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More than 180,000,000 eggs! That’s a lot of egg salad — AND the number of eggs that Americans typically decorate for Easter. It sort of boggles the mind, doesn’t it? Paas Egg Decorating Kits and Heinz Vinegar are as much a part of that tradition, as the eggs. We were using both, even, when I [...]
All you need for an afternoon of egg decorating fun with the kids!
More than 180,000,000 eggs! That’s a lot of egg salad — AND the number of eggs that Americans typically decorate for Easter. It sort of boggles the mind, doesn’t it? Paas Egg Decorating Kits and Heinz Vinegar are as much a part of that tradition, as the eggs. We were using both, even, when I was a child. You know — back with Abe Lincoln and the dinosaurs. 
It was always a fun part of our family Easter tradition and something we looked forward to doing. Today, it’s still a budget-friendly family activity!
An iPad screen shot from the Egg Decorator app.
You can keep up your family tradition, and this year, you can add some new fun, while you help the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Paas and Heinz have teamed up to create a FREE app for the iPad, called “Egg Decorator”. Just search iTunes for Paas/Heinz and download the app. These generous companies will donate $1 for each egg that is decorated and shared, up to $25,000! So, go decorate some virtual eggs and start a new tradition of fun and giving with your kids, for Easter.
We used a Classic Kit from Paas. Here's what was inside.
Once you’ve shared the virtual fun, gather the family in the kitchen and break out the Paas Egg decorating kits and Heinz Vinegar. With eight new kits available, you can have a decorating bonanza! You can try out the new Go Wild kit, with trendy animal print patterns or the 3D Eggsplosion, that allows you to view your designs in 3D. There are so many other great kits and they’re easy to find at your local grocery stores, retail stores and markets. Give it a whirl. You and your kids will have a blast!
We decided to try a couple of new techniques, so wrapped rubber bands around some of the eggs before dying them, to create stripes and designs in the colors.
We also tried drawing designs with a wax crayon,so that it would work as a "resist", before dying the eggs.
We also tried dripping designs onto the eggs with a paintbrush and several colors. This was a little messy, but the eggs turned out so cool!
Beautiful for decorating, yummy for eating and a fun activity for the family! Grab a Paas Egg Decorating kit, some Heinz Vinegar and enjoy the fun with your own kids!
I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Heinz and PAAS and received a Heinz Vinegar bottle, a PAAS Egg Dyeing Kit, and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate. As with all Busy-at-Home reviews, the views and opinions expressed are wholly my own and based on my personal experience with the product.
The kids and I are learning all the things we never knew we never knew about Mardi Gras. Since we were selected to host a Zatarain’s Mardi Gras House Party through www.houseparty.com we have been researching exactly what it is. I have never been to Mardi Gras and all my preconceived notions about it are [...]
The kids and I are learning all the things we never knew we never knew about Mardi Gras. Since we were selected to host a Zatarain’s Mardi Gras House Party through www.houseparty.com we have been researching exactly what it is. I have never been to Mardi Gras and all my preconceived notions about it are based on the sensationalistic reports of the media, each year. I had no idea of its origins.
The season for Mardi Gras begins on January 6th each year, and runs all the way through Fat Tuesday (the day before Pentecost). Mardi Gras is literally translated “Fat Tuesday”. The 12th day after Christmas is sometimes called “Twelfth Night” or “King’s Day”, supposedly coinciding with the day the Magi brought gifts to Jesus.
The traditional colors of Mardi Gras are purple, which symbolizes justice; green, which stands for faith; and gold, which represents power. Mardi Gras decorations, costumes and even food will often be found in these colors.
Another tradition, unique to Mardi Gras is the serving of something called a King Cake. It’s a tradition that came to New Orleans in the 1870′s with the French settlers. King Cake really is not a cake at all, but more of a ring of cinnamon rolls or pastry, drizzled in icing and sprinkled with sugar in the traditional Mardi Gras colors. It is 
usually shaped in an oval or ring to symbolize the unity of faiths. Prior to the mid-1900′s, coins, beans, pecans, and peas were baked into the cake. Wealthy landowners were even known to hide precious stones or jewels in their King Cakes. Now, since the mid-1900′s, a small plastic baby has come to symbolize the Holy Day, and is hidden in the pastry. The guest who finds the baby in their slice is King or Queen for the day and is obligated to host the party and supply the King Cake the following year.
While the origins of Mardi Gras are primarily from Medieval Europe, the way it is typically celebrated today, with Mardi Gras colors, brass bands and Kings can be traced to New Orleans. Jean Baptiste Le Moyne Sieur de Bienville, a French-Canadian explorer, landed south of New Orleans in 1699 and in 1702, built Fort Louis de la Mobile (which is now Mobile). This is the site of the first Mardi Gras celebration in the New World. Seventeen years later, New Orleans was established to the north and by 1730, Mardi Gras was being openly celebrated there. Early celebrations were elegant balls thrown by the city’s governors.
The earliest references to “Carnival” date from 1781 and by the 1830′s, New Orleans was holding street processions with masked participants. The throwing of trinkets to the crowds was started in the early 1870s by the Twelfth Night Revelers. In 1872, it was local businessmen who started the tradition of having a King of Carnival, “Rex”. It was at this time that daytime parades began and Mardi Gras colors, a song and even a flag were established. In 1873, floats began showing up in the parades and in 1875, then Louisiana governor, Henry Clay Warmoth, declared Mardi Gras a state holiday.
So, Mardi Gras, as we think of it, today, has definitely been a process of evolution.
“Fat Tuesday”, February 16, did not work out for our family as a party day, so our Zatarain’s Mardi Gras House Party is going to be held on Sunday afternoon, February 21. Our first Mardi Gras celebration and already we are outside the traditions. – lol - But as always, House Parties are more of a promotional tool for the company sponsoring them, (in our case Zatarains), than anything else. We will bake our own King Cake and fun masks in the traditional Mardi Gras colors will be available. Thanks to Zatarains, there are even trinkets (beads and dubloons in green, purple and gold) for our party guests. The party pack for this party was actually extremely generous and will give us an opportunity to showcase the Zatarains products very nicely.
The party pack includes:
- Jambalaya Mix
- Reduced Sodium Red Beans & Rice
- Creole Mustard
- Root Beer Extract
- Creole Seasoning
- 1 Zatarain’s Apron
- 1 Mardi Gras Party Guide
- 1 Sample Mardi Gras Menu
- 6 Mardi Gras Recipe Cards
- 5 feathered Mardi Gras Masks (and our family is supplying some others for additional guests and party decorations)
- 15 sets of Mardi Gras Beads
- 15 sets of 3 Doubloons
- 15 Money Saving Coupons for Zatarain’s Products
- 75 Gift Cards for 35 Free MP3 Songs from E-Music
I have done a rough plan of the menu and found the recipes I will be using. This is still somewhat fluid as I am not 100% certain on the King Cake, yet. Plus, though not traditionally a “Mardi Gras food”, I want to make beneigts…so I am. Ü We will have Carnival Jambalaya, Red Beans and Rice, a veggie platter with Creole Mustard dip, Crackers with Cream Cheese and Hot Pepper Jelly, Root Beer Float Bars, and Beneigts.
We’ll do another post with pictures of decorations, food and the actual party, later in the month. It’s going to be a fun party! There will be lots of purple, green and gold. I will model the Zatarains apron Ü, we will taste and evaluate the Zatarain’s products and enjoy a wonderful time with friends and family. If you have never hosted or attended a House Party, you should click on over to their website and sign up. If you are selected as a host, you will receive a party pack from the sponsoring company absolutely free and have a chance to try some new products, (and sometimes be educated, like we were about Mardi Gras), share the new products with your guests and enjoy your favorite people in the process.
Of course there is always turkey with creamy mashed potatoes and gravy. There must be stuffing, sweet potatoes and corn. Everyone knows that. They are part of the original Thanksgiving Constitution. But, Thanksgiving dinner must also include all the side dish essentials that are personal to each individual family — the food that traditions are [...]
Of course there is always turkey with creamy mashed potatoes and gravy. There must be stuffing, sweet potatoes and corn. Everyone knows that. They are part of the original Thanksgiving Constitution. But, Thanksgiving dinner must also include all the side dish essentials that are personal to each individual family — the food that traditions are made of. I want to share two that our family would never imagine Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner without — Orange Salad and Cranberry Salad.
Years ago, when our oldest daughters were small I unearthed the orange salad recipe from an old Mary Kay cookbook. There has never been an Embree holiday meal without it, since. It’s creamy, cool and citrusy. It is sweet and delectable. The cranberry salad is born of my distaste for the typical quivering plate of canned cranberry sauce and combines bits and pieces of different recipes I have seen over the years. Aesthetically, it is lovely, with a deep crimson color to contrast with other holiday fare. Flavorfully, it is outstanding, a perfect sweet-tart complement to the turkey, and boasts a wonderful combination of textures. Both of these should be prepared the day before, but hurry, there is still time to make them both and you will be so glad you did! Your family will adore you, your tummy will thank you and a hush of peace will hover over the land. (Don’t get too excited, it’s just the turkey-induced nap, but hey, take a hush of peace wherever you can get it!)
Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!
(Right click on any image and select View Image to see it a little bit larger.
Images of finished salads will be added as soon as mine are set up.)
Orange Salad
- 3 small boxes orange gelatin
- 3 small boxes cook and serve vanilla pudding
- 3 small boxes tapioca pudding mix (This is not straight tapioca. Jello makes it and it is a pudding mix on the shelf with all the other pudding flavors.)
- 3 small cans of mandarin oranges, drained
- 1 small tub of Cool Whip
- 6 cups of water
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Empty all the jello and pudding mixes into a large stock pot or sauce pan. Add the water, and over medium heat, bring to a boil. Stir constantly, to avoid scorching. Once the mixture reaches a full, rolling boil, allow it to continue to cook until it has thickened. Remove from the heat and cool.
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Pour into a covered container and refrigerate for at least 4 -6 hours – overnight is best. Remove jello mixture from the fridge and stir in the tub of Cool Whip and the drained mandarin oranges. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Cranberry Salad
- (2) 12 oz. bags of fresh cranberries
- 5 or 6 medium-sized apples, peeled and diced
- 4 stalks of celery, minced
- 1 cup of walnuts or pecans (Though I usually prefer pecans in most recipes, I like walnuts best in this.)
- 3 small boxes raspberry jello
- 2-3 cups sugar, this is to taste
- 3 cups boiling water
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Coarsely grind the cranberries. I do this in my blender. Fill the blender 2/3 full with cranberries and then add enough water to cover them. Put the lid on (this is critical – lol) and use the pulse button or if yours doesn’t have pulse, just cycle the blender off and on, off and on, until the cranberries are coarsely ground, but not mush. Pour the blender contents into your strainer and let the liquid drain while you grind the next batch and repeat the process until all cranberries have been processed. It is VERY important to drain all the liquid from the cranberries before proceeding.
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Peel and dice apples. Add to drained cranberries.
Finely chop or mince the celery. Pieces should be quite small, not bite-sized. Add the minced celery to the cranberry-apple mixture.
Stir in the nuts and then add the sugar. Stir well and make sure the sugar has coated all the pieces of fruit. It will start to “sweat” a bit of syrup from the fruit, so don’t panic if you see liquid, now.
Dissolve the raspberry gelatin in the boiling water. (Do NOT add additional cold water as package directions indicate.)
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Put your cranberry mixture into the bowl you would like to serve it in or for the very adventurous, your gelatin mold. Press it down firmly in the bowl. Pour the dissolved gelatin over the top and refrigerate until set.
Printable Cranberry Salad Recipe
So, what is the Thanksgiving essential at your house? What would it not be Thanksgiving dinner without? I’m looking forward to hearing about your own personal traditions.
Stay warm and be blessed. Happy Thanksgiving!
Psalm 100 A Psalm of Thanksgiving. Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. [...]
Psalm 100
A Psalm of Thanksgiving.
Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.
We’re freshly moved and almost completely unpacked. As I sit here this morning, it occurs to me that we don’t have a Blessing Box this year. When our grown daughters were small we started this tradition. Over the years, we have had times when we were so caught up in life and just getting through it, that we didn’t really stop to enjoy everything in a day that is a blessing, a gift. There are so many, no matter what your present circumstances. A Blessing Box is a way, even for just a moment, to take a deep breath and be thankful, to stand still in the middle of your day and say, “Thank you, Lord. I know you’re in this and I am so blessed to ______________ . You fill in the blank.
Ideally, you will make this box, as a family, on Thanksgiving; and then have the whole year to get it ready for next Thanksgiving. You could hurry and whip one up for this year, but this is my personal experience when we have done that in “off” years. People tend to try to “fill the box” and so something is lost in the heartfelt thanks of the moment. It’s more about the box than being thankful. My suggestion is to work together on Thanksgiving Day and make it beautiful. Then take a year to “count your blessings”. Next Thanksgiving, when you open that box and pour your “mountain of blessings” in the center of the table to read, you and your family will be reminded of just how much you 
have been blessed and cared for and as you read through what others have written, you will share and relive those awesome memories.
I don’t have pictures handy of the ones we have done in the past, so I have scanned the Internet for a few picture ideas to share with you. The images on this page are some great decorated box ideas from the web. With any luck, my menopausal brain will remember to come back and post the picture of the one we do this year. If not, then my sister or one of the kids can remind me. lol
Here’s all you will need:
- cardboard box (large enough to hold a year’s worth of blessings)
- construction paper, wrapping paper, fabric, paint, markers, crayons, tape, glue
- rhinestones, sequins, foam shapes, shells, glitter, ribbon or other decorative items
- scissors
- plain white paper
- pencil or pen
- 12 – 18 inches of string or yarn
- Construction is pretty simple. You will want to wrap or paint your box and decorate it. Just remember to leave a way to open the box, later. Wrap the lid separately so it can be lifted off, or leave the bottom unwrapped, etc. Our kids always had very specific ideas about what should be on a Blessing Box and I bet yours will, too. They can write verses on it. They can make or glue pictures of things they are thankful for on it. Or they may just want it to look like a treasure box or a jeweled box for a king. Their minds are so creative and if you let them, they will create something very significant, telling you all along the way, why they are doing what they are doing. This project allows for so much good conversation and those “teachable moments” where you remind them that everything we have, all that we are, and ever will be, is because of God’s love, mercy and grace.
- Somewhere, high on the side, or in the top carefully cut a slot that is big enough to slide slips of paper
through. - Use your white paper to cut small slips of paper, maybe 2″x3″, whatever works best for the little fingers in your family.
- Knot one end of your string around a pen or pencil and tape the other end of the string to the top of your box. That way you are never left without something to write down the blessings.
- Place the box in a commonly used area of your home. Set the stack of paper slips next to it and remember to check periodically, to see if more need to be added. (They will disappear very quickly at first. - lol)
As you or a family member passes the box, you will stop and consciously think of ways you have been blessed. Jot them on a slip of the paper and tuck it inside the box until Thanksgiving. You will have a veritable avalanche of praises when you open it up. It’s a simple way of reminding your children (and yourself) how very blessed all of us are and to be thankful to the One who made it possible for us to enjoy that bounty. If carefully constructed, you can use the same Blessing Box every year; or if the creating is as much a blessing for your family as the rest of the celebration, you may want to make a new box each Thanksgiving. Either way, use this inexpensive and simple way to share some great activity with your family and reflect all year long on how truly blessed you are.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Lord,
Help me to remember to give You thanks in all things, to see your Hand in every situation. Help me not to be so caught up in life that I miss the opportunity to see every blessing, big and small, and thank you for it. Thank you for the love of family and the times we can celebrate together and enjoy the blessings of fellowship. Thank you for the chance to teach our children to be thankful and recognize that they are blesssed.
Amen
