I Want to Like Brussels Sprouts, Really I Do...

I mean, they're so cute and all. But I just don't know if I can do it.

For Thanksgiving I got brave and decided to try that fabulous Bobby Flay recipe that he made for the Throwdown with the Pioneer Woman (pictured above). It had about a zillion ingredients and I had to make two parts of the recipe ahead of time, but it came together rather well. It was a very pretty dish! Mainly because of those pomegranate seeds~like little red jewels! But I have to say, I did not like the taste of the dish. Loved the seeds~the Brussels sprouts not so much. Others at the meal did enjoy it, so it wasn't a total loss. And I knew there was the chance I wouldn't like it, but I wanted to try something new.

Well, since I bought twice as many Brussels sprouts as I needed for Thanksgiving I had to come up with a different recipe to try~because I couldn't be wasteful and just throw them out. So Vince found this recipe on Good Eats with Alton Brown that actually sounded good (it involves bacon, so I felt pretty confident). So this weekend we gave it a whirl.

The verdict: thumbs up! Now don't get me wrong, I still don't think I can eat them very often--and maybe not more than once a year--but I have found a way to enjoy them. Of course, it includes bacon, onions and cheese which are three of my fave ingredients. But whatever works, right?

I took a little poll on my Facebook page on how my friends like to prepare their sprouts. I must say butter and bacon were two of the top additives for this little veggie. Although one friend calls them *little green balls of death*...heehee

If you do eat Brussels sprouts, how do you like them?

The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

We are learning all about the ancient world this year with Story of the World I and loving it! We've been learning a lot about Egypt, of course, which is completely fascinating. Most recently we have studied the New Kingdom of Egypt, which includes the story of King Tut. So we decided making an Egyptian death mask in the style of King Tut's would be a fun project. First since it was too cold at the time to paper mache in the garage (it probably would have frozen instead of dried-ha) and it was too messy to do it in the house, we decided to pick up a couple of cheap craft masks at Hobby Lobby. Next we cut out cardboard shapes to complete the shape of the death mask, attaching them with hot glue. Vince even put a little detail on the *beard* with the hot glue per The Princess' request. Then the kiddos started to paint them with this metallic gold tempera paint. It worked okay for the cardboard, but would not coat the plastic of the mask. We thought maybe a second coat ...

Door Hanger Chore Charts

My kids have had a chore chart for a while. It's one of those magnetic boards and they share it. However, it's not by their rooms and often they (and I) forget to update it. Plus it's a little bulky. When I saw the concept of a door hanger chore chart on Pinterest, I loved it! It was compact, right there were the kiddos could see it coming out and going into their rooms, and it costs almost nothing to make. I headed over to one of my favorite stores: Hobby Lobby, of course. They have these little wooden door hangers for .79. I also grabbed a couple of packets of decorative buttons for $1.99 each. I already had the clothes pins and the paint so those cost me nothing. I began by painting the door hangers (I used tempera paints because that's what I had). Then I grabbed a fine point Sharpie and the clothes pins and started writing chores on them, making sure to write them correctly so they will ...

Fun With 4th of July Crafts: Part 3

I love my new patriotic front door wreath!! I had fun putting this together, although I must admit this is more of an adult craft than one for kiddos. I was inspired by this article in Family Fun magazine. I didn't have quite everything I needed for this one, but all I had to purchase was a few sheets of scrapbook paper and some double-sided tape. Then all I had to gather up were some scissors, regular Scotch tape, a ruler and some cardboard. First I cut four (5"x 6") pieces of each paper. Then by placing a piece of double-sided tape on one of the short ends of the papers, I rolled them into cones, pressing the seams together well. Then I cut a 10" circle out of cardboard and began to stick the cones on it. I used another piece of double-sided tape to stick the cones on, arranging them in a circular pattern. Next I used regular Scotch tape to attach them on the back to the back of the cardboard. After getting all the cones on, I was ready for my centerpiece. He...

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