Cannolis

Holly cares nil about traditional cooking, but she loves to make unusual desserts.  For Easter, she prepared cannolis.  Though these are commonplace on the East Coast, where Italian bakeries are on every corner, they are harder to find "deep in the heart of Texas."

However, if you have never eaten them, they are to die for.  You do have to have a pasta machine or a pasta attachment to your mixer to make them.   A deep fat fryer is a big help as well.  You also need cannoli tubes. Some cooking stores have them, although Holly ordered hers.

If you would like the recipe, here is a link to one very close to what she used.  https://allrecipes.com/Recipe/cannoli-2/Detail.aspx

Holly did not add the chocolate, which is optional.

In other family news, Bailey received notification yesterday that an essay she had written in her science class has been selected for a special award.  This was a contest, sponsored by the PTA.

A couple of months ago she got an e-mail stating that her essay had been selected for district judging; then she received another e-mail that it had been forwarded on to the state level.

Yesterday, she learned that it had been named an essay with "highest merit."   The e-mail explained that meant it was the third best essay submitted from around the state and that an awards banquet would be held at the American Airlines Center with the date to be sent to her.

The state president, from whom the letter originated, congratulated her, stating that this was quite an accomplishment.  I concur, considering how big Texas is and the number of entries there must have been. 

(Not everyone wrote essays; some submitted projects in various categories; but the emphasis of all had to be on the environment.)

Every since she was able to read and write, she has written stories and poetry.  Now, she is writing song lyrics.  I think she has a real gift. She definitely has an affinity for rhyming.  

When I rhyme, it sounds stilted; hers sounds natural and the logical consequence of the song.  

I would not be at all surprised to see her pursue a career in writing of some sort.