Memes and More

SHARING IS CARING: Today while driving around, for whatever reason it occurred to me that a lot of info the kids and I share never makes it to these pages. And often that info takes the form of us sending one another memes and messages and videos via text or Facebook messenger. 

Often the tidbits are interesting factoids (see above), and recipes. For instance, I recently saw this online. ... "Need Baby Yoda at your holiday gathering?"

Why yes, yes we do. ...

Well then, "Try my Baby Yoda deviled eggs recipe!" wrote someone named Cressie Teague Lewis, and somehow that someone made it into my Facebook feed like four times in one day. (Turns out many of my friends are also Star Wars fans.)  Following is Cressie's photo, and recipe. 

Ingredients:
* 10 hard boiled eggs
* 1/4 cup of Duke’s Mayo (may need more for smoother consistency)
* 2 tsp of Honey Mustard
* Salt/Pepper/Garlic Powder or your favorite seasoning
* Peppercorns for the eyes
* 2-3 celery stalks for ears
* 6 drops of green gel food coloring or more to reach your deserved shade of green.

Instructions:
1. Boil eggs for 15 minutes. Drain eggs and immediately place in a bowl of ice water and peel OR place eggs in InstaPot and use the 5-5-5 method: Put 1 cup of water in the bottom of the InstaPot and use the included metal rack to hold the eggs. Cook on Manual Pressure for 5 minutes, then natural Release for 5 minutes followed by 5 minutes in ice water. Peel eggs.
2. Cut eggs in half and take out the yolks. Cut a few of the whites in quarters for the top of the Yoda carriage. Set aside.
3. Add the mayo, mustard, salt & pepper, green food coloring to the yolks.
4. Mix well or use a hand held mixer to achieve a smooth consistency.
5. Place yolk mixture in a piping bag or ziplock bag and cut a hole in the corner.
6. Pipe a little into the pockets of the egg white halves. Pipe closer to the edge verses the middle. Add a small amount of to back edge of egg to hold the top of the carriage.
7. Add two tiny peppercorns as eyes and cut pieces of celery for the ears. Triangle shapes work great.
8. Cover and refrigerate before serving.
9. Protect Baby Yoda from hungry mouths!

Recipe and photo credit: Cressie Teague Lewis 

A lot of what the kids and I share are 'life hack' videos. For instance, a friend recently sent me this video about alternative ways to wrap presents, and I forwarded it on to Annabelle, who tends to love videos like this. 


In fact, just a couple of days before, Annabelle sent me a video from Blossom, which bills itself as "your cheat sheet for creative and unique DIY projects, mixed with daily life fixes that keep you and your family in mind." 

I think Blossom is my new favorite 'life hack' resource. Look at these clever gift ideas! (I really love the tea bag tree - so cute!)


GETTING AHEAD:  This Thursday, the kids and I will head down to Kent Elementary School for what has become a holiday tradition since Rick started teaching there. We'll be making melted snowman cookies with a class of third graders. 

While Rick has moved on from that school (all the way on to Vegas, in fact), the kids and I still visit the school once a year to spread some holiday cheer with kids who might not otherwise get to do something like that. We bring *everything* along that they'll need for the project. Our first step is making the cookies and snowman heads. While I made dough and hand cut cookies, CJ and Annabelle rolled Rice Krispies heads, 30 in all.

That work out of the way, now we have about 12 pounds of fondant to make. That's going to be a workout, and a mess.