Festivals of Love, Water Fights and Scrambled Eggs- how do you welcome Spring?!
It’s officially Spring, which means more sunshine, warm(er) temperatures and time spent outside is on our horizon! Cultures around the globe have different traditions for welcoming the new season, some of which are very unique. Easter and Passover celebrations are most common to those of us in North American, but read on to discover several interesting Spring Equinox celebrations that may be new to you (and possibly inspire a future trip to check it out in person?!).
India’s Color-Drenching Spring Festival
Holi, sometimes called “the festival of love,” is one of the most celebrated festivals for people of the Hindu community in India and takes place just before the turn of the seasons (March 29th in 2021). It brings entire communities together for one giant party. Celebrants light bonfires, throw colorful powder called gulal, eat sweets, and dance to traditional folk music.
It is an explosion of joy and vibrant color and celebrates the season’s many hues as well as marking the end of winter and honoring the triumph of good over evil.
If you need a little more color in your life try making one of theses layered Spring smoothies:
Spring Rainbow Smoothie
Smoothies are a great way to engage your kids young and old. Challenge your family to create their own combinations and everyone can push the buttons of a blender. It’s always fun to guess what color the smoothie will end up!
Tips
If your layering the smoothies we suggest the bottom layer be left a bit thicker. Thin out the top layers a bit more with milk (or your liquid of choice) so the layers will not sink into each other. Sometimes we will freeze small jars of smoothies during the week so that on the weekend we can pull out a rainbow of colors to combine after they have defrosted slightly! We used a thick wooden skewer to poke a hole in the decorative PEEP before placing the straw through. Get creative and use the ingredient suggestions below to create your own colors.
Ingredients
Liquid: Our go-to liquid is generally an unsweetened plant based milk like oat, almond or coconut or coconut water. Dairy based milk works great too.
Base fruits: Frozen banana’s are our favorite base fruit as it supplies extra creaminess to the final texture. We also love mangoes, peaches, pineapple and all berries.
Veggies: we think one heaping handful of greens (spinach and kale are favorites) is perfect as you generally don’t even taste them. Be sure that you don’t add more greens than fruit or other ingredients. We like to blend the greens and liquid first before adding remaining ingredients.
Ratios: to keep your blender happy make sure that your fruit-to-liquid ratio is around one-to-one, or one-to-two. Always have more liquid than solids.
Thickeners: The easiest thickener is to add frozen solids like fruit. Other options are fats like yogurt, tofu, avocado, nut butters, seeds and oats. Ice works too!
Flavor boosters: Vanilla, cinnamon and cocoa powders, turmeric, ginger and matcha are some of our favorites. Sweeteners like maple syrup, honey, agave and dates used sparingly as fruit is generally sweet.
Protein boost- along with nut butters we also like to add a scoop of protein powder. Take note that “green” based powders do effect the color of your smoothie!
Rainbow colored Smoothie Instructions:
1. For each individual smoothie, place your chosen ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. If the smoothie is too thick, thin it out by adding more milk.
2. Once the smoothies have been blended, pour into clear cups, alternating the different flavors and colors for each layer.
3. Garnish with a colorful straw and Peep for that Spring vibe!
The Worlds Biggest Friendly Water Fight in Thailand
Thailand’s national new year’s celebration occurs shortly after the spring equinox. People all over the islands and cities celebrate by throwing water everywhere and on everyone. The Songkran Water Festival (Starting on April 13th in 2021) originates from the spring cleaning aspect of Songkran (based on a Sanskrit word for “astrological passage”). Traditionally, part of the ritual was the cleaning of images of Buddha. Using the 'blessed' water that cleaned the images to soak other people is seen as a way of paying respect and bringing good fortune. Symbolically it washes away the previous year so people can get ready for the next one. Nowadays Thai’s will walk the streets having 'water fights' using containers of water or water guns, or stand at the side of roads with a hose and soak anyone who passes by. It’s HOT in Thailand in April- what a fun way to celebrate!
A favorite Spring recipe for lunch or appetizers are these fresh Thai Spring Rolls:
Thai Fresh Spring Rolls
You can prep the veggies several hours or up to 1 day in advance, and store them in an air-tight container. The spring roll wrappers tend to dry out with time, so spring rolls are tastiest assembled shortly before serving. If you’d like to prep ahead and keep them fresh for an hour or two, store them under a lightly damp, paper towel at room temperature (the skin tends to harden in the refrigerator).
Ingredients
The filling ingredients are extremely flexible depending on your preferences and seasonal availability of ingredients. Here are our favorite filling combinations:
2 ounces thin rice noodles
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 cup very thinly sliced red cabbage
1 head butter lettuce, thick ribs removed
2 medium carrots shredded or cut into julienne
2 mini cucumbers cut into julienne
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, mint leaves, chives
8 sheets of round rice paper wrappers
Optional protein of 16 cooked shrimp (sliced in half lengthwise)
Peanut Sauce
This sauce can be made up to a day in advance.
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter (we love using thisHawaiian coconut peanut butter). *Can sub almond butter to make peanut free!
2 T. rice vinegar
2 T. coconut aminos or soy sauce
2 T. honey or maple syrup
1 T. toasted sesame oil
2 to 3 T. water as needed to thin
INSTRUCTIONS
Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the noodles just until al dente, according to package directions. Drain, rinse them under cool water, and return them to the pot. Off the heat, toss the noodles with the sesame oil, and set aside.
Fill a shallow pan (a pie pan or 9″ round cake pan works great) with an inch of hot water. Place a cutting board next to the dish. Make sure your prepared fillings are within reach.
Place one rice paper in the water and let it rest for about 20 seconds, give or take. Gently press the water into the wrapper—wait until the sheet is pliable but not super floppy. Carefully lay it flat on the cutting board.
Leaving about 1 inch of open rice paper around the edges, In the lower third I like to place the shrimp down first (if using) as well as the herbs as they will be what shows visually once the wrapper is rolled. Cover the shrimp/herbs with a leaf of butter lettuce, followed by a small handful of rice noodles, some cabbage, and a few strips of carrot and cucumber.
Fold the lower edge up over the fillings, rolling upward just until the filling is compactly enclosed. Fold over the short sides like you would to make a burrito. Lastly, roll it up. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
To make the peanut sauce:In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, rice vinegar, coconut aminos or soy sauce, honey and sesame oil. Whisk in 2 to 3 tablespoons water, as needed to make a super creamy but dip-able sauce.
Serve the spring rolls with peanut sauce on the side. You can serve them whole, or sliced in half on the diagonal with a sharp knife.
Bosnia’s Festival of Scrambled Eggs
Springtime and eggs have a long association, the egg is a symbol of the birth of new life promised by the return of warm weather. At the beginning of Spring, Bosnians in the town of Zenica celebrate Cimburijada, which literally means “the festival of scrambled eggs.” Residents of the city gather together around giant pots of eggs. They break bread—and eggs—together in the park and in picnic spots by the river. Who wouldn’t want to join friends and family for an outdoor breakfast on one of the first warm days of the year?!
If you can’t make it to Zenica this year, share this fun, family friendly recipe that is based around scrambled eggs:
Waffle Iron Biscuits with eggs and hot honey (Makes 8 biscuits)
SO EASY!
This is a family favorite that can be switched up according to taste with the addition of hot sauce, skipping the honey, or even adding cooked finely diced bacon or ham to the eggs. If you want to skip the eggs placing your favorite jam between the biscuits is yummy too!
Ingredients:
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon milk (plant or dairy)
Oil or butter for the pan to prevent sticking
1/4 cup shredded cheddar or pepper jack cheese
Salt, pepper and seasoning to taste
1 tube of refrigerated biscuit dough (we like Immaculate or Annie’s brand)
Mike’s Hot Honey (warm it up in a small sauce pan with the addition of some fresh thyme leaves to take it up a notch)
Sriracha for those who like it spicy
Instructions:
Heat a medium non-stick skillet over medium low heat. Add a bit of oil or butter to pan to prevent sticking.
Crack the eggs into a medium bowl and whisk together with the milk, salt and pepper.
Add eggs to warm pan and scramble the eggs until just slightly wet. Stir in the cheese and remove from the heat. *If adding cooked, chopped bacon fold in to egg mixture here.
Heat the waffle iron and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Butterfly each biscuit by running a sharp serrated knife through the middle of the biscuit just to the other side. Do not fully split the biscuit in half.
Stuff the biscuits with the eggs and press the edges to seal the eggs inside.
Place a biscuit in the waffle iron and gently close the lid. Don't press it fully closed. Let cook for one minute.
After one minute, press down on the waffle iron and continue cooking for about two more minutes.
Remove from the waffle iron and continue cooking the remaining biscuits. If making a double batch you can place cooked biscuits on a baking sheet in a warm oven until ready to serve.
Top each biscuit with a drizzle of Mike’s Hot Honey or honey of choice.
Spring festivals await us! Cheers to kicking off your Spring with joy, gratitude, time spent outdoors and a new recipe or two.