Hippity-Hoppity Happity Easter!

Happy Easter one and all! I hope you have a lovely Sunday, whether you’re celebrating the holiday or not.

Wanna know how I got in the Easter mood? Arts and crafts, o’ course!

I made Easter egg cakes:

But since the only food colorings in the cupboard were blue and green, some of them ended up resembling alien eggs. Oh well.

I made a book-page egg wreath, inspired by the one found on Away With Words:

Whew! I happen to consider myself something of a savvy crafter, but this was one HARD project. I’ve already announced that this decoration will be enjoyed for a little while after the Big E-Day–I worked too hard to only enjoy it for one day of the year!

I hope you’re refueling with some family time or sunshine time or lazy Sunday time! Don’t forget–today, your chocolate consumption should increase like bunnies.

You Can Lead a Vegetarian to Chicken, But You Can’t Make Her Eat It

A few weeks ago, the father of a close friend of mine was very ill and had to go into the hospital so my grandma and I offered to make dinner for their family. We didn’t really have a menu in mind, but I have a great recipe for tortellini soup and I knew I wanted that to be a part of our meal. As we were racking our brains for an entree, I had a doh moment and remembered that my friend is a vegetarian.

Now, one of the many reasons I love my grandma is that for a 92 year old woman, she is a very modern thinker. But she did not seem to grasp the whole vegetarian concept. I was worried that my friend would not eat my soup, since its base is chicken broth. Here is a fairly accurate recreation of the conversation that went on between me and grandma:

GRANDMA:  “Why wouldn’t she eat the soup?”
ME:  “Because it’s half chicken broth. If she doesn’t eat chicken, why would she eat chicken broth?”
GMA:  “She doesn’t eat chicken??”
ME:  “No, I told you she’s a vegetarian.”
GMA:  “Well what do vegetarians eat?”
ME: “Vegetables…maybe tofu.”
GMA (in an insulted voice):  “Tofu!”
ME:  “Well, sometimes people are selective vegetarians. Like, they’ll eat fish but not anything else.
GMA:  “Well, everybody eats chicken. I thought we’d make lemon chicken for their dinner…”
ME:  “Not everybody eats chicken! That’s the whole point of vegetarianism! We can’t make lemon chicken.”
GMA:  “Well, how about pork chops?”
ME:  “Grandma, she doesn’t eat meat! That means noooooo animals!”
GMA:  “Well, God!”
A thoughtful silence passes and then…
GMA: “How about pot pie?”
ME: “You mean your pot pie recipe with chicken in it?”
GMA:  “Yes…What? Everybody eats chicken! What’s the matter with that?”

You are what you eat?

We ended up making vegetarian stuffed peppers, which came out quite good despite my grandma’s declaration that they “weren’t real.” I did make my soup, because I thought that maybe someone else in my friend’s family would eat it (and, okay, I was attached to the idea). Turns out, my friend does eat chicken broth. When I told my grandma, she threw her hands up in the air and said “I told you everyone eats chicken. Psh. And you wanted to make tofu.”

Prop 8 Overturned

Love is in the air, everywhere I look around

Well today was one for the history books kiddos. Proposition 8 (that’s the one against gay marriage for those rock-dwelling, internet users out there) was struck down today by U.S District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker. Deemed illogical (Spock could have told you that) and discriminatory (Sulu could have told you that), the proposition was ultimately judged to be unconstitutional.

Hallelujah. As a friend of mine said: “That’s one small step for mankind, one giant leap for man-on-mankind.” (Okay, the political correctness of that is debatable….and okay I think Jack said it on Will and Grace first. Whatever.)

It’s not a smooth path that lies ahead. I’m sure we can expect a lot of political temper tantrums and tangles. But in the meantime, let’s celebrate with some photos and videos that demonstrate the love, pride, and humor of this moment. Cheers!