Onion skins??

[mariamousie1]

My mom told me this story, I wasn't there. She was at the grocery store buying some onions, and when she put them on the counter some of that paper like skin fell off the onion. The cashier picked them up and asked her "Do you want these?" My mom was like, "Uh, no..." The cashier then said he only asked because someone came through earlier with a whole bag of onion skins. No onions, just the skins. The cashier asked "Do you want these?" and the guy goes "Yeah." and said nothing else. The cashier didn't know what to charge him so he just gave them to him for free. I guess he wasn't a bad customer, it's just a bit bizarre. My mom thinks maybe he's an artist or something. Any ideas what someone could do with a bag of onion skins?

[Dreamstalker]

My grandmother used to color easter eggs using onionskins...it's a fairly easy/popular natural dye material IIRC. I've also seen yarn dyed with it.

http://www.instructables.com/id/ETZZGFEGJTEP286WR7/

[Rapscallion]

It's also a Jewish tradition, or so I'm told. We had a woman come in and take the skin off a load of onions for this purpose, explaining that it's a tradition for her. No idea what it signifies, though.

Rapscallion

[mariamousie1]

That's really interesting! I never heard of that. I always thought of onion skins like any other veggie or fruit rind- for the garbage.

[Reyneth]

My grandmother used to color easter eggs using onionskins...it's a fairly easy/popular natural dye material IIRC. I've also seen yarn dyed with it.

http://www.instructables.com/id/ETZZGFEGJTEP286WR7/

THANK YOU!

Ages and ages (like 20 years) ago, my mom, sister and I went over to an elderly woman's house where we dyed eggs like that. She was my "adopted" grandma since she had no family in the area. It was so long ago that none of us could remember how to do it...........

[RecoveringKinkoid]

She might have been dyeing eggs, or she might have been dyeing wool or some other textile. Onion skins make a marvelous natural dye.

[Killer Bees]

Maybe he wanted more material for his compost heap. Either that or he wants to make his own dye.

[repsac]

Yeah, they come out a really nice yellow. Though the Vidalia (TM) onions tend to turn a deep orange. Probably the lack of sulfer.

[tollbaby]

for the Jewish lady, my friend Rob tells me it's a key component to making Matzo ball soup get a nice golden color (but obviously you take them out before serving). Apparently without the onion skins, the soup is just like water with a bit of milk poured in.