Growing up in Pennsylvania, my Grammy Yocom would always throw the best Easter egg hunts. It was always cause for trampling my Poppy’s newly-bloomed daffodils as we searched for our ever-elusive Easter baskets. My Grammy was the queen of Easter baskets, choosing not to fill them with hard-boiled eggs, but each of our personal favorite treats. I’ve been allergic to chocolate since I was a child, so for me she would always tuck in jelly beans, marshmallow Peeps, and a white chocolate bunny (she had tried carob one year... that was a huuuuge mistake that she never repeated!). My cousin Greg would always get a huge, one-pound peanut butter or coconut egg (this was before all of the candy companies started making Easter versions of their candies) so what amounted to an enormous Reese's peanut butter cup was a huge treat.
When I moved to California and became a nanny, I started the tradition with the children that I baby sat. In fact, up until two years ago when they left for college, I would still make the early morning pilgrimage to Sam and Hannah’s every Easter, where I would secretly stow baskets on their front porch. Which leads me to believe that you are never too old for an Easter basket!
Everyone loves a little treat, and a basket is the perfect thing to fill; it’s not too big, it’s not too small, it’s just right for a few sweets and an “I love you.” So this Easter, why not try putting together baskets for the ones you love? You could theme them according to their tastes and hobbies. For example...
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