Belated Eggstravaganza post

How long ago was Easter? My artist friend V invited me to her house for Eggstravaganza again. I got to meet a locally famous artist at her house, and oh my, I had so much fun. We, adults, colored and decorated eggs while we visit. But this is not just simple soaking eggs in colored water....it's pretty serious. It's all fun, but you know, we'd spend at least half hour or so per egg. I decorated 3 eggs in 2 hours...

 Here is a pic of V's collection from past Eggstravaganza.

 Not a good shot, but my battery was dying on me...

 Eggs drying on egg drying board she made (I think she pinned on grid-drawn form).
Again, not a good pic *sigh*

 And these 3 are the one I made this year. I probably should have done them in emptied eggs, but I didn't think much...oh well. 

The look was going for the blue was the Ukrainian folk art of wax-and-dye method. V even had the kit to do it! But it seemed involve a bit too much. So I went for crayon-and-dye method instead.  I was really happy how the cherry blossom one turned out to be though. Isn't that pretty???
It's a lot of crayon-and-dipping-and-drying. Every time the egg came out the colored water, it revealed another layer of color...oh, it was so therapeutic!

This is the photo of eggs my family decorated. Kids tried crack-and-dye, tape-and-dye, marbleizing tech with oil, and crayon-and-dye methods. 

K decided to go with dye-and-stick-and-crack-and-sqeeze method....

Having a good time, either you are young or not-so-young, that's the whole point of Eggstravaganza!

Sunday Popcorn

This was our weekly menu one week. This was one of those many weeks that I didn't fill out the entire week, and as you see, kids helped themselves. It is nice to have a 1st grader now who knows how to write and loves to help his sister.  And in case you can't read, here is what's written;
Monday: Bacon Pasta
Tuesday: Teriyaki chicken (I probably should post on my cooking blog that I have not updated for a LONG time, but at least I know one of my sisters-in-law would love it. The problem is that I don't measure...but that's another story)
Wednesday: White Lasagna
Thursday: Teriyaki Burger (J's favorite)
Friday: Chocolate pancake (M's request)
Saturday: Pasta (one of the very few items M would eat)
Sunday:  Popcorn

That's right, popcorn for dinner. That's what we do. Or I should say, that's what my husband's family have been doing for many many years. I don't know how many generations, but I know wherever we live, our family is having "Sunday Popcorn"

I believe Sunday Popcorn started back in a farm where my husband's grandfather grew up. For a leisure, his family gathered over bowls of popcorn and enjoyed each others' company, because, well, popcorn is pretty cheap.

I think it's wonderful. It's not a trip to Disney World. It's not a fancy dinner. It's a family time. We gather together and visit. We usually have, in addition to popcorn (because popcorn itself really doesn't fill you up), cheese, fruits, and juices. Sometimes some treats if someone was up to baking something. Tonight, we had yummy fresh salsa, freshly baked zucchini bread, and no bake cookies. 

We adults visit while kids play together. No fight (except between siblings) among cousins. Someone is always watching over little ones. With that many kids (at least 16 kids of ages 2-14 today), you can play pretty much any kind of games.

So, that's why we have Popcorn on the menu. Not that popcorn is their favorite dinner item, but it's a fun family time together with their cousins.

That's our Sunday Popcorn.
And that has been on our menu most of Sundays, and will always be.