July is National Pickle Month

July 1, 2018March 14, 2019 Brigitte BrulzLeave a comment

People who love pickles must really love pickles! Not only can they celebrate National Pickle Day in November, but people can celebrate National Pickle Month the entire month of July.

I have had some people tell me they absolutely love pickles, and I have had others tell me they can’t stand pickles at all. I think they are surprised when I tell them even though I wrote a book called Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles, I am somewhere in between. I don’t love pickles (unless they are my grandma’s recipe of homemade bread and butter pickles), but I also don’t hate them (although I may make funny faces when trying some). I do; however, really enjoy making pickles with my family, which I hope to be able to do again in the near future.

When I think of pickles, I think of pickled cucumbers, but there are so many other foods that can be pickled. It may come as a surprise, but I’m really not that brave when it comes to trying pickled items. I enjoy pickled jalapenos (homemade), but I’ve never actually tried pickled eggs, pickled watermelon rinds, or many many other pickled items. They just don’t sound that appetizing to me. Maybe I’m missing out.

Some restaurants are now offering pickleicious choices (although I’m not sure how delicious they really are). For example, people can currently try a pickle juice slush at Sonic or pickle fried chicken at KFC.

I have even found some interesting pickle flavored foods while walking around a local store. Would anyone like to try Dill Pickle flavored peanuts?

Or Lay’s Dill Pickle flavored chips?

Or Pringles Screamin’ Dill Pickle chips? (Sorry I don’t have a picture of those.)

Why does it always seem pickle flavored items are dill pickle flavored? I don’t want to start a debate, but I personally prefer bread and butter pickles over dill pickles.

In the past, I even wrote about a pickle themed card I had found at a store. Again, the dill pickle stole the show!

I have also found many more pickled foods, pickle recipes, pickles accessories, and all things pickle on Pinterest. If you are interested you can check out my Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles section with over 285 pins on my Pinterest page. I plan to continue adding pickle items to it as I see them.

What is your favorite kind of pickle? Have you tried any pickle-flavored foods?

Birthday Pickle Card for Only $0.50!

March 6, 2018January 1, 2019 Brigitte BrulzLeave a comment

Since writing Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles, I have noticed quite a bit of pickle themed items that I hadn’t really noticed before.

In January, I was at Dollar Tree searching through birthday cards when I found a pickle themed one. Since cards are 2/$1 at Dollar Tree, this card was only $0.50!

Here is a picture of the outside:

And a picture of the inside:

Well, I couldn’t pass it up. I ended up buying three of these entertaining little cards.

What is the funniest (appropriate) birthday card you have received?

You can check out the following posts for more pickle-related items.

Crafts and Projects · Jobs of a Preschooler · Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles · Writing Appearances

Celebrate National Penguin Awareness Day

January 16, 2018March 14, 2019 Brigitte BrulzLeave a comment

(This post contains affiliate links, which means I may make a small commission at no extra charge to you if you make a purchase after clicking on a link. Thank you!)

There are many national days, which can be fun to celebrate. Last year, I had a lot of fun celebrating National Pickle Day with my book Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles. You can read all about my fun Pickle Day celebration by clicking here if interested.

Did you know January 20th is National Penguin Awareness Day? A few years ago, my daughters and I had a lot of fun celebrating penguins. I hung up black and white streamers, we watched a penguin movie, read penguin books, and did a bunch of other crafts and activities. This year, I wrote a post for Hands On As We Grow about numerous activities you can do with the little ones in your life to celebrate penguins. You can find those activities on Hands On As We Grow here if you would like.

What are some interesting celebrations you have celebrated with your little ones?

My daughters and I decided to be little chefs like the girl in Jobs of a Preschooler by creating our own little snack to celebrate National Penguin Awareness Day.

Using cream cheese, black olives, carrots, and round crackers, we created little penguin treats. I found this idea on Fantastic Fun and Learning. Here are the finished penguin snacks that my daughters created:

They were almost too cute to eat. They received thumbs up reviews just like in Jobs of a Preschooler when the little girl was a taste tester.

What are some fun snacks you have enjoyed making with your little ones?

Crafts and Projects · Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles · Ramblings

Thankful Tree with a Pickle

December 25, 2017December 24, 2017 Brigitte BrulzLeave a comment

Each Thanksgiving for the past few years, my daughters and I have decorated a very small artificial tree with homemade tags labeled with things we are thankful for. This year, we literally stood back and threw these little tags at the tree, which made us all laugh. This tree may not be the prettiest, but it’s definitely a fun tradition that I like to do with my daughters. Below is a picture of the little Thankful Tree:

In addition to the “Thankful Tree”, we did another simple project together on Thanksgiving that anyone can do at home. We cut strips of construction paper and wrote various things that we were thankful for on the papers. I was surprised when one of my daughters said she was thankful for “laundry”, but the fact that we have laundry means that we have clothes to wear. The fact we have dirty dishes means we have dishes to eat from and food to eat. (Just a side note: this reminds me of 1 Timothy 6:8) Once the strips were written on, I stapled them together into one long thankful chain. We definitely have a lot to be thankful for!

So why am I talking about Thanksgiving when today is actually Christmas? Well, today, I will hide a little pickle ornament somewhere in this little “Thankful” tree. This is another activity that we have been doing for the past few years, which I had mentioned in Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles. My daughters enjoy trying to see who can find it the fastest Christmas morning. Since the tree is so small, it really isn’t much of a challenge, but they insist I still do it. It’s amazing how important some traditions seem to be.

Do you have any special holiday traditions? I would love to hear about them!

I think the little pickle ornament is cute, don’t you?

I know this time of the year can be especially challenging for many people. I hope that no matter what you may be going through, you are still able to have a nice day today. Merry Christmas!

Crafts and Projects · Jobs of a Preschooler · Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles

Make Your Own Potato Creature

December 8, 2017March 14, 2019 Brigitte BrulzLeave a comment

Recently, my daughter was required to make a creature using a vegetable, fruit, or a potato for one of the clubs that she is a part of. She decided to make her own potato hedgehog using a potato, toothpicks, craft sticks, and pipe cleaners. When she did this project, it reminded me of my book Jobs of a Preschooler when the little girl was a “doctor putting patients back together”.

Here is a picture of her little creature that she named Timothy Hedge the Toothpicked Hedgehog:

This was a simple, inexpensive project that anyone can do at home. Maybe the little ones in your life would enjoy making their own little creatures. They could even make cucumber creatures to go along with the book Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles. If you don’t have any cucumbers around, they can make their own cucumber characters with green construction paper like we did at a library storytime I did last month. (If you missed that post, you can read about it here.)

Here are some of the paper cucumber creations from the storytime:

What creature will your little one create?

One of the disadvantages of creating a creature from food is that they don’t last for a long time; however, we decided to use the hedgehog for a little experiment by cutting it in half. We laid one half cut-side down on a plastic plate, and we left the other half cut-side up to see which one would rot faster. We had assumed that the half with the cut-side exposed would rot faster. After two days, this was the result:

We were correct. The side that was exposed to the air rotted much faster as you can see in the picture. The piece on the left was the one facing down on the plate, and the piece on the right was the one exposed to the air.

What kinds of experiments can you and your “little scientists” come up with?

Category: Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles

July is National Pickle Month

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Birthday Pickle Card for Only $0.50!

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Celebrate National Penguin Awareness Day

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Thankful Tree with a Pickle

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Make Your Own Potato Creature

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