There are tons of traditions and foods that are associated with Easter! Read below to learn a little bit about some of this Easter fun! And scroll to the bottom to learn about Natural Dyes for those Easter eggs!
Easter Eggs:
Can be traced back to Medieval times
Represents fertility, new life, and rebirth in many cultures around the world
The idea of Easter Egg hunts likely originates from a children's game from medieval times as well! In this game, a Priest would give one choir boy a hard boiled egg. The boys would then pass this egg amongst themselves until midnight. Whoever was holding the egg at midnight, got to eat the egg!
The Easter Bunny:
The first written record of the Easter Bunny dates back to Germany in the 16th century
Dutch settlers brought this tradition along with them to Pennsylvania in the 1700's.
Traditional Easter Meal:
Historically, lamb was considered as the meat/meal of choice for celebration
Today, ham is often searched at a traditional Easter meal.
Ham became the meat of choice in part due to the time of the year. Ham was typically cured during the winter months. It would be prepped and ready to serve by early spring, just in time for Easter!
Pretzels were once considered to be associated with Easter. The twists of the pretzels are representative of praying.
Easter Candy:
Halloween and Easter are the two biggest times of the year for candy sales.
~$2.6 billion is spent on Easter candy in recent years. It has been projected that sales in 2023 could be ~$3.3 billion.
Halloween is often considered #1, but Easter is close by!
Around 90 million chocolate bunnies are sold yearly for Easter.
Surveys have varied a bit, but ~60-75% of Americans eat the ears of the chocolate Easter bunny first.
Americans eat ~1.5 million Peeps during Easter time.
Peeps are considered the most popular non-chocolate Easter candy.
When Peeps first originated, it took
The factory located in Pennsylvania produces ~5.5 million Peeps each day
Peeps are known to be a bit controversial. Most folks either love them or hate them.
I am not a fan. My daughter and my husband are fans!
I recently saw a tip which recommended dipping Peeps into melting chocolate for a tastier treat!
In the 1950's, it took over 1 day to make 1 Peep (27 hours to be exact!). It now takes 6 minutes/Peep.
One of the most popular Easter chocolates, Cadbury Creme Eggs, has a factory in Birmingham, England.
More than 1.5 Million Cadbury Creme Eggs are made every day.
~500 million cream-filled eggs are produced each year!
If you piled each egg on top of each other, the eggs would be taller than Mt. Everest.
Americans consume more than 16 million Jelly Beans during Easter time each year.
Jelly beans were introduced as an Easter treat in the 1930's. They are clearly still well loved today, nearly 100 years later!
You could circle the globe 3 times with this many Jelly beans!
Dyeing Easter Eggs:
This tradition is said to represent the blood of Christ that was shed during his crucifixion. Eggs were often originally dyed in a red or yellowish tone.
It is also believed that during Lent, people did not consume eggs. Chickens continued to lay eggs however. Many of the eggs would be hard-boiled as to not be wasteful. It is believed that people would then paint and decorate these eggs at the end of Lent. (aka Easter).
The Best and Worst Candies for Little Ones
One question I get fairly often, especially around holiday time: "Can I give my little one candy?" "And if so, which candy is best?"
Let's break this down just a bit.
For starters, giving young children, especially under the age of 2, a bunch of candy and sugar is not recommended. Sugar and candy do not provide a ton of extra great nutrients like some snack options and snacking on these options can cause little ones to feel full, again leaving out those beneficial nutrients.
All that being said, I personally believe there is a time and a place for every food. And as much as you are concerned about little Sally eating too much sugar at such a young age, there is also something to be said for the relationship you are helping Sally develop with food. Many in my generation and age range have REALLY struggled with understanding food and developing that positive relationship because of the examples we saw - often in the media but also at home. Moderation is key in both regards.
Okay, let's check out the "best" and "worst" Easter candies for your little one!
Best:
Chocolate! Chocolate bunnies, solid / hollow chocolate eggs, chocolate kisses. Chocolate is a good option because it melts which means it is pretty difficult for our little one to truly choke on plain chocolate.
Reeses Eggs! - similar reasoning, if baby has tried peanut butter before, these candies are a good option!
Worst:
Jelly Beans - these small candies are a choking risk due to size and round shape. They also do not dissolve + they are sticky. These candies are a choking risk in many ways.
Hard Candies, Lemon Drops, Jawbreakers - again these are hard and round, major concern for choking
Peeps - Marshmallow is sticky and can be a choking risk!
Candies / chocolates with large chunks of nuts and/or dried fruits
Many of us grew up using a store-bought dyeing kit. But, did you know, you can use all natural foods and spices to dye eggs?!
If you want to make blue: 1 cup chopped purple cabbage + 1 cup water + 1 white egg
If you want to make green: 1 cup chopped purple cabbage + 1 cup water + brown egg
If you want to make red: 1 cup red onion skins + 1 cup water (let sit longer)
If you want to make lavender: 1 cup red onion skins + 1 cup water OR 1 bag Red Zinger tea + 1 cup water
If you want to make orange: 1 cup yellow onion skins + 1 cup water + 1 white egg
If you want to make rusty red: 1 cup yellow onion skins + 1 cup water + 1 brown egg
If you want to make pink: 1 cup shredded beets + 1 cup water + 1 white egg
If you want to make maroon: 1 cup shredded beets + 1 cup water + 1 brown egg
If you want to make yellow: 1 tablespoons ground turmeric + 1 cup water
If you want to make brown: 1 cup coffee + 1 cup water
Okay, now what?
Boil Water + Dye Materials (whatever you need noted above)
Once boiling, turn heat down to low. Cover. Simmer for 15-30 minutes.
Check the color! Your dye needs to be a few shades darker in this moment than what you are hoping to see on your egg. Keep that in mind! :)
Remove from heat. Allow to cool to room temperature.
Strain the dye. Pour the cooled dye through a fine-mesh strainer into another saucepan or bowl.
Add vinegar into the dye — use 1 tablespoon of vinegar per cup of strained liquid.
Pour the dye over the eggs. Make sure eggs are fully submerged.
Transfer the eggs in the dye to the refrigerator and chill until the desired color is reached.
Dry and oil the eggs. Carefully remove eggs from dye & dry. Massage in a little oil to each one. Polish with a paper towel.
Store the eggs in the refrigerator until it is time to eat (or hide!) them.
A few pieces of advice with this?!
It will take ~4 cups of dye for each dozen of eggs. (4 cups of dye/12 eggs).
The longer than the dye sits, the darker it likely will be.
You can dip the eggs into the dye repeatedly for an even more vibrant color.
This is a great option if your main plan is to eat these eggs!
Easter is full of fun, family, friends, and food. Lots of food! And candy!
I hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend, full of each one of these things! Enjoy!!
Thank you for your support and love in this space! It means more to me than you will ever know.
I truly enjoy sharing this information and I hope you find the information provided valuable. If you do find this information helpful, I kindly ask that you consider sharing - via social media, word of mouth, email, etc. I would love to help support as many out there as I can! <3
Want to make sure you don't miss out on important and valuable information like this?! Hit that link/button below and fill out the quick form! You'll get an email notice when new and important Blog topics are posted + you'll get a copy of my FREE monthly newsletter!!
Fill Out This Quick Form to Get All The Info and Fun!!
Don't Miss Important Info and Updates!
Thank you again for giving Baby Food & Fun, LLC a place to grow and flourish, just like our kids :)
Jessica Enderle, R.D., L.D.
Comentarios