Happy May Day!

This was our festive dinner tonight.

Shrimp Dip for a Spring Picnic

This recipe is based on a recipe my mom use to make for her microwave cooking classes and demonstrations when I was a teenager. My only addition to the original is the can of tiny shrimp.
I served this on "party rye" bread at the picnic that my son and I had last week. The following day, I served some in little cucumber cups and my son said he liked that even better, because he thought the rye bread was too dry. My mom served it as a dip for potato chips. So, it is quite versatile.




1 8-ounce package of cream cheese

1 can of Cream of Shrimp Soup

1 4-ounce can of Tiny Shrimp

1 bundle of green onions


Place the cream cheese in a microwave safe bowl and heat in the microwave 1 minute on high power. Stir. Add Cream of Shrimp Soup and put back in the microwave for an additional minute on high. Stir well. Add tiny shrimp and three finely sliced green onions (white and green parts) to the mixture and stir well. Finely slice two more green onions to use as garnish.

The dip can be made a day in advance. It will keep for 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Spring Break

Today is the last day of our week long spring break. We didn't go anywhere, but we tried to make our time at home as relaxing and vacation-like as possible.



The weather was gorgeous this whole week.

Tomorrow we return to math, science, reading, and lots of history. Blaze only has four days left to finish his display board for the homeschool International Fair at the public library on Friday.

Springtime Has Arrived in Florida

We had a good week here, even though the rest of the country is under record-breaking snow and ice.

Facebook was full of pictures like these this morning:





Blaze and I spent Tuesday afternoon at Maclay Gardens, looking at the camellias, azaleas, and magnolias that are now in bloom.













The house/museum at Maclay Gardens is only open January through April, so this was our first time being able to tour the house.















Thursday was the Tallahassee Homeschool Valentine party at Optimist Park.



The children made some very creative boxes to hold their valentines.







There were lots of goodies, as well.

Spring Breakfast Bento

It's such a beautiful day, I decided it called for something special.

This is the Spring breakfast bento I made for Blaze. My husband has joked about how people make fake meat out of vegetables, so why can't someone make fake vegetables out of meat. I think I just came pretty close with that egg and bacon flower.

How to Make Candied Violets

Old fashioned candied violets are elegant looking, easy to make, and a sign of Springtime. Also, they make a great excuse to get out of the house and take a long walk.

1. Wash the violets (leave the stems on, it will make them easier to handle).



2. Dry the flowers on a paper towel, placed over a wire rack for good air circulation.
While the flowers are drying, set out a bowl with one egg white in it. The egg white needs to come to room temperature.



3. "Paint" egg whites on the flower petals, both the tops and bottoms.



4. Dust the flowers with super fine sugar. Make sure to sprinkle the sugar on both the top and bottom sides of the petals. After they are well coated, snip off the stems. Let dry for 24 hours before using.



We used ours to decorate miniature lemon cupcakes.

Sunset Rainbow

This has been a great day for nature photography! First the hawk outside the museum and now this amazing sky.

It rained most of the afternoon, but just as the sun was setting, it began shining through the clouds, giving a strange glow to the sky and creating a rainbow.



I followed the rainbow over to the lake.







It didn't take long for the rainbow to fade and I thought the show was over, but I was wrong. Behind me the sky was still glowing, first with yellows and then a blazing orange.

Passing Out May Day/Teachers Appreciation Baskets

Blaze handed out 4 of the May Day baskets today to teachers. We decided this worked out well, because, although it is a day late for May Day, it's a day early for teacher appreciation day. The speech therapist and physical therapist will both get their baskets tomorrow.

Happy May Day!

It's Sunday, so we can't pass out the May Day baskets to the teachers and therapists today, but we did go find some pretty flowers to fill them with.









Also, the first blackberries of the season. There aren't many now, but there will be more in a couple days.