Easter has come and gone in Santa Barbara. There are still lingering signs that it was
here, but mostly at grocery stores in the form of half-deflated mylar balloons and
discounted peeps. In my home were two Easter
baskets still full with uneaten candy. Each
year, my wife and I find ourselves buying too much candy. If it doesn’t end up in the baskets, it ends
up in a zip bag in our pantry (usually on a high shelf such that it cannot be
found easily by small hands). With a
surplus of this sort comes the dilemma of what to do with all of this candy.
Step 1) Take a careful audit – determine how much of each
type of candy you have remaining. If it
can be used elsewhere in other projects later in the year, then keep it with
your other baked good ingredients. Jelly
beans scream “Easter leftovers” but they also make good cupcake or cake
decorations later.
Step 2) Bring what you can to work. Chances are that your place of employment has
some sort of candy dish somewhere. It’s
high time that you made a large deposit after so many small withdrawals. The perfect type of candies here are individually
wrapped like small licorice, Starburst or Nerds.
Step 3) Candy Shake! If
the kids are being difficult at dinner, announce a special dessert if they finish
their meal. Assuming that this has
convinced them, get out the blender, some ice cream and milk. It won’t take long to build the
excitement. Now, have them collect their
uneaten chocolate candies. Let them know
that they must contribute to make the candy shake. Those familiar of the story of stone soup
might have thought it only to be a fable.
Have the kids shuck the pastel foils that surround any candies covered
by them. With all of their candy tossed
into the blender, it’s time to blend and pour.
In one fail swoop, all of your remaining candy is gone!
My daughter wisely saw right through my ploy this year. I was disappointed (mostly in myself) but
told her that she could opt out of handing over her candy but that she wouldn’t
be able to participate in a cup of the candy shake. She still held out until the pouring of the
shakes began. After a quick surrender of
her remaining candy, we all had a great dessert and the candy has disappeared.
If you’re stuck with a stockpile of delicious and tempting
sugar that you don’t feel comfortable throwing away outright, consider this
post and get out your blender!
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