My 9-year-old niece Lina had her birthday last weekend. After listening to days and days of extravagant party plans (a bouncing castle, free puppies for all guests, an in-house Taylor Swift concert, etc.), my sister Nikki (Lina’s mom) decided to assign her a budget. She let her plan out and buy everything–food, decorations, favors–for her own party. At first, Lina wanted to have pizza. But not “cheap, gross” pizza, she said (do I see a budding foodie here?). She wanted good pizza. Nikki told her that she could get a decent take and bake for $8, but that she would need to get several to feed all her guests. In what could possibly be identified as the fastest turnaround in history, Lina responded to this information with, “What’s the cheapest food there is?” “Eggs.” “Okay. We’re having eggs.” And that is exactly what she did. She spent her entire budget on chocolate, shamrock tattoos, and green and pink hair extensions (except for the $1.50 eggs and the $1 loaf of bread), and all the kids ate fried eggs and toast at her birthday party. And guess what? They loved it. Awesome. Isn’t it refreshing to embrace simplicity sometimes? I often feel overwhelmed when I get on Pinterest and hear about people sewing their own delivery gowns so they don’t have to wear the ugly ones provided at the hospital (“Don’t forget to paint your toenails to match!” Seriously? Who can bend down that far when they’re 9 months pregnant??) I know I sound like a hypocrite because sometimes I exert a ridiculous amount of effort in the name of food, but I actually enjoy it, so I don’t think it’s weird. (I suppose there are some freaks out there who like to sew cute hospital gowns though…touche.) I hope I can remember to let my kids do what they want to do and not what Pinterest says I should do. Hopefully this won’t be too much of a struggle. I mean, who doesn’t like fried eggs? Anyway. Let’s talk about these potatoes. Or drool over them, if you’re feeling primitive. It shouldn’t be that hard…potatoes smothered in bacon and cheese? It’s not like this is a new idea. But it certainly hasn’t gotten old yet. These were soooo good, I hardly ate anything else until they were gone. This would make a great side for Easter next week! (I know, WHAT??)
