HI i just saw heaps of choc bunnies etc on the ntolerance website. DS is only 2yo and our 1st so i dont think we will do anything food wise for him for easter.. what age has everyone else started? understandable if you have older siblings and dont want the younger to feel left out i think but DS wont know and not worth risking the eczema flare up me thinks...

This is our first and DS1 is 5, DS2 is 3.5 and DD is 13 months. DS2 is our allergy kid but DS1's first easter he was only 15 months old so too little and his 2nd one DS2 was already born so we didn't do it. So I think you're right, he won't have a clue!

If you did want to something you could try something like getting some plastic eggs and you could get him to paint them, or get some coloured foil, draw and cut out a big egg shape and do a collage with foil, all sorts of craft type things that he could do at his age and it won't involve food?

Personally I've never worried about easter so I wouldn't bother in your situation!

I think it was ages before we did Easter too. Family use to give DS a stuffed bunny or something but there was no point as DS1 was allergic to milk and egg. I have a photo of DS1 and 2 eating easter eggs together so they must have been 18 months and four years old before we seriously did Easter.

mum2alex - thank you for that. Will have a look tomorrow!

I am considering making marshmallows and trying an easter egg shape. Although the marshmallow I usually make from the Edmonds cookbook are quite heavy I would love to know if anyone has a light recipe or some tips to get more air into them. Cheers

We usually buy the kids a toy rather than food (due to limited diet). Oh to be normal!

I have made the Edmonds recipe twice now. The first time I thought it was nice, though not quite as fluffy as the store bought ones, but the second time I made them it was absolute heaven! They just collapsed in your mouth and you could hear all the air bubbles bursting! Here's the problem..... not so sure I know what I did differently! My guess is that I didn't cook the mixture quite so long and/or I beat it for quite a long time once it had cooled. I haven't made it again to test those theories though, but am going to make a batch soon as I'm attempting to make some rocky road ice cream!

I noticed that Kmart have easter sets. My DS1 wants the one with a Toy Story bowel, cup, spoon and hollow egg. I told him that the egg contained diary and he said "that is ok, I will give the egg to Dad".

Sometimes I think I over compensate and stress about things that are not important to DS1. Last week I asked if he wanted me to bake him a chocolate cake/muffin for his friends birthday party. He said he would rather have a packet of fish jellies. I dont think my cooking is that bad?!

For those in Wgtn - today I found some Sweet William and Alpha easter eggs at Common Sense Organics in town. Egg, nut, diary and wheat free.

They also had a few other brands with different allergen exclusions.

awww that's so sweet. My DS1 was like that too. Often he'd just go without the cake at birthday parties - it didn't seem to bother him that much... DS3 is a little different though. He accepts that he can't have it but he definitely likes an alternative. This Easter it will be very interesting to see how he reacts to giving and recieving of chocolate eggs.


Marshmallow - last time I made it, it was really heavy and flat and quite sticky. Not really sure what went wrong there but I think the secret is in the beating and I'm going to hunt out my grandmother's recipe from her old (30 years at least) sunbeam mixer recipe book and see if that has a few hints.

I just got an email from my Allergy Support Group and she said that KMart still has some Kinnertons dairy free easter eggs. Not sure which one though.

As for marshmallow, I made some today and it didn't turn out as fantastically as my last one, bit like 3boys describes. But I think I beat it for too long and didn't wait for it to cool long enough. So my tips would be don't boil longer than 15 mins, and I only have my element on gentle heat which still gets the mixture to a boil, stir it often or constantly, let it cool till lukewarm, don't beat too soon! And don't beat too long, just till it's thick and white and then stop straight away. Overbeating I think makes it flat and rubbery?

Just what I'm thinking but I could be totally wrong as I'm no Martha!

Interesting tips on the marshmallows thanks. I remember discussing it with another allergy mum now and I'm going to use a a bread beater rather than a normal mixer in the cake mixer to see if it get more air in. I shall try not overcooking the mixture too. Thanks for your ideas, and I'd love to hear any other tips for fluffy and light marshmallows. Cheers

Hope I'm not repeating anything already in this forum, but in the gluten free section of my New World supermarket, I can buy gluten and dairy free chocolate, both dark and milk chocolate. I can't remember the brand name off hand but can find out if anybody wants. It is free of something else also which escapes my memory just now.