macaroni and tofu turn one this week!!!!!!

i can't believe it. *they grow up so fast* look at them a year ago (!!):

and now they are beautiful colorful egg-layin ladies and tofu is a handsome young man and they bring us so much joy (and lots of shakshuka). happy birthday, macaroni and tofu! we love you!

obviously we made little cakes for them with all of their favorite things: watermelon, yogurt, mint, and "sprinkles" (sunflower seeds and stuff). we sang the birthday song and thought about making little party hats... but i don't think chickens really like hats. sweaters, maybe. but hats? do you have any intel on this?

yogurt, i recently learned, is really good for chickies since it helps their digestion, and mint keeps them cool and helps repel any pests. and of course watermelon hydrates them, oh boy they are big watermelon fans.

i didn't sweeten the yogurt in these since chickens don't really have a sweet tooth, but if you're looking to make a human version of these, it might be tastier to use whipped cream or sweetened yogurt between the watermelon layers. or! you could take the old sweet/savory route and use slices of feta. these are easy little cakes to make and perfect for a hot summer day!

watermelon mini cakes

1. slice thin layers of watermelon and use a biscuit cutter to cut out your cake layers

2. stack up your layers with a layer of yogurt/whipped cream/feta (see note above) and a few mint leaves in between

3. top with mint leaves and sprinkles and enjoy!

-yeh!

we hyperventilated for five minutes straight. and then omg-ed for five more. it was the greatest hanukkah present ever in all the land! one teeny tiny egg, too small for most of our egg cups and very lightly speckled. everything we've waited for since june (they grow up so fast!). we cuddled it and stared at it and finally decided that we should eat it ceremoniously, out of the egg cup we bought on our honeymoon.

we wanted a six-minute egg, but with such a dainty little specimen we reduced the time to five and it was perfect. firm whites, a yolk the thickness of honey. and its color! we kvelled so hard, we've never been prouder. is this what having an honor roll student is like? can i get a bumper sticker about all this?

we spread our little egg onto buttered toast and sprinkled it with salt while the snow came down outside. it was tasty and bucolic af. now we're researching how to bronze the shell so we can keep it on our mantel forever and ever.

we're so proud of you, macaroni!!

-yay!