Easter eggs dyed in the old, natural good way!

The preparations for the Easter have started in Greece once again! In most households the baking of Easter sweet goodies is well on even since yesterday! We, though, will start with something different. Something which traditionally is prepared on Holy Thursday and if there is not enough time that day then people have another chance of doing it on Saturday. On Good Friday nothing much is happening related to cooking and preparations for the Easter weekend because that day is a day of grieving for most Greek Orthodox people as an honour to Jesus's crucifixion and burial. So, we are starting with Easter red eggs but this time showing how we could dye them in a natural way as people used to do in the past when all these modern, fancy products didn't exist. This is just one of few different ways using natural products. Simple ingredients will be needed and you'll end up with some dark red, decorative Easter eggs. I still remember my mother following a natural way of dying eggs and I have done it myself a few times but unfortunately then the easy way got me and I had not done it for quite some time. This year though back to basics and back to nature for a change!

Idea from "Cook Book" magazine of "ETHNOS" newspaper

Ingredients for (10 eggs)

For the eggs:
10 eggs, at room temperature

5 tea-cups of red onions outer skins

1 tbsp of olive oil

1 tbsp of ground Greek coffee (or Turkish, it's the same type)

1/2 tbsp of pepper

1/2 tbsp of salt

For the decoration (optional):

large or medium size fresh leaves of marjoram or flat-leaf parsley

pieces of nylon thin stockings

Method:
Take the eggs out of the fridge the night before and rinse thoroughly under running water. Leave at room temperature.

Next day, carefully place the eggs in a large pot and fill with water enough to fully cover them. *** If you want the eggs decorated (see photo on top) then, before you put them in the pot, place a leaf on the side of each egg and wrap it with a piece of nylon stocking tied tightly at the edges so to keep it stable.

Add in the pot the onion skins, the olive oil, the coffee, the salt and the pepper and put on medium heat. When the water starts bubbling turn the heat down to the lowest possible and simmer (wrapped as they are in case you followed the decoration idea) for about 7-8 hours (depending on the lowest heat level of your cooker).

When the eggs are cooled down carefully unwrap and discard the leaves. *** For a shiny effect gently rub each egg with a soft piece of cloth dampened with olive oil.