Breakfast tip of the day

My mom sent me a neat e-mail forward (does that sentence have a 1950s feel?). Usually I'm not a big fan of forwards. After years of warnings that God will not bless me, bad luck will follow me, and my crush will not marry me, I usually just delete them onsite. So if you ever get a forward from me, read it. It's probably a pretty good one because I don't read many and I even more rarely pass them on. This forward was a recipe for Ziploc Omelets.

Here are the directions.

• Have guests write their names on a quart-size Ziploc freezer bag with permanent marker.
• Crack 2 eggs (large or extra-large) into the quart size Ziploc bag (not more than 2) shake to scramble.
• Put out a variety of ingredients -- cheeses, ham, onion, green pepper, tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc.
• Each guest adds ingredients of choice to his or her bag and shakes.
• Make sure to squeeze the air out of the bag and zip it up.
• Place the bags into rolling, boiling water for exactly 13 minutes.
• You can usually cook 6-8 omelets in a large pot.
• Open the bags and the omelet will roll out easily. Be prepared for everyone to be amazed.

It really works. We've had them several times in our house. I usually make them the night before and then cook them up in the morning when I'm too tired to see straight while I'm making the coffee. I would like to point out these risks. Realize that the majority of this article discusses plastics in the microwave and not in boiling water. Although I'm not sure what the difference is.

A new hobby for the Lowes

OK, so I stumbled across an article in this month's Family Fun, a magazine that I enjoy but would never subscribe to on my own. One of the partners at B's firm read it while she was getting her hair done, thought it was the best thing since sliced bread, and promptly ordered it for me. I digress . . . Anyway, the article was about letterboxing. Anybody heard of this? Well, the article explained that this hobby got its start in the mid 1800s in England and now is popular worldwide, a bit long for a trend to catch on but whatever. It's basically an outdoor treasure hunt, complete with clues and box to find at the end of the trail. You are given a set of easy to follow physical directions to a set location, there you will find a box with a log book and stamp inside, you carry a notebook of your own where you stamp with the stamp found, and you stamp the logbook with a stamp of your own. It's a kissing cousin to the more high tech geocaching, without all of the expense. And here's the great thing, this website lists tons of letterboxes near you! I was surprised at how many were in our area. I definitely think this is something that our family will be doing to enjoy the weather this fall!