Ordering Foods for a Polish Easter Basket

One of the most beloved holiday traditions in my family is our Polish Easter basket, filled with traditional foods, each of which has a spiritual meaning.  You can read about the basket and the symbolism here and you can read how my family puts it together in my guest post on Catholic Icing from a couple of years ago.

For those of you who keep this lovely tradition or would like to start it in your family, I thought I would put together a resource list for obtaining or creating some of the traditional items.  I  have listed each of the traditional foods (and its meaning), along with some links for each.  Do be sure to check the shipping schedule for each company, in order to make sure you receive your items in time for Easter.

Butter Lamb (the Lamb of God) - Monastery Greetings has several beautiful wooden molds, which could easily be displayed as well as used.

This is the plastic mold that my mom and I have used for years, which is $10.95 from the Polish Art Center.  It can be used to mold chocolate as well.

Eggs (Pysanky (Resurrection and New Life) - You can get a kit to make traditional Pysanky and even a video to help you through the process.  I got this kit for $9.99 when a wonderful lady at our church taught a class a couple of years ago.

I love that they also have a kit for kids to learn the traditional egg decorating process.  It is $27.95 from Polish Art Center.

If you want to go the simple route, try some of the easy Pysanky egg wraps.  Monastery Greetings lets you choose from Ukranian, Polish/Slovak/Hungarian, or Slovak Pin Art designs. for $3.56 per pack.

You can also purchase beautiful handmade wooden Pysanky eggs to display year after year.

Kielbasa (sausage) (God's favor and generosity) - You can probably buy Polish sausage at your grocery store or market, but if you really want to go authentic, you can also order it.  My dad has ordered from Buffalo Foods in the past, which has a variety of mouth-watering sausages.  Do note that their minimum order is $75 for air shipping (on perishable foods), so this might be a special treat.

Buffalo Foods also sells many of the other Easter foods, including butter lambs, hams, horseradish, and even my favorite, pierogis.

Basket Covers - The Polish Art Center has a number of beautiful cloths for as low as $7.95, many of them handmade in Poland.

I also like this embroidered Basket Cover with Cross for $24.95.

Candle (The Light of the World) -  The Polish Art Center has a number of pure Beeswax candles in all shapes, many of them made by a charitable organization in Poland.

I love this pure beeswax "Easter Lamb" candle for just $4.50.

And look at this beautiful Hand Decorated Boleslawiec 66 Hour Candle for $24.95.

These Easter pillar candles actually smell like Easter lillies and range in price from $14.95-$24.95, depending on size.

The other traditional foods include bread (Paska or Babka), horseradish, ham, bacon, salt, and cheese, but these are probably easiest to make yourself or obtain at your local market.

Even if your ancestry is not Polish, I would encourage any family to take advantage of an Easter basket blessing if it offered in your area.  It is a beautiful way to add meaning to your Easter feasts and treats.