Looking for a new tradition to add to your Easter celebration? Red eggs mark every Greek Easter meal, starting with the meal to break the fast after midnight Easter services. This year, Greek Orthodox Easter will be observed at the end of April, so I'll probably tell you about these again later on, but for those who make Easter eggs earlier, give these a try! They're great fun for kids as well, who get a chance to use a natural dyeing process.

The skins used to make the dye are from yellow (Spanish) onions. Whenever I cook with these onions, I save the skins in a plastic bag and put them in the fridge... to use for dyeing the red eggs that are one of the most traditional elements of the Greek Easter celebration. It may be a bit surprising, but those drab looking onion skins at right actually do produce those beautiful red eggs below.

Sure, there are lots of other dyes I could use, but this method, that dates back at least to the Middle Ages, is more fun for my granddaughter - who is learning all about botany these days - and delivers a fabulous, deep red color. Learn to dye red eggs with onion skins.

Red eggs are symbolic of the Easter holiday, but we make dozens, and people often ask what we do with them. Well, we cook with some, we eat some, and we play a game with some. Learn more about this Greek game with red eggs.

What to do with the onions: If you haven't saved onion skins, just peel however many you need when you're ready to dye. Store the peeled onions in airtight wrapping in the fridge and plan on making great onion recipes after Easter ... or with your Easter meal. Some recipes that use a lot of onions quickly are:

• Deep-fried Onion Rings (Southern U.S. Cooking)
• Stuffed Onions (Barbecues & Grilling)

_{Photos © Jim Stanfield}

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