April marks the 15th anniversary of my blog, so I will be sharing previous posts this month for the A-Z Challenge, drawn from the over 2,000 I have written.
When I first planned this post, I thought it would be for Saturday, the day before Easter. But I was mixed up. However, I think it's still okay to post today, the day after Easter, as the main topic is the jelly beans. Originally, I did this post in 2019 for "J" during the A-Z Challenge, but I've adapted it for "E".
At the end, there will be an Extra section about something we saw yesterday.
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The techniques for making jelly beans have been around for hundreds of years, but when they were first made is uncertain. One thing people seem to agree on is that the first time they were mentioned in writing in the US was in 1861 by William Schrafft, a candy maker, who encouraged people to send jelly beans to the troops. In 1905, they were selling for 9 cents/pound in Chicago.
Did you know that jelly beans weren't associated with Easter until the 1930's when someone decided they looked like eggs, as well as beans? Before that, they were considered a Christmas candy, and even today, after Easter, Christmas is the next most popular time for jelly bean consumption. That is a fact that is broadening my horizons because I have never associated jelly beans with Christmas. However, a quick Google search showed that there are plenty of people out there who are happy to sell you red and green jelly beans, so there must be something to it.
And speaking of jelly beans looking like eggs, when I think of jelly beans, I always think of eggs. Never as beans, which now seems curious since they are called jelly beans. However, when I mentioned the Christmas and Easter facts about the candies to Ward, he said he guessed that they could look like eggs, but he always thinks of them as beans, because after all, they are called beans. And after all of these years of marriage, who knew we had such differing ideas about jelly beans? :)
One of my thoughts for this post was that maybe I could make some homemade jelly beans and share my experience. I had no idea how to make them, but since it's the day of Google and YouTube, I thought there would be some easy instructions to find. And I was right. There were several recipes involving gelatin, sugar, candy thermometers, and lots of time for drying. (Here's my favorite.) It would have been an interesting experiment, but I should have thought of it before last night.
I had a few more things to share on the subject, like Jelly Bellies were the first jelly beans to add the flavor to the inside instead of just in the coating, but I think this post has reached its natural conclusion. I'm hungry now, and I don't think anything will satisfy me except jelly beans. And I may not even wait until they are marked down after Easter to buy some.
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E is also for Extra Easter Candy.
A neighboring town features a Peeps show every year as a fundraiser for the Arts Council. Yes, I mean those kinds of Peeps--those marshmallowy little chicks and bunnies that make a grand appearance every Easter. This year, we got to see the show for the first time. There were 196 entries of all kinds of imaginative things done with Peeps or a Peeps theme. They were made by kids, adults, charities, nursing homes, artists, and anyone who had an inclination. Below are a few pictures from our visit to the Peep show.
Until next time..
This seems like a perfect day to highlight Easter candy. I had no idea there was so much history behind jelly beans. I think they look more like beans, but I also understand the egg connection.
ReplyDeleteThe Peep show (hahaha, that was unintentional, but now I'm laughing at myself) was astounding. Who knew how many things could be made from Peeps? And do they come in all those colors? There are a lot of varieties of them out there, but I didn't realize there were THAT many. Years ago, when I helped with our youth group, the leader had the kids make structures out of Peeps and toothpicks. As you can imagine, it was a sticky mess, but they had fun. None of the structures looked anything like the ones you pictured. That took a lot of planning and, dare I say it, artistry?
I've always thought jelly beans looked like beans but maybe I'm used to seeing those bean-shape kind or had I confused them with other candies?
ReplyDeleteThat is a nice easter candy show. I guess you can make anything out of anything.
Have a lovely day.