susan sprague diamond
Years ago, I interviewed a local candy vendor. The person said customers shop at his store twice every Easter season. When holiday candy first hit the shelves, it was meant to be eaten right away and then again a few weeks later to fill family baskets for the holidays.
understood. As a lifelong fan, I know Easter treats are the best.
The rest of the country knows it too. Easter is her second best-selling holiday among candy. Only Halloween brings in more sales. In a typical year, Americans spend nearly $2 billion on Easter candy.
By weight, Americans bought about 146 million pounds of candy in the week before Easter. This equates to almost half a pound for every man, woman, and child. And we know it won’t all fit into an Easter basket.
Part of the fun of Easter candy when I was a kid was that stores would offer items that weren’t available any other time of the year. Now you can buy jelly beans and marshmallow peeps in various shapes all year round. Coconut cream and other popular egg candies also appear in different forms during other seasons. But you can count on some items for Easter alone. Cadbury Cream and other egg candies and chocolate his bunnies are among them.
For those who love homemade sweets, local chocolate shops are buzzing with activity. Once this weekend is over, they’ll be putting away their Easter chocolate molds until next year. His Stutz Candy Company in Warrington has been making Easter candy for more than 80 years. Raymer’s Homemade Candies have been made for over 50 years, first in Wisconsin and since 2001 in Doylestown. Pierre’s Chocolate has been sweetening New His Hope for over 35 years.
Just as dyeing boiled eggs is a tradition in many families, some families find time to make their own Easter treats. You may not want to make marshmallow chicks yourself, but it’s easy to mix peanut butter or coconut cream with eggs, form them into shapes, and dip them in chocolate. Some recipes, such as Tasteofhome.com’s Swallow’s Nest and Pretzel Nest, can be made with the help of children as long as they are melted under adult supervision.
bird’s nest snack
1/4 cup cubed butter
4 1/2 cups mini marshmals
bass
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
4 cups yakisoba noodles
1 cup jelly beans or egg candy
1. Melt the butter and marshmallows in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Add peanut butter and chocolate chips. Heat and stir for 2 minutes or until smooth. Remove from heat. Stir chow mein noodles until well coated.
2. Divide into 12 equal pieces on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Using your fingers, shape each piece into a nest shape. Press the depression in the center of the nest. Fill each nest with three or four jelly beans or egg candies. nice.
pretzel bird nest
2 packages (10-12 oz)
each) white baking chips
1 package of pretzels (10 oz)
stick
24 yellow peeps chicks
1 package (12 oz) M&Ms
eggs or other egg-shaped objects
candy
1. In a large metal bowl, boil water and dissolve baking chips. Stir until smooth. Reserve 1/2 cup of the melted chips for garnish. Please stay warm.
2. Add pretzel sticks to remaining melted chips. Stir to coat evenly. Drop the mixture onto 24 mounds of it on wax paper. Use two forks to create a bird’s nest shape.
3. Dip the bottom of the Peeps into the melted chips. Place it in the nest. Add the remaining chips to the eggs. Leave it until it hardens.
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