Photo credit: MarthaStewart.com
Easter is less than two weeks away, so if you have any children in your house, now is a good time to be thinking about what the Easter Bunny is going to put in their baskets.
I’m sure you’re probably planning to hit one of the big box stores for bags and bags of candy, but have you thought about making your Easter Bunny a local rabbit? It’s a lot easier than you might think and the results will be a lot of fun.
One place I like to go to every year is Foods of All Nations because they always have the most amazing variety of candy from all over the world. My daughters are big fans of pretty much everything produced by Cadbury’s, so I’ve picked up some for them at Foods. However, while Foods is locally-owned, most of their yummy treats are made elsewhere and shipped to Virginia.
So what about Virginia-made goodies?
Gearhart’s is an obvious choice; however, while my 9- and 11-year-old daughters would be utterly thrilled to crack open a plastic Easter egg and find a Michigan Cherry or Vanilla Bean Brulee inside, a preschooler wouldn’t appreciate such riches. Other places that carry Virginia-made yummies are Feast, the Virginia Shop, and Rebecca’s. Shenandoah Joe’s next to Washington Park is now carrying Pandora Chocolates, which is a newer chocolate company that’s less familiar to local Charlottesville chocoholics.
Photo credit: LandofMarbles.com
Even though this is a local foods blog, I’ll just mention that our Easter Bunny isn’t all about the candy. He also includes fun little things like pencils, stickers, and little toys from Shenanigans and Alakazam. The Easter Bunny always includes a few marbles in my daughters’ plastic eggs. Rock Paper Scissors always has paper products that my girls love. And one year the Easter Bunny gave the girls new water bottles from Blue Ridge Mountain Sports.
One other resource you probably haven’t considered is the Charlottesville City Market. The market opens the Saturday before Easter and I’m planning to look for last-minute finds, such as C-ville Candy Company‘s delish nonpareils and fudge. (BTW, Feast now carries some of CCC’s products too.)
These are just a few ideas to get you started. While you probably won’t fill your children’s baskets with only locally-made goodies, why not try adding a few this year?
The author is not employed by or in any way affiliated with the businesses mentioned in this post.
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Great ideas for shopping local! I don’t put much candy in my kids baskets. I usually put in a new spring outfit (shorts and top), a new pair of sandals or a new swim suit. One year they really needed new underwear and socks so I bought them in spring colors that coordinated.
Great ideas!
For those of us looking for Easter confections in Northern Virginia, check out ACKC (formerly Kingsbury Chocolates) http://www.thecocoagallery.com and the Sugar Cube (both are located in Alexandria). Both have divine products.