What are your favorite Easter memories from your childhood? On the hunt for Easter eggs? Biting into marshmallows? Biting your Easter bunnies’ ears?
Or maybe the most magical part was the preparation: painting those eggs and anticipating the sweets you would receive. The Easter basket, with green grass and chocolate bunnies… maybe a stuffed chick or even a real duckling!
I am sure you would like to recreate some of those good memories for your family and especially your children. So here are some tips to help you make that happen.
For many families, Easter is about their faith, but that won’t stop anyone from enjoying Easter egg hunts and Easter candy as a secular celebration. Easter is a day of joy, and the colorful eggs and accessories of traditional Easter serve to enhance that sense of joy in the essence of spring and rebirth.
For children, of course, part of the appeal of Easter lies in the fact that it’s another holiday where they expect to be treated to lots of chocolates, sweets, and other treats. And for the purposes of this report, we’ll focus on the fun aspects of Easter, along with its joy. You can have a happy Easter, celebrating spring and its beauty and freedom, without focusing entirely on the sugary stuff.
Easter is a family affair
Families vary in how they like to celebrate Easter. So you can choose how you would like to celebrate. But despite individual differences, there are also many common themes. Here are some of the standard ingredients:
a) Candies
Easter is (for many people) all about treats… and the key among treats are Easter eggs. It’s not Easter unless lots of eggs are thrown into the basket, along with a variety of other sweets. And about those eggs… there are so many different types, from chocolate eggs with and without fillers, caramel eggs, marshmallow eggs and yes, even hard boiled eggs that have been decorated with bright colors to add cheer.
Peeps, preferably in various shapes and colors, are also a must, as are jelly beans, which really do look like miniature eggs.
Some families even have their own special Easter baked goods, which can range from specialty breads to fancy cookies and cakes with colorful Easter decorations. My mother used to bake each of us a cake in the shape of Easter bunnies and Easter lambs! Some years, she would let us choose which one we wanted.
b) parties
If there’s an Easter parade in town or even nearby, be sure to bring the kids and take plenty of pictures. If you go, you should make sure you get (or create) some special Easter hats for everyone, as there are often contests for the best Easter hat at these events.
For example, Richmond, Virginia has a special Easter parade, appropriately named the “Easter on Parade,” which turns Monument Avenue, a beautiful tree-lined boulevard lined with fine old homes and monuments, into a temporary playground for the citizens of Richmond, who stroll up and down, showing off their hats and decorated dogs. There are contests for the best hats, both for humans and their canine friends.
Meanwhile, there is music playing along the avenue, and many fancy handicrafts and delicious treats are for sale. There are also games for children. Parades like this can create very special memories.
Children always love egg hunts, which many cities, towns or institutions organize on Easter weekend, so if you get the chance to take the children on an egg hunt near where you live, they will have a lot of fun. . If not, you can always hide eggs and candy inside colorful plastic eggs around the house or outside in the garden, weather permitting.
Getting ready for Easter: painting Easter eggs
One of the most beloved Easter traditions, aside from getting and eating the candy, involves painting Easter eggs.
You have two options: you can paint hard-boiled eggs and then eat them later, or you can remove the contents of the eggs and paint the shells to use as decorations.
In fact, you may want to do both. You can always make a brunch frittata with the contents of the hollowed out eggs and then use them to create pretty centerpieces once you’ve painted them.
To create those centerpieces you can simply get Easter baskets and arrange the eggs beautifully in the “grass”. Or you could get some branches, with or without leaves, and decorate them with your colorfully painted eggshells. Of course, there are many additional possibilities, from creating a mobile and hanging it from the ceiling, to decorating an egg wreath and displaying it on the front door or in the hallway.
Painted hard-boiled eggs, meanwhile, will be part of Easter baskets intended for consumption, and may also be hidden for Easter egg hunts. Just make sure the kids find them all, or else you’ll have some very nasty smells coming from their hiding places a few weeks down the line.
So how can you color your eggs? Once you have your “canvas” set up, the process is easy.
First, you need to decide if you want to give your eggs a solid color base. If so, you can color them in a bath of food coloring.
Then you get some special tools for decorating Easter eggs and pints. It is totally up to you whether you want to create designer artwork, geometric shapes or bunny images. You can also incorporate special Easter egg stickers and “tattoos.” If you are going to color eggs with your children, encourage their creativity and, above all, have fun!
Preparing for Easter: Buying candy
It seems like every year there are more options. It’s already hard to decide what to buy.
A few decades ago, the options were pretty clear. There were chocolate Easter bunnies, chocolate eggs, caramel eggs, basic yellow marshmallows, jelly beans, and those Cadbury cream eggs.
Now, the selection has grown in all directions.
Where there were only yellow peeps, now peeps come in a variety of colors, including pink, blue, and purple. There are also bunnies in various electric colors. And yes, you can even buy sugar free peeps for those of us who need to avoid eating sugar.
You can then select from a myriad of other confections in all sorts of shapes and sizes, from egg-shaped confections to creamy fillings in strawberry, raspberry and coconut flavors, just for starters.
And then, you can get Easter bunnies and related creatures in all sizes, from pocket-sized to bunnies big enough to dwarf your toddler.
Some of the smaller chocolate bunnies also come with fillings, from marshmallow to peanut butter and more.
How do you select the ones your kids will enjoy the most? You can ask them around, take them shopping with you, get one of each and make notes for next year, or buy a really big Easter basket so it can fit in a wide variety of options.
Speaking of baskets, the choice will also depend on whether you’ll be composing the baskets yourself or giving the kids baskets filled with fake grass that they’ll fill as they search for their treats around the house — or yard.
Be sure to save a few items in case the outcome of the hunt is too lopsided, so you can sneak a few extra eggs into the “loser’s” basket to avoid the tears.
It’s not ALL about the food! What else can you put in an Easter basket?
Some parents may shudder at the thought of the Halloween-like candy overload that could result from Easter baskets limited to edible treats. So what else could you include?
Pretty much anything you like, really, as long as the kids enjoy it.
From CDs to games, books, cute notebooks, pens and erasers, it really could include anything that makes a nice stocking stuffer. It is that for Easter, it will go inside a basket.
It could even include small items of clothing or accessories, from socks to hair ornaments, jewelry, and more.
And don’t forget the gifts for parents and friends. Here, you definitely don’t have to limit yourself to bunnies and candy, though feel free to include them, along with a piece of jewelry of your choice, a new watch or fancy new electronic, and even new headphones in Easter egg colors. .
And of course, no one has decreed that all bunnies have to be edible. Some children will enjoy bunnies that will be their friends for months and even years. In fact, some people take “friends” literally and give live bunnies and even baby chicks. That’s not always a good idea, especially for other people’s children. Be sure to check with parents; they may not appreciate the extra work. If you like bunnies, remember that they grow up to be big rabbits, and even bigger bunnies if you’re not careful!
Preparing for an Easter Party
There are no real rules for what to serve for an Easter party. Unlike Thanksgiving, Easter doesn’t usually call Turkey. Instead, many families prepare a large ham, or a rack of lamb, or perhaps a rib roast. But it’s really up to you what you and your family enjoy – a vegetarian brunch might be a better fit for you.
Rather than include a recipe here, I’d like to encourage you to make your family favorites. There is something very comforting about gathering around the traditional festival each year.
However, when it comes to desserts, feel free to get creative and include some new items or decorations. Unless you have a favorite dessert that is a must.
What to do with all those hard-boiled eggs after Easter?
It’s actually kind of funny that there are basically three types of eggs that make up the Easter repertoire: chocolate eggs, caramel eggs, and hard-boiled eggs.
And, of course, we won’t have to worry about what to do with the first two categories: they’ll stick around for weeks, if need be. But they are not likely to survive that long.
Instead, it’s hard-boiled eggs. Once the novelty of the decorations has worn off, there will likely be leftovers in the baskets around the house.
So pick them up and incorporate them into your meals.
Here are some ideas on what to do with all those eggs:
a) Deviled eggs
Cut them in half, mix the yolks with your favorite combination of mustard, mayonnaise, seasoning, and your favorite spices, and fill them back into the egg white halves. Serve cold.
b) Sliced eggs as a topping for sandwiches
Just slice your eggs and use them to top sandwiches.
c) Egg Salad
Chop the eggs, mix them with mayonnaise, mustard and onions, or whatever else you want to include, and serve as a dip or on sandwiches.
d) Other salads
You can also serve them chopped up in chef’s salads and potato salads. You can combine egg slices with spinach and make a warm dressing. Just be creative!
There is no limit to what you can do. Take the ideas I suggested and build on them. Consider your family’s preferences and make sure you get everyone’s favorites, but also add some potential new favorites to the mix.
Most of all, have fun and have a very Happy Easter!
