Pierogi Cake

Wait, what? Not to worry, we'll get there. 

Today's Technology Throwback: Texas Instruments

My children are fond of playing with ancient technological artifacts. For example, Bamm-Bamm uses the flip phone I had in college for his wake-up alarm. (He's very fond of its arrangement of Bach's Minuet in G.) Recently, His Blondness dug out something even older, and to my surprise, once I put in some fresh AAA's, it actually works. Behold, my 3.5-year-old son playing with my 21-year-old TI-83+ graphing calculator.

Hopefully he can re-write the program for the quadratic equation, which was sadly lost

I used it to quickly double-check Teen Queen's math homework, and it was like hanging out with an old friend. Okay, not nearly that good. But still nice.

Pinterest-Unworthy Photo of the Week: Bamm-Bamm's Birthday Cake

Bamm-Bamm turned 8!

Wait, that's a 5-month-old. Let's see an updated shot...

THAT kid is 8. You know, in this picture. Both kids are currently 8, because they're the same kid. 🤯

A few weeks ago, in the middle of a conversation about how much he loves pierogies, he requested a periogi cake for his birthday. "A pierogi cake?" I said. "Would it...taste like cake, or taste like pierogies?" His response: "How about both?"

I don't have much in way of cake decorating talent, but I thought to myself, "this kid has handled an entire mf'ing year of this pandemic like a champ. He can have whatever the hell kind of cake he wants." 

So I tried real hard. And he liked the end result! Mission accomplished. But (and I do hate to repeat myself), I don't have much in the way of cake decorating talent. So this was his cake.

You're welcome for the self-esteem boost, artsy folks

The "pierogies" are mini chocolate hand pies made with puff pastry and melted chocolate chips. The chocolate squiggles on the outsides are just that, squiggles, but darn if they don't look like M's, so I wish I'd thought to make them 8's instead. Oh well. We all enjoyed it. And Bamm-Bamm had an excellent day. Huzzah!

Coming Up...

In the next installment of this noble blog: I shall opine further about Dunkin, despite the fact that I honestly can't remember the last time I consumed anything from there. Should be a MUST-READ review.

Penny for My Thoughts? Nah, No Charge

Peculiar Beverage of the Day: Coca-Cola with Coffee

Thank you to Tracy for giving me a heads-up about this stuff. I gave it a go, so I'll tell you my thoughts: the name is a pretty good description, although if Coke wanted to go for the whole truth, I think this product would be "Coca-Cola with Coffee and Artificial Sweeteners," because that is what I taste, in that order. It's...not terrible. Not worth a buck-fitty a can, though. I tried the "Dark Blend" because my internet research suggested that the coffee flavor would be most obvious in this variety. 

Staged with Bamm-Bamm's charged creeper plush because why not

Evidently the Vanilla and Caramel flavors (the latter of which I couldn't find anyway) just taste like extra sweet Coke with a hint of coffee. The internet reminded me that this isn't the first time Coke has attempted a cola-coffee hybrid. I don't expect this gimmick will last long, but I'm usually terrible at predicting such things, so expect to see it on the shelves for decades.

Today's Pinterest-Unworthy Photo: Bamm-Bamm's Valentine Box

It's that time of year again! Time for chocolate heart-shaped candy, beautiful bouquets of flowers, and exquisitely crafted Valentines Day card boxes made with love by talented parents for their lucky children. I give a lot of credit to the folks who do this. You are talented! You are dedicated! Your kids' Valentine boxes look fantastic, and they make your kids very happy. 

I am not one of those moms, and this year, I accepted it. You know what? It feels awesome. I love my kids with all my heart and soul, but crafty Valentines boxes are not my love language. Buying a pre-made Minecraft box from Hallmark is my love language. Here it is.

It was my suggestion to add the creeper sticker. Ta da!!!

Bamm-Bamm is pleased as punch. Everybody's happy.

Unnecessary Commentary: Dunkin's Extra Charged Coffee

I saw a billboard for this stuff a few days ago, and upon glancing at it while driving my first fleeting thought was, "DD is advertising that it's charging extra for its coffee?" Then I realized my mistake. From the company website: "New Extra Charged Coffee packs 20% more caffeine than our classic Hot and Iced Coffee, while delivering the same great [sic] taste." Apparently, adding an espresso shot changes the flavor profile of regular coffee, so this option is tailored for someone who wants the taste of DD's regular coffee with a kick of extra caffeine. Hmm, okay. And the best name for this stuff is "Extra Charged"? Not Turbo Charged or Super Charged? Heck, maybe get away from "charge" altogether and try Turbo Blend or something.

Gotta love those 80s colors. Everything old is new again.

I do not plan to try it. I am a former DD employee (from wayyyy before the company went all Madonna/Cher/Sting/Bono and dropped its last name) who just cannot abide the taste of DD coffee. My central nervous system can barely tolerate caffeine (the aforementioned Coke has 69 mg/can and made me jittery as heck), so drinking this would amount to a purgatorial experience. No thanks.

Ending on a Positive Note: Then & Now

Tween Queen, 2/9/11

Tween Queen, 2/9/21

Still just as sweet and sassy. 💗

Fabulous February

Ha ha! I couldn't even keep a straight face typing that title. What's fabulous about February? (Sincere apologies to anyone with a birthday or other special occasion in February. And yeah, okay, Valentine's Day is all fine and dandy, but frankly I could take or leave it.) Despite February's enduring status as a drab gray month, I'm leaving the title as-is. Let's focus on the positives, shall we?

Today's Musing: Fabulous Names in Fiction

I'm currently re-reading the Harry Potter series. My oldest, Tween Queen, began reading the series for the first time a few months ago, so I thought now would be a good time to dive back in. Then Colin decided to finally read the books for the first time, too! Reading them again has reminded me that J.K. Rowling came up with a plethora of fantastic names throughout the books. I'd be hard-pressed to pick just one as my favorite, but my current name-crushes are Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mundungus Fletcher (oh yeah, he's totally nicknamed "Dung"), and Bellatrix Lestrange.

Awesome Sauce of the Day: Posable Plush Strong Bad

Lemme give a HUGE shout out to my friend Lindsy for alerting me to this fantastic toy from Fangamer. I would say I didn't even know how much I needed this guy in my life, but I did. I totally did. Having a Strong Bad plush has been a dream of mine since the early 2000s. And now...

My dreams have come true!

He's reasonably posable and says/sings 15 different phrases from the Strong Bad emails of old. "Everybody to the limit," "I'm gonna have to...jump," "holy crap," they're all there. My kids have watched most of the Homestar Runner content and are enamored of him as well. As a bonus, 3.5-year-old His Blondness is probably going to be saying the word "crap" now more than he already does. Can't wait till he goes to preschool and even more people find out what amazing parents he has.

Pinterest-Unworthy Photo of the Day: Avocado Toast

It was only a few months ago (or maybe more like a year -- the pandemic has messed with my sense of time) that I first attempted this dish. I'd heard of it here and there for a while, and then I noticed it on a menu board at a local coffee shop. I didn't order it, but I shamelessly stole the toppings idea; the menu might say "sea salt, fresh cracked pepper, and black sesame seeds," but what I read was, "everything bagel seasoning*." Oh friends, it does not disappoint! I like it best on half a bagel with some cheese under the mashed avocado. You can use whatever cheese you like, and I'll pretend my favorite is something classier than American.

Fugly green goodness

*I get my excellent everything bagel seasoning at Aldi. The McCormick kind tastes like straight garlic powder and is terrible.

Excitement for this Weekend: Pizzzzzzzzza

The plan is to get pizza for dinner tomorrow. Nobody's complaining. We thought it would be better to get it tomorrow than on Sunday when every pizza place in the country will be slammed with orders for "the big game." I hope the NFL police don't notice that the pizza place we plan to patronize is totally using the forbidden words that rhyme with "Pooper Troll" to advertise. 

Speaking of rhyming, I just noticed that I unintentionally rhymed in that last sentence. Seems it's time to sign off. Later gators!