Romanian Easter Eggs / Oua de Paste

Directions

I love the tradition of dyeing Easter eggs that I have been doing with my mother-in-law for the past four years! It is very easy and all you need is an old pair of stockings, string, fresh dill, parsley or lovage leaves and dye. You can even make your own dye. My mother-in-law also likes to use dye made from onion peels but I love the colorful eggs best.

Cut the stockings up into pieces large enough to wrap around the eggs and place the leaves on the eggs. You can also use egg white as a glue to keep the leaves in place as you tie the stocking around the egg. Boil the eggs and then put them whith the stocking on into the dye. After the egg is dyed, you can take off the stocking and wipe away the leaves. We also like to rub some oil onto the eggs to make them shiny.

In Romania, they also use hot wax to draw motifs and symbols onto eggs before dying them. I had the pleasure of learning this technique with my friends who work at the local village museum. Using a special tool that is dipped into the melted wax, you draw the patterns onto each egg.

After the pattern is dried on the egg, you dip it into the dye and leave it for a few minutes. Then you hold the egg over a candle for a few seconds and wipe off the wax leaving your beautiful design.