Earth To Eats

Natural Egg Dye Experiment – Day 3

3rd April, 2011 - Posted by shawn - No Comments

Paprika looked good but didn't come through

Well, I wanted to finish up all the eggs today but I can’t find my blueberries.  Have to dig in the other freezer.

Today I tried beets, spinach, grape juice and paprika.  All had disappointing results. (I also tried Kool-Aid but that isn’t natural and will get its own post – that one worked great!)

Beets

I really expected the beets to work well since when I make pickled red beets and eggs they work just fine, but that is with shelled eggs so I’m sure that makes a difference.  I took a can of beets and boiled it for fifteen minutes.  I removed the beets and then split the juice up into two glasses.  I added 1 T of vinegar to the one glass.  This was the only experiment so far where the vinegar made a difference.  The beet egg with the vinegar was darker than the without vinegar egg, but not by much.  This was a very pale pink.

I pulled the beet juice out later in the day and both kinds dyed lightly while cold, but were better warmed.  Not much difference from the first time.

I’m thinking I may cook an egg in with the beets tomorrow to see what happens.

Spinach

Spinach: Glass with Vinegar is on the Right

Well, again I thought this would work better than it did.  Perhaps more spinach is necessary.  I used 2 cups of water and 8 oz of frozen spinach.  I boiled it for 15 minutes and then strained out the spinach in a cloth.  I squeezed the cloth to get the juice out and then divided the liquid in half. (I composted the spinach.)  I added 1 T vinegar to one batch.  I got very little color even at 10 minutes of dye time – pale yellow-green at best.  Not much difference with or without vinegar – eggs almost looked ivory.  I did not keep this one to try again cold because it dyed so badly the first time.  And it smelled.  PU.

Spinach at 10 minutes dye time - bottom one is with vinegar

Grape Juice

This one smelled good cooking

OK, this one just came to me and I wondered what would happen.  I’ve had several shirts ruined with grape juice so I thought maybe it’d make a good dye.  It did.  But the color was scary.  I microwaved two cups of 100% purple grape juice straight from the bottle for 2 minutes each until they were hot.  I added 1 T vinegar to one cup.

Well, the eggs dyed just fine but they turned out gray.  And a little mottled.  I remember that the purples in the purchased dye kits do this too sometimes – have grains of red or blue in them even after the whole thing is dissolved.  My without vinegar egg cracked big time because I dropped it into the cup when I burned my fingers on the juice.  <sigh> The vinegar made a little difference in this egg too, but not substantially.  The juice did not dye well cold but it could be reheated after using with similar results to the original heating. (4/4 update – Scott really liked the way these eggs looked.  He thought they looked purple, not gray so perhaps it is a personal call.  They did look MORE purple when you put them next to the other colors.)

I think these eggs would be wonderful for Halloween with a bright orange egg.  But for Easter, well, I’m just not sold on it.

Grape Juice: The cracked front egg is without vinegar

Paprika

Paprika: Fast Color

I picked up a cheap bottle of Paprika for this project just to see what would happen.  I put 1/4 C of paprika in 1 cup of water and microwaved it for 3 minutes till it was bubbling.  I added 1 T vinegar and dropped in an egg.  Even the 1 minute egg showed some color and at 10 minutes it was definitely – brownish yellow.  I was hoping for red.  <sigh again>  Even the blue crayon was dyed brown with this dye.  Very odd.

Paprika - not red

So, that was day 3.  If I can find my blueberries tomorrow they will make the final dye lot.  If I can’t find them I’ll have to improvise with something else.  I want to wrap this up so we can eat the eggs before they go bad.  Deviled eggs, here we come!

While doing Natural Egg dyeing I remembered Kool-Aid pickles…

2nd April, 2011 - Posted by shawn - No Comments

Yeah, I know, my brain is a strange place.  I was working on that natural egg dye project and I had an egg dyeing in cherry Kool-Aid (no it is not natural – but it is super-easy and cheap) and remembered an article I had read awhile back in the New York Times about Kool-Aid pickles.  I had wanted to try them and never did.

So I just had a few minutes between lunch and dinner and found the original article here.  Hard to believe it was nearly 4 years ago and I still remember – that was 2 kids ago!  So if you aren’t from the South and have never heard of Koolickles – what some folks call these things – check out the article.  There are good instructions here for making Koolickles.  I’ll be trying this soon and I’ll let you know what MY family thinks.

I’ve completed dying with beets and spinach so when I have a few minutes I’ll write those up.  I also have some notes on the Kool-Aid egg.  Blueberries are the last thing I want to try and then if I still have some eggs left we’ll see what else I come up with.

Stay tuned!

Holiday Book: Thanksgiving 101

2nd April, 2011 - Posted by shawn - No Comments

Happy Teen at Thanksgiving

I love holidays but I have to admit that Thanksgiving is one of my least favorite holidays as an adult.  As a child I used to go to my maternal Grandmother’s house where there were always a ton of people and three shifts (or more) at the table since my Mom has a large family.  THAT was a fun Thanksgiving.

Now I’m the cook – except I try to get my Mom to do the turkey because I hate turkey – the smell, the taste, all of it.  Ick.  (My Grandma always had duck in addition to the turkey which I did like.)  And now that we have to deal with food allergies and diet restrictions for health reasons cooking the meal itself has become very difficult.  Cross contamination is hard to deal with in a big messy kitchen too.

Celiacs can’t have bread so that means no stuffing in the bird (which my dad likes), no flour based gravy (which is the only kind my Mom likes to make) and no pies (Eek!) for hubby which is all kind of disappointing.  Luckily he isn’t keen on turkey either so this past year we made a beef roast with cornstarch gravy for the two of us while everyone else had the bird.  I enjoyed that a lot better.

At the church booksale I found a neat book called Thanksgiving 101 which is written by a man who used to teach a class on “doing Thanksgiving.”  You can read my book review of it here. 
For those who have to put on this meal or who just want some more recipes or the history of the holiday, this is an easy and fun read. It does contain some gluten free recipes and others that can be easily adapted so there would be something for the celiac at your table in here too.

Natural Egg Dye Experiment – Day 2

1st April, 2011 - Posted by shawn - No Comments

Coffee and Eggs - yum

I found myself with two dozen more white eggs today and just had to try something out I read about to see how it worked.  I picked up a ton of new books on Monday at a church book sale and one of them was a family cookbook on holidays called Grandmother’s Home & Holiday Traditions.  This is part of a 4 volume set but I only have the one.  See it here: Grandmother’s Kitchen Wisdom (4-vol. set in slipcase): Home & Holiday Traditions, Food Secrets, Natural Remedies & Nutrition, Kitchen Basics & Solutions

In there the author said to dye eggs by putting the colorant in with the eggs when you cook them which seemed reasonable but I wondered if it would make the eggs taste funny.  He mentioned specifically blackberries, rhubarb leaves, onion skins and chestnuts (which make the eggs blue!)  I didn’t have any of those things so I decided to try coffee which I did have and which was on my list to try.

For the coffee  I put 2 cups of water and ¼ cup of coffee in a saucepan with two eggs and cooked them my usual way.  (I don’t “boil” my eggs so see my method here.) After my timer went off I pulled out the eggs and sure enough they were brown but not the same color brown!  Not all eggs or eggshells are created equal so this wasn’t too much of a shock but I liked both the colors so much I didn’t want to eat either of the eggs to see if they tasted like coffee.  So I decided to try black tea also.

2 shades of Coffee Dyed Eggs

The color of the coffee eggs is a muted warm brown, really pretty if you like earth tones (which I do.) On to the tea…

Eggs and Tea - these got foamy and boiled over

After I composted the used coffee, I cleaned my pan and put 2 ½ cups of water and 5 Salada black tea bags into it with two large eggs and cooked them my usual way.  I had to add more water this time because I needed to make sure the eggs were covered.  When the water boiled the pan foamed up and over the top so keep a close eye on this one.  After the timer went off I pulled the eggs out and they were also different in color, but only slightly.  I decided to sacrifice the second egg and cracked it open.  Some of the white was stained with the tea but there was no tea taste at all to the egg.

Tea dyed egg

The color of the black tea eggs is lighter than that of the coffee eggs, but still definitely brown and not yellow.  It is a cooler color though and not quite as pretty.  If you used an herbal tea I’m sure you’d get a yellow or greenish color depending on the type of tea.  We don’t have any of that around so I can’t check it out.  Make sure you compost the tea bags.  I pull off the tag and small staple so they don’t go in the compost.

I did not add vinegar to either of these batches though the author of the book said you should.  I didn’t see any difference with the Tumeric eggs on Day 1 so I just decided to omit it.  I may do a second round of coffee eggs for tasting since coffee is a much stronger flavor than tea and I will add vinegar to those to see if it affects them at all.

So I showed off my project eggs to my family and my teenage daughter said smartly – “yeah but who wants brown eggs?”  Well, she’s right I guess, they aren’t really Eastery and you can buy brown eggs straight from the chicken so perhaps there won’t be much call for this information.  Plus there is no dipping to do as kids like to do; it is pretty simple and no-fuss.  But they are attractive.

Back to the drawing board with beets and spinach for some more Eastery colors.  Stay tuned!

Energy Saving method of Hard Cooking Eggs

31st March, 2011 - Posted by shawn - 1 Comment

Beautifully Cooked Egg

I read someplace a long time ago that you should not boil your eggs for hard boiled eggs and that they really should be called hard cooked eggs.  Whatever.  Sometimes I do boil them but lately I’ve switched to a new method to save some electricity. 

You may question this method at first but give it a try with a couple eggs to see what you think.  Supposedly eggs are less rubbery this way and don’t have that green ring around the yolk that signifies over-cooking.  I can definitely say that they are much more tender and I’ve never had a green ring.

1. Put eggs in saucepan and fill with cold water to cover.
2. Bring water to a boil uncovered.
3. As soon as water boils, cover the pot and turn off the heat.
4. Allow pot to sit on the same burner for 20 minutes.
5. After 20 minutes the eggs will be cooked perfectly.

Now some sources say to do it for only 15 minutes but I have had some undercooked eggs that way so I do 20 minutes.  This works for medium and large eggs.

In case you don’t believe the egg will be done, the picture at the beginning of this post is a large egg done this way.

Natural Egg Dye Experiment – Day 1

30th March, 2011 - Posted by shawn - 1 Comment

First Day's eggs (W/O means no vinegar)

I posted earlier that we would like to use natural egg dyes this year for Easter. I didn’t really say what my goals were for this but what I’m looking for are dyes that meet the following criteria:

1. Are naturally derived: food based if possible
2. Can be made on short notice: like when it is Saturday night and you realize Easter is tomorrow
3. Do not require mordants or anything else other than vinegar and the dye substance
4. Are reasonably priced: sorry Saffron is out for yellow eggs
5. Will last for more than one day so you can make the dye ahead of time
6. Can be composted when finished: so as not to waste anything

I know I could have researched all this on the internet, but that really doesn’t fit with my sense of adventure.  I have read about this topic before so did know a few things.  I figured I’d start with what I had on hand and see what I could come up with for orange/yellow.

Carrot Water - doesn't dye

My first attempt failed miserably.  I used grated carrots – 1 C to 2 C water boiled for ten minutes in the microwave.  The water looked orange but in the end did nothing to the eggshell with or without vinegar.

My second attempt was better and has a lot of promise.  I used 1 tsp of Turmeric to 2 C water boiled for 3 minutes in the microwave.  This produced a light yellow color with and without vinegar.  I have it in the fridge now to see if I can use it again.  If you added more Turmeric you would definitely get a stronger color.  I think probably 1/2 T to 1 cup water might be about right, plus 1 T vinegar.  (I’m seeing if that is really necessary like EVERYONE says it is.) UPDATE 4/4:  I did redo this with 2 tsp turmeric to 1 C water and the egg dyed faster but did not get any more color.

I ran out of eggs at this point – mostly we use brown eggs – so I’ll have to work on this again later when we need to restock.  Check back later or subscribe to our feed for other results.  When I’ve got the whole thing pulled together I’ll be publishing an ebook you can download with all my findings to keep on hand when you need emergency egg color.  I hope to have it ready before Easter so you can use natural dyes too this year.

Light Yellow Dye - 1 tsp Tumeric, 2 C water, 1 T vinegar

So we’ve got a yellow.  I’d like to find options for five or six colors and know some for sure colors already like blue/blueberries, red-pink/beets, green/spinach and brown/tea or coffee but I need to see how well they last overnight. Not sure what will come next.

3/31/11 update – The turmeric dye will NOT work straight out of the fridge if you try to keep it overnight.  It DID work after 2 minutes of heating in the microwave and some stirring BUT the results were not as good as what I got with the fresh dye.  The good thing is this one is so easy to whip up you can do it in a couple of minutes fresh.   Also want to warn folks, this dye doesn’t just dye eggs, it stains things – like my counter.  And my kitchen towels.  And my fingers. (Hmm… might be good for fabric dyeing, have to try that in the summer.)

Turmeric stain on my countertop

Homemade Iced Tea with just water, sugar and tea

14th February, 2011 - Posted by shawn - No Comments

Every time I go to the store I see people filling their carts with gallons of iced tea.  I personally don’t understand the reason people will pay over $2 a gallon for artificial flavors and sweeteners when you can make a much better tea at home in 7 minutes.

So stop paying for the fake stuff and make the real stuff at home.  You’ll never have to run to the store for bottled tea again.

The recipe can be varied to add more or less sugar, more or less tea bags or to use herbal or other teas.  Sometimes Scott mixes tea bags for a custom drink, sometimes he’ll add quite a bit more sugar for a southern style brew and sometimes he leaves the sugar out for our diabetic friends.  (Though I imagine you could use Splenda if you have to.) Other times we’ll add fruit juice or honey as well.  It just depends on what you like.  This recipe is Gluten Free.

Homemade Iced Tea – makes 1/2 gallon

• 1/3 C sugar
• 4-5 tea bags (we use Salada tea, store brand tea, Tetley tea etc.)
• 1/2 gallon water

1. Place two cups of water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Boil water/sugar mixture for 2 minutes. Watch carefully so it does not boil over.
3. Remove from heat and add tea bags.
4. Steep for 5 minutes.
5. Remove tea bags and compost.
6. Pour concentrated tea into bottle (glass is best.)
7. Add remaining water to make a half gallon.
8. Refrigerate and enjoy!

Making Things at Home: Chocolate Syrup

7th January, 2011 - Posted by shawn - No Comments

I remember when I was young a big treat for my family was going to the Handi Market and buying a gallon box (yes gallon box, it was white with red dots and maybe stripes…) of Carnival vanilla ice cream and a can of Hershey’s chocolate syrup to go with it.  The syrup cans used to come with a yellow plastic lid you used once you opened the can.

Fast forward to today and I try to keep vanilla ice cream in the freezer at all times (preferably Breyers when it goes on 4/$10 like last week) but since our family is avoiding high fructose corn syrup I can no longer use the old standby of Hershey’s syrup.

I have tried two different recipes for making my own chocolate syrup and though they are similar one comes out better.  Below is a recipe adapted from How to Win The Grocery Game which was published a long time ago.  She advocates using 1 Tablespoon of margarine (we used butter) in her recipe but we thought that was a little greasy. 

One thing to note is that the taste of this syrup will change depending on what brand of cocoa you use.  I used the Shurfine store brand and it tastes really good – very rich.  The Weis store brand made it too dark and the family didn’t like it as much. The texture may be a little grainy as well but we didn’t mind that at all.

This is a gluten-free recipe.

Homemade Chocolate Syrup (to replace Hershey’s syrup)

• 3/4 Cup cocoa (not hot chocolate mix)
• 1 1/2 Cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Cup boiling water
• 1 tsp vanilla (gluten free if you want a gluten free syrup)

Mix cocoa, sugar and salt together in a saucepan (bigger than a 2 cup saucepan).  Add boiling water gradually.  Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.   Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Can be served warm or cold though it is a bit thin while warm.  You can use it to make chocolate milk or over ice cream or pancakes or whatever you’d use Hershey’s syrup for.  If you’d like to try the original recipe add 1 Tbl margarine with the vanilla and stir until melted.

Click below to get your own copy of How to Win the Grocery Game.

Great easy bread from the Tightwad Gazette: Cuban Bread

5th January, 2011 - Posted by shawn - 2 Comments

One of my ultimate reference books is The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn.  This book was written to discuss frugal ideas, but it also contains a wealth of information on sustainable living.  She discusses reusing, repurposing and upcycling (before it was called that!) on nearly every page.

When I need a quick loaf of bread to take as a gift or to go with dinner when Scott is away, I turn to her Cuban Bread recipe – it can be found on page 542 in my version of the Complete Tightwad Gazette. (I’m putting that in here because it is not listed in the index and I can never find it since the kids keep stealing my bookmark!  So now I know I just have to check ETE for the page number.)

This bread recipe is fast and requires no mixer or bread machine.  It is great with honey butter or other spreads.  It’s a little yeasty like a good homemade bread and it contains no High Fructose Corn Syrup like the packaged breads do. This recipe makes 2 loaves but you can half it or share that extra loaf with a friend.

We’ve modified Amy’s original recipe somewhat so here goes:

• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 3 cups white flour
• 1 Tbl dry yeast (regular, not fast acting)
• 2 Tbl sugar
• 1 Tbl salt
• 2 cups hot water (not boiling, just warm to the touch)

Mix all the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the white flour with the yeast, sugar and salt.  Add the water and mix until all the water is absorbed.  Slowly add the remaining white flour until the dough doesn’t stick to the sides of the bowl.  Depending on the weather you may not need it all or you  may need more.  Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes.  (Get the kids to help.)  Place in a bowl, cover and put in a warm place for 15 minutes.

Punch down the dough until it is deflated and cut into 2 pieces.  Put these on a baking sheet lined with parchment or dusted with cornmeal.  With a sharp knife, cut an “x” in the top of each loaf.

Put a pan of hot water onto the bottom shelf of your oven and put the pan of bread on the middle shelf.  Set the oven to 400F and bake 45 minutes until browned.  Remove from oven and place loaves on rack to cool.  Wait 10 minutes (if you can) before slicing with a serrated knife.

Enjoy!