We don't need no stinkin' colored eggs!

Beigey pink, brown, green and cream

Who needs colored Easter eggs when these beauties are being laid every day?
We are getting between 7 and 10 eggs a day...more than enough for ourselves and a few friends we bless them with.

Not that I am against coloring eggs, cause I have fond memories of writing on the hard boiled eggs with that magic crayon they put in the kits, then coloring them with my kids.

Nowadays tho, there are many alternative dyes, and one only has to google "natural dyes for Easter eggs" or some such thing, and you will come up with everything you ever need to know about it!

I LOVE Google.

Homemade Ranch Dressing and Mayonnaise

I spent some time with Michelle from "She Looketh Welll" last week and she passed on her recipe for homemade mayo and ranch dressing/dip.
With eggs being prolific right now, and their "yellows" more orange than ever, I thought today would be a perfect day to try it.

I have made homemade mayo before, but was just OK with the results.
Turns out I needed to double the yolks to get it as thick as I wanted it.
THIS stuff is amazing!
And it really could not be easier.
Here's Michelle's recipe....

HOMEMADE MAYONNAISE

2-4 egg yolks (farm fresh eggs, please!) ...I used 4
1/2 teas. dry mustard
1-2 TBL lemon juice (Costco has wonderful bottled organic lemon juice...cheap!!!)
3 teas. rice wine vinegar or white wine vinegar (something mild)
dash of onion and garlic powder
1 teas. sea salt

3/4 cup oil...(Michelle uses half olive oil and half sunflower oil)

Combine everything but the oil in food processor or blender (I use my trusty Cuisinart)
Mix till creamy....1 min. or less
Now slowly add the oil while running the processor until very thick.
With a blender or processor this goes very quickly.
You can also do this by hand, whisking the oil in a teensy bit at a time till it starts to emulsify then adding a bit faster as it has thickened.
Put in a mason jar and refrigerate.

I actually doubled this recipe as I wanted a jar of mayo AND a jar of dressing.

Michelle says this lasts approximately 2 weeks in the fridge. She says you can add a couple Tabl. of whey to extend the life of it and make it lacto-fermented. If you do this let it sit out for about 7 hours before refrigerating.
She also likes to add a teensy amt. of maple syrup (maybe 1 teas.?) to round out the flavor.
I didn't have any so I skipped this step.

Seasoning for the ranch dip/dressing:

2 TBL salt
2 TBL dill
1/4 cup onion powder
1/4 cup garlic powder
1/2 cup dried parsley

Mix together and store in mason jar

To made dressing/dip:

1 cup homemade mayo
1/2 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream (I used my homemade yogurt)
1 1/2 to 2 TBL dip mix

Combine!

Michelle says you can kick this up a notch by adding fresh cilantro, parsley, dill, basil, or jalapeno.
Also perhaps a bit of cayenne.

This stuff is SO good, I can hardly wait to have a salad tonight!
Hmmm....
Maybe I WON'T wait!
Lunch?

xoxo,
Cindy