Rainbow Eggs

Clockwise from top: Hot water mixed with blueberries, green tea, parsley, cranberries, turmeric, and espresso.

 Yesterday, I was trying to come up with a way to attractively display the deviled eggs I usually bring to my dear friend and neighbor's annual Easter gathering. I found this website on pinterest. The pastel-colored-eggs are gorgeous but foreign colors for foods can be alarming (purple ketchup?). And food dye's have a bad rap in general. For years I've been meaning to experiment with dyeing eggs from sources from nature. From the research I did (Martha Stewart) they produce more subtle, elegant colors. 

After getting some ideas off the interwebs and checking my kitchen, I ended up using: coffee, frozen cranberries, frozen blueberries/blackberries, green tea, turmeric, and parsley, which I ran through our beloved juicer.

 Pretty and pastel-y, like I hoped!

I wanted to mix in the dill and parsley but in the end allowed people the option by serving on the side.

 I was worried the coffee one would taste too strong--it wasn't. 

 We were lucky to form a quality group of friend our first year living here. Our friends are grad students and spouses, who moved here from other parts of the country. We live in the same complex, so borrowing stuff and watching TV shows in pajamas is our normal.  Without family accessible, we're forced to rely on each other for community in ways you might not have to when living in a familiar place. Recently, we've seen dear friends move on to bigger and better things and leave us. Our time in this humble community has an end in sight. Year five is drawing to a close and I know that someday we wont be carving pumpkins together, crowding around for Thanksgiving, or celebrating Easter together in style. In the meanwhile, I try to live in the moment (and take lots of pictures) so I'll remember these good ole days.