Friday, April 26, 2019
We've Moved!
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
How to Dye Easter Eggs Without Vinegar
Decorating Easter eggs was an inherent and much looked forward to part of my childhood Easter celebrations… Except for the stinky smell. It bothered me then, and as I’ve gotten older I’ve become unable to stomach the smell of vinegar. While I was pregnant, it grew worse. And my inability to smell vinegar lingered even after the babes were born. Now even warm ketchup or a strong salad dressing send me scooting away from the offensive dish.
So how can I reconcile my love of decorating eggs with my disdain for vinegar? One option is shaving cream, but then you can’t eat the eggs. We try rather hard to not be wasteful, and so shaving cream wasn’t really an option for us.
But then I got to thinking…whipped cream is a similar consistency to shaving cream, yet food-safe. What if we combined whipped cream and food coloring to dye eggs?
How to dye Easter eggs with whipped cream
- Place two inches of Cool Whip (or off brand, if you’re like me) in a baking dish. We used one 8×8 pan for each kid.
- Place one to two drops food coloring per corner and swirl outward with a butter knife (don’t mix too much- the eggs will do this for you). You can do more colors if you want, but this creates a marbled effect.
- Roll hard boiled egg through as many or as few of your colors as you wish.
- Don’t wipe the cool whip off yet! Place in a shallow bowl in the fridge for a couple of hours.
- Remove from fridge and wipe cook whip off with a paper towel or dish cloth. Don’t rinse!
- Enjoy your pretty marbled eggs!
Sunday, April 21, 2019
Why Rainy Days at Dollywood are My Favorite
My latest Dollywood Insiders post is up! You can check it out here. In it, I talk about my love for rainy days at Dollywood, and include some Insider tips on how to have a fabulous time, regardless of the forecast.
Saturday, April 20, 2019
Going Green in 2019
Did you know I also write for the Knoxville Mom’s Blog? This month I shared some of my favorite tips, from little steps to big leaps, on how to live greener in 2019. You can check it out here!
What are your favorite tips for going green?
Friday, April 5, 2019
Why You Should Visit Dollywood's Festival of Nations 2019
Ha, excuse my terrible puns! It'll be worth enduring for the awesome coupon code for Dollywood tickets at the end of this post!
But really, it's fantastic. The food passport is phenomenal, the shows are incredible, and did I mention the food?
Beyond the general glory of the festival itself, visiting the park in spring is a great decision. It's not too hot, the chance of rain thins the crowds, and on sunny days it's warm enough for water rides. Plus...the food! I know, I'm a food nut. But a variety of international flavors and demonstrations that are in line with the superior quality of all Dollywood food? It's an unstoppable combination. It may be my favorite food festival of the year (well, until BBQ & Bluegrass).
The Food Passport
With nine countries and four continents, there is plenty of food to sample. Our favorites include the paella from Spain (the kids especially loved this one!) and the empanadas from Ecuador. We also sampled Canada's food, and you just can't go wrong with fried cheese! It made for a great snack, but we preferred Spain and Ecuador for more filling meals.
Grab a food passport- it's a great guide to where the food stalls are, what they're serving, and the kids love getting the stamps. Our goal is to fill ours up before the Festival of Nations ends April 14!