Easter Eggs (yes, in June)

This is extraordinarily belated, but I wanted to post about how we decorated our Easter Eggs this year.  We used Kool Aid packets!

I saw the idea on Facebook and then searched online for more information.  It was very simple, we just emptied the packets of powder into a cup and added 1/2 cup cold water.  There was no need to add vinegar or anything else, because the packets contain citric acid, which is already an acid (or so it said online.)

An added bonus of this method was that the house smelled really good while we dipped our eggs

Another added bonus was that the color didn't come off on my hands later on, when peeling the eggs.  That, in itself, made this experiment worthwhile.

And with the very cheap cost of Kool Aid packets, especially the store brand, this was actually cheaper than buying a dye kit

Our eggs.  Notice the duck photobombing it

Most of the colors turned out really nice.  I had to make my own green by mixing lemonade and the blue one (blue raspberry?  I can't remember anymore and the flavor is cut off) and it wasn't particularly vibrant, but that's okay.  Grape didn't make for very purple eggs either, they came out closer to black.  And lastly, my online source said to add a bit of orange or red to your lemonade because yellow isn't very strong.  I used food coloring for that instead of another portion of a packet, and accidentally added way too much--so no yellow this year.

Bean Soup

Okay, I'm gonna be a foodie today.  I actually boiled a ham bone into soup recently.  (And by recently, I mean a few months ago, when it was still cold.)

I've kept the ham bone after every ham we've ever eaten, and usually forget to use it.  When I go to put a fresh one in the freezer, I pull out the old one and throw it away.  This year, I decided, would be different.

I loosely followed this recipe for the stock:

• 1 ham bone
• 1 large onion, chopped (2 cups)
• 2 carrots, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 2 celery ribs, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 3 large garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme, crumbled
• 3 whole cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
• water to cover

I let it boil for a few hours, and the house smelled really nice.  I liked using whole spices in it.  I've never done that with a soup before.

My bone still had a substantial amount of meat on it, and since I added beans to the actual soup, it packed a wallop of protein.  Here's what I did with my homemade stock:

Black Bean Soup (from McCall's Cooking School)
2 cups (1 lb) dried black beans
Cold water
1 leek
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 cans condensed beef broth (this is where I used my ham stock instead)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tbsp butter or margarine
Chopped red, yellow and green onions (optional)
Tortilla chips (optional)

Soak the beans (overnight or quick-soak.)

Drain the soaked beans; discard soaking water.  Return drained beans to a Dutch oven and add fresh cold water to cover beans.  Bring beans and water to boiling over high heat; reduce heat, cover Dutch oven and simmer for 2 hours or until beans are tender.

Drain the cooked beans, reserving liquid.  Set beans and reserved liquid aside.

Trim leek:  Cut off root and and green stem.  (Leek should be about 5 inches long after trimming.)  wash leek thoroughly to remove dirt and sand.  Cut on diagonal into 1/4-inch-thick slices.

Heat vegetable oil in Dutch oven over high heat.  When hot, add leek, onion and garlic.  Saute until vegetables are browned, about 5 minutes.

Add reserved bean liquid and, if necessary, water to the beef broth ham stock to make 6 cups liquid.

Add salt, brown sugar and beans to leek mixture.  Stir in ham stock mixture.  (I also added all the bite-size chunks of ham I pulled off the ham bone after making my stock.)  Bring to boiling over high heat; cover and reduce heat to low.  Simmer for 10 minutes; stir in butter.  Serve soup topped with chopped onions and tortilla chips.  Makes 12 servings.

I don't even like beans, and I thought this was delicious!

May Stat Check

During the month of May, I wrote/edited on all 31 days
I editied two picture books, one that I just wrote and another, much older, one, and I edited/rewrote two stories that I wrote sometime last year.
I made 0 submissions
I had 1 story shortlisted for publication
I received 3 rejections (including the previously-shortlisted one, phooey)
I have 12 stories in slush pile circulation
I made 2 blog posts
I took no days off

Analysis:
Solid writing this month.  I feel really good about the picture books, in particular.  Other than that, I'm quite tired and feel like I'm falling behind in the "life department."  More on another day.

Happy Day

I got good news in my inbox this evening:  one of my stories has been shortlisted at a major, pro-paying sci-fi market!  I won't name the story or the market just yet, just in case it could affect the outcome, but I wanted to share the good news!  I did a little happy dance and printed up the email, not to file as usual, but to hang on my desk for a little while.  I ought to know the outcome within a month.

Happy day!

April Stat Check

During the month of April, I wrote/edited on all 30 days

I finished the readthru of my novel, sent it out to some beta readers, revised a story I wrote about a year ago, and wrote the first draft of a picture book
I made 11 submissions
I received 2 rejections
I have 12 stories in slush pile circulation
I made 3 blog posts
I took no days off

Analysis:
I feel pretty happy with my progress for this month.  Finishing something as hefty as a novel and soliciting opinions for it was a big step, and then it was nice to get back into stories.  I've been so enthused about my writing this month that I'm frequently bargaining extra time from my kiddos after their naps/quiet time (can't you occupy yourselves for a little longer so I can keep writing??)

Writing a picture book was quite different--especially since it's in rhyme--but the nice thing about kids' books is that they're SHORTER!  So you finish them much more quickly.  I'm feeling pretty good about that one and hope to get it out later this year.  In fact, if all goes well, it could be a series.

I subscribed to Duotrope this month, and it was very nice to get my stories back under consideration.  I just ended my subscription, and am planning to pay for another month in July or so.  I think I've come up with a good way to keep track of everything until that time, so I ought not to let everything lapse again.  So I'm feeling pretty confident on that front, too.

I've got a long list of things I'd like to get to next, but with limited time, I know it'll all be slow.  But slow is better than nothing!