A “Classic Meets Modern” Passover Menu

What's on your menu for Passover dinner this year? We're thinking poached salmon and matzo ball soup (of course), as well as some modern recipes like a layered matzo bake and deviled eggs with horseradish!

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How to Dye Easter Eggs Naturally

Hard-boiled eggs aren’t just one of the most nutritious foods around, but they also have the potential to be some of the most gorgeous. With a multitude of dyes, stickers, and patterns on the market, their decorative potential is endless. However, if you’ve outgrown those basic PAAS kits and are craving something a little more sophisticated this Easter season, why not try a more natural approach?

It turns out your can color your eggs using food-based ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen. As a sustainable, creative way to make use of leftovers, it’s hard to say no. After all, what else are you going to do with those old onions or that last sip of grape juice in the bottle?  Below are six of the best ways to wet your toes, err, we mean eggs, in the natural dye arena.

Grape Juice 

Earth to Eats

By mixing one cup of grape juice with one tablespoon of white vinegar, you can turn your eggs a lovely shade of lavender. Let them soak for at least 15-20 minutes to let the color really sink in. Get the Grape Juice Dye recipe.

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Red Wine

Everyday Talks

If a darker purple is what you’re after, you’ll have to go for something a little harder. Red wine is sure to do the trick. Plus, you can pour yourself a drink while coloring your eggs. That’s always a bonus! Get the Red Wine Dye recipe.

Turmeric

Mommypotamus

Turns out the trendiest spice of the year is also super useful in the egg dyeing department. If you’ve ever wanted a golden egg, here’s how to get it. Just add one tablespoon of turmeric per two tablespoons of vinegar to achieve this vibrant yellow color. Get the Turmeric Dye recipe.

Beets

Design Mom

Finally, a good use for beets! Just kidding, we love the earthy vegetable, but only in small doses. While this dye takes a little longer to prepare (the beets require advanced boiling), it’s totally worth it to get the array of pink and red shades it provides. Get the Beet Dye recipe.

Red Cabbage

Collecting Tokens

This might seem counterintuitive, but get this—red cabbage turns eggs blue! Depending on how long you let the eggs soak, you can even get a vibrant turquoise color out of it. Who would have figured?! Get the Red Cabbage Dye recipe.

Onion Skins

Ciao Florentina

Next time you peel onions, don’t throw out the skins! When soaked overnight, they can work as a natural dye to provide a rich orange color to your Easter eggs.  Get the Red Onion Dye recipe.

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Related Video: How Are Fresh Eggs Different?

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Give Your Sponge a Bath

Let’s talk dirty, shall we? If you don’t take care to properly clean and replace your kitchen sponges, you risk spreading bacteria around your cooking surfaces.

All kinds of nasty germs – salmonella, E. coli, listeria, and more – love the moist, porous surface of a dirty sponge. And it’s not just when wiping up meat juices – veggies can carry this bacteria too.

To avoid giving your dinner party guests food poisoning, follow the below rules of thumb:

1. Scrub a dub dub

With regular use, you should be cleaning your sponges every day or two (or right away after an especially dirty task). And by cleaning, we don’t just mean giving it a rinse in soapy water. Here are three methods to kill bacteria in sponges:

Bleach soak: soak your sponge in a solution of one part bleach to nine parts water for a couple minutes. Then rinse the sponge in water, wring it out to get rid of excess solution, and air dry. This method is proven the most effective. To make it simpler, you can keep a jug of the mixed solution below your sink, and pour a little into a bowl every time your sponge needs sanitizing.

The dishwasher: drop your sponge into a heated dry cycle any time you think it needs a deep clean.

The microwave: Soak your sponge (not the kind with metallic scrub pads!) completely in water and microwave for 1-2 minutes. The heat from the microwave will boil the water and zap the sponge’s microbes. But be careful: unless it’s completely soaked, you run the risk of starting a fire in your microwave. If you go this route, make sure to let the hot sponge cool properly after zapping.

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2. Air dry

Bacteria loves moisture, so make sure to store your sponge in a way that allows it to dry completely. Use a countertop sponge holder that lets in air from all sides so it can drain, or clip the sponge into a binder clip and stand it up by the sink. You can even store sponges in the dishwasher so they’re out of the way and ready to clean when you run a regular cycle.

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Keeping it cute and dry with a countertop caddy that holds your sponge away from the spray.

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3. When in doubt, throw it out

If you disinfect your sponge after each use, it should last about four to six weeks, at which point it will likely have reached the end of its lifespan. But if at any point, it’s starting to smell, disintegrate or get slimy, chuck it.

4. Prolong its life span

Aside from regular disinfecting and proper air-drying, you can get more out of your sponges by cutting them in half – the smaller size can help you reach tougher-to-clean areas.

When wiping up bacteria-laden juices from raw meats, give the sponge a break: use clean paper towels and throw them out immediately.

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Related Video: How to Clean Your Sponge

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A Brief History of Cadbury Creme Egg’s Many Controversies

What is it about Cadbury Creme Eggs? Has any candy inspired equal measures of rabid loyalty and fierce consternation, often by the same people? Whether you love them or loathe them, you definitely have an opinion about the chocolate eggs filled with white and yellow fondant.

The candy is a springtime favorite and every season more and more news stories abound with people obsessively gobbling the things down or boycotting them as if they were the devil themselves. (We swear this never happens with jelly beans or Peeps.) How did this seemingly innocuous treat garner one of the most polarizing reputations in the candy kingdom—even before they were mixed into mayonnaise?

For that we turn to history.

Do they taste different in the U.K.?

Cadbury Creme Eggs, as we know them today, have been around since 1971. However, there have been subtle international differences in taste and quality over the decades. In the United States, they’re produced by Mondelēz International, a division of Kraft, and marketed by Hershey’s. In the United Kingdom, they’re made by Cadbury U.K. and, in Canada, by Cadbury Adams.

Cadbury Creme Eggs, $3.48 at Walmart

The iconic eggs (American-style).

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This might not seem like a big deal, but to more well-traveled candy lovers, these variations in manufactures account for very specific, noticeable differences. For instance, the U.K. eggs lack high fructose corn syrup, since that’s banned in Britain. Supposedly the fondant filling is thicker in texture as a result.

During an appearance on Nick Grimshaw’s Radio 1 breakfast show last year, pop star Lorde voiced her very clear preference, “I love to indulge in a Creme Egg, and I’ve been in America and the chocolate is not very good in America…I was excited to come to the UK and snack on a little Creme Egg.”(It should be noted that the UK versions have been imported to her native New Zealand since 2009, when they ceased manufacturing them in her home country.) She even sang a parody version of her hit song “Green Light” declaring her love for the candy. Check it out below:

Some might claim there is nothing controversial about personal preferences regarding the origins of chocolate. And you’re right. Lorde’s song is just one example of just how loyal individuals can get over something really mundane. But these loyalties matter.  And these larger controversies illustrate a broader layer of nostalgic defensiveness that Cadbury eaters exemplify. Nobody wants their candy to change, and you’ll bet we’ll notice when they do!

Are they shrinking?

One of the biggest controversies the egg has endured is the never-ending, conspiracy theory that they’ve gotten smaller over the years. Cadbury initially denied these claims. A FAQ from a 2003 version of their website had this feisty quip: “Why has the size of the egg changed? It hasn’t—you’ve just grown up!” Wow, sassy.

However, when actor, writer, and everyone’s favorite temp from “The Office,” B.J. Novak, appeared on Conan O’Brien’s late night show in 2007, he gave credence to this theory, displaying two Cadbury eggs—one from 2005 and one from 2007. The latter definitely looks larger. See for yourself in the video below:

Cadbury has since changed the language on their site to read “since people’s preferences vary from market to market, so do our products,” which is a really shifty way of saying the eggs can be as big or as small as they please. We’ll try not to get bogged down by semantic, but trust us, size does matter.

Did they change the Cadbury Creme Egg recipe?

In addition to size and country of origin, there’s one other factor that gets eggheads caught up in a tizzy, and that of course is the recipe itself. In 2016, according to reports in The Sun, Kraft Foods stopped using Cadbury’s Dairy Milk for the shell and replaced it with “standard cocoa mix chocolate.” Cue a firestorm of social media outrage. Cadbury lovers will accept no substitutes, especially when they’re cheaper than the beloved original. Because of the disapproval, as well as a shorter Easter season, Cadbury sales plummeted and the company reported a loss of £6 million, a seven percent drop from previous years.

Of course their annual sales still top 200 million pounds, so obviously people keep eating this chocolate. Even in its watered-down form, these eggs remain the fondant of the gods. And people are finding even more creative ways of eating them than ever. One U.K. fish and chip shop is battering and frying the candies. This pizza shop is even incorporating them into dessert pies. While there’s clearly no wrong way to eat a Cadbury Creme Egg, the past has shown, there clearly is a wrong way to make them. But that won’t stop us from eating them anyway.

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Ham and Asparagus Quiche

This Ham and Asparagus Quiche is terrific for a springtime brunch, Easter dinner, or even just a weeknight meal. Make it up to three days ahead and serve it room temperature or warmed up.

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What’s the Difference Between Green Onions, Chives, and Scallions?

Matzo Bake with Apples and Sweet Potatoes

Need a make-ahead dish for Passover dinner? Let this sweet and satisfying matzo bake with apples and sweet potatoes be your saving grace! Serve it on the side with brisket or roast chicken.

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