Tag Archives: pizzagaina

Girl Scout Cookies Thursday Rundown

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I want to start by wishing you a meaningful Holy Thursday. This evening begins the Triduum, the three-day period that ends with Easter Sunday and comprises the holiest portion of the Church calendar. Let’s begin with my latest Thursday Rundown…

Sprite and Milk – On Sunday, Beau asked if he could do a TikTok challenge that encouraged brave souls to mix milk and Sprite together. We have been down this road before, I thought. It was three years ago that Sloan and I made Pilk—a mix of Pepsi and milk. Since I did that taste experiment with Sloan, I figured I would do Sprite + milk with Beau. Although I didn’t try it, Beau said it was delicious. Once his sister saw what he was doing, she even encouraged him to add some flavored syrup to the concoction…which he did. The overall experiment turned out to be a success.

Beau holds his Sprite and milk drink. This was after the flavored syrup was added.

Girl Scout Cookies – I came across this graphic depicting the different varieties of Girl Scout cookies in this past Sunday’s Spokesman-Review. I am yet to try an Exploremores but I would like to soon. After all, it shouldn’t be that hard, Girl Scouts are all over the place right now selling the cookies. Sidney usually buys 6-7 boxes but we haven’t purchased our usual quota yet this year (hint: If you have a Girl Scout who wants an easy sale). Although the price per box has increased from $5 to $6, we should have enough in the budget this year to cover it.

This was the graphic than ran in the Spokesman-Review this past weekend.

Past Easter Eggs – With Easter this Sunday, I thought I would share some of the commercialized posts I have written in the past. First, please take a look at these photos of my children with various different Easter Bunnies and tell me if any of them (the rabbits…not my kids) look normal. Second, if you have a sweet tooth, take a gander at my top five Easter candies. Yes, the classic Cadbury egg is on the list but you will have to follow the link to find out the others, including what I ranked as #1. And third, speaking of Easter eggs, get up to speed on my unsolicited critique of different Easter egg hunt formats.

Sloan and Beau in 2024 with an Easter Bunny they encountered at a neighborhood egg hunt in Camelot Park in north Spokane.

Pizzagaina – I wrote about this Easter delicacy five years ago so I thought it was well past time to sing its praises again. Pizzagaina is an Italian dish made at Easter that will bring a smile to your face. Think of it as a savory pie of goodness. Macaroni and cheese and ham are packed into a flaky crust and then baked. Pizzagaina has been a tradition in my mom’s family for decades and you can always find a freshly made loaf at our family Easter celebrations.

This is the pizzagaina loaf that my mom gave my family in 2021. We ate every bit of it.

Mary and the Women at the Tomb – I started this rundown with Beau and I am going to end it with him too. We were on the campus of St. Augustine Parish/Cataldo School last night for Sloan’s last basketball game. As we were getting into my car after it was over, Beau asked, “Will you take my picture, daddy?” He was standing right next to this Marian statue that depicts her with the other women prior to Jesus’ resurrection. With Easter this weekend, I didn’t think there was anything more appropriate to include in tonight’s Thursday Rundown.

Beau stands next to a Marian statue on the St. Augustine Parish/Cataldo School campus. Have a great Easter, everyone!

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I hope you have a blessed weekend with a very happy Easter. Thanks for reading and praise Jesus. Don’t Blink.

Pizzagaina Thursday Rundown

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Welcome back, friends! I hope your Holy Week is going well. Take a moment or two to browse this week’s five topics in my latest Thursday Rundown…

Pizzagaina – In my Easter 2020 recap, I briefly mentioned a food called pizzagaina. If you didn’t read that post, you might be asking What the heck is pizzagaina? Well, it is an Italian dish made at Easter that will bring a smile to your face. Think of it as a savory pie of goodness. Macaroni and cheese and ham are packed into a flaky crust and then baked. Pizzagaina has been a tradition in my mom’s family for decades and this past weekend she made a lot of it. In fact, she was able to give big loaves to my siblings and I to share with our families. At my household we have a pretty good start on ours.

This is the pizzagaina loaf that my mom gave us. We have ate about a quarter of it.

Beau – So our 1-year-old told us that he feels Sloan has been getting all the blog love lately so I told him he would get a Thursday Rundown section to himself. Beau is walking more than he is crawling these days, keeping us very busy. He says words like “mama” and “hot” and loves to play with lego blocks. When his sister and cousins are playing he wants to be right in the middle of it with them, even if his presence might cause some minor inconveniences to the older kids. Beau is happy and loving as he freely gives out kisses. Safe to say, our little man is thriving.

These days, Beau is walking more than crawling.

Pepsi PEEPS Contest – Last week, Pepsi made an earth-shattering announcement that it would produce a PEEPS-flavored cola. However, it would be distributed in a very exclusive, non-grocery store manner. In order to have a shot at tasting the soda, which is called Pepsi x Peeps, you must post a photo on either Instagram or Twitter using specific hashtags and you must explain what your favorite spring activity is. Pepsi will then choose a certain number of entries and send the participants a 3-pack of the product. As you can imagine, I took the bait. Sloan and I posed for a photo and posted it to Instagram. We hope we are chosen!

We are now entered in the Pepsi x Peeps contest! Hope we win! #HangingWithMyPeeps #PepsiSweepstakes

A Thing of Beauty – I called my dad last night and when he answered I just said damn. When he asked me to elaborate, I said Damn. Gonzaga is good. I am amazed at how the Gonzaga men’s basketball team has stormed through the competition to reach the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. I guess it is what you expect from an undefeated team but the way they are making it look so effortless is incredible. The ability of the Bulldogs to get easy shots and outrun their opponents is probably the best I have ever seen from any college team. For a program that I have a special connection to, I sure hope this year’s squad can produce two more wins and bring home a national championship to Spokane.

Best of luck to the Gonzaga men’s basketball team in the Final Four.

Didn’t Realize It – Did you know that William Shatner turned 90 last month? I surely didn’t. I must give credit where credit is due…he looks pretty good. Sorry for the language in the tweet.

I had no idea this guy was so old.

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Thank you for reading. I wish you a warm and meaningful Easter. Celebrate this sacred holiday with enthusiasm and reverence! See you next week. Don’t Blink.