Can you color brown eggs?

Yes! You totally can! 

I think we all got in such a habit of dying white eggs that we've just been convinced that brown eggs won't work. But they definitely do, and I think they make some of the prettiest colors. You have to let them sit in the dye a little longer to get the color to really soak in, but the wait is worth it. You end up with beautifully rich colors that I think look more "earthy" than the same store bought egg dye applied to white eggs. 

We did a little comparison - these eggs were all dyed with the standard old store bought egg dye, mixed with vinegar according to the package instructions for vibrant colors. The group on the left are brown eggs (except the blue row), the group on the right are white eggs. (and all the little white marks are just where my kids drew on the eggs with the wax crayon).

Brown eggs are usually more expensive, so I don't know that I would go out and buy them just for Easter egg dying. But if you have them and weren't sure if you could use them - go for it! I absolutely love how they turned out. 

Easy Holiday Teacher Gifts

Every year the requests come out to contribute to class gifts for teachers, and I always debate whether to participate in the group gift.  I don't doubt that the teacher appreciates these gifts, but they seem so impersonal to me.  Our teachers work so hard for us.  And especially for our unique little (big!) family I recognize that they may even be working just a little harder sometimes (and well, I know I tend to be a squeaky wheel).  I know I can't do much, given budget and free time constraints, but I do feel like making something personal is the very least I can do for these people that give so much of their time for us.  Spending a little of my precious time to thank the people that spend so much of their time with my most precious people just feels better than putting some cash in an envelope.

I always make some kind of baked goods for the holidays, and I've given other small things along with them in the past.  Since I'm making somewhat of a name for myself around these schools for my lunch making, I figured I'd go slightly with that theme for my teacher gifts this year.  

So my super simple and fun little gift idea: pack up my usual holiday cookie gift in one of our favorite lunch containers, EasyLunchboxes.  Teachers need lunch too, so I'm hoping they will find this to be something they can actually use, and hopefully remember how much we appreciate them when they use it.

I'm feeling pretty good about this right now - I think I've got something that will put a little smile on their faces, and let them know that we appreciate what they do for us.  And for me, it fit in my limited budget and was very easy to do.  

I brightened it up a little with a few colors of cocktail napkins that I had picked up recently at Ikea. 

The main compartment has two flavors of homemade biscotti - a basic almond biscotti, and a new double chocolate version that I've never done before (I just added 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1 cup chocolate chips, and skipped the cinnamon and almonds).  Those are topped with one cut out chocolate cookie decorated by the kids, in a little parchment bag.  (It's nice to have a little of the kids touch to the gift, but let's be honest, most adults don't love those sugary sweet frosted cookies)

One of the small compartments contains one of the EasyLunchboxes mini dipper containers (I've included the lid as well, just under the napkin) with a few easy chocolate cookies I made using this recipe.  And in the smallest compartment is a dark chocolate covered salted caramel (not homemade), wrapped in a green napkin like a little present.  

Topped with the EasyLunchboxes lid and tied up with a pretty bow.  And that's it.