choices!)

Next,  choose red/yellow onion skins and spinach to surround the egg.  Then within those items place rice, barley, lentils, and any other textured food item that will not disintegrate while cooking.  I happened to have some cooke spaghetti and that made some awesome textures!  Also, you can smash some blueberries in there too.  We did some but, I wish we would have added more. Next time!

Cassie enjoyed picking out all the items but she was a little confused with what we were doing?? I had to explain to her that the food has "paint" in it and that it will make the eggs a color! Also, that the spaghetti (which she wanted to eat) and other textural items would create a pattern or design on the egg!

Once you have all the materials surrounding the egg,  then you need to bundle up the fabric and tie it.  Make it a fairly tight wrap, but don't break the egg! Don't they look cute? Reminds me of a meal I make: Rice Bundles! We'll have to do a posting of them!

Now place the bundles in a pot and cover with cold water and add about a 1/2 Tablespoon of vinegar to the mix. The water should be about one or two inches above the eggs. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  I lifted them out with tongs and set them on a baking rack. When they are cool enough to touch cut the string and you'll be in for a pleasant surprise!

Again, I think they look absolutely AMAZING! I love the spaghetti and rice textures! I also love the touch of blueberry stain. Next time I would make a whole egg with a bunch of smashed blueberries. They  have a very subtle look, but I've loved this technique since I was in elementary school! Cassie enjoyed seeing the result and guessing what all the items were! A little bit like opening a Christmas gift!! Yes, and they are edible hard boiled eggs too!

Do you think you would want to try this technique?

Do you have any ideas for different food items that you might  add to this recipe for this naturally dyed marbling technique?

What are some of your special egg dyeing techniques?

***Be sure to check out Tinkerlab's Vegetable Dyed Egg post here!***

***It sure would be nice to be in the Top 50 on Babble....Click here and give me a thumbs up! THANKS!

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