Ariel Day!

Dale and Ariel on Ariel Day! Yesterday was Ariel day in our artblock class. Why? Just because. You see, this is something Dale started last year (inadvertently- it was his sad-day that was a direct inspiration for 'Dale-day' which has now become a tradition)

I've done things like this before, but not quite in this way. ... the theory is, silly as it may seem... that everyone deserves a day. A day that is not their birthday, or a holiday, or an occasion, just a ordinary day made special and into a 'gee, we are so glad you're alive! day' a 'you're doing great, let's have a parade day' a 'you rock day'. So- just for my small upper-level class- I let them each choose a day. On that day, I make them a treat (sometimes they choose it, sometimes I surprise them), their classmates make them a present, or bring them something, we all tell that person something we find wonderful about them- what makes them unique, special and worth-knowing in our opinion. We have fun, and it is their day.

This is good for me to, helps me to give back a fraction of all the goodness I get from the kids. And- think about it- when kids are little and in school there are always birthdays, rewards, celebrations. In high school that stops- and the teenage years can be difficult.... sometimes teenagers can be hard to 'celebrate', and families are busy, everything at school is about rules/ tasks/ tests, and teenager parties are not always good things. (and fewer kids than you think actually attend these parties....there is always someone left out)

So what this does is give us all a little bit of soul-stroking, the person of the day feels great because it is their day, and everyone else feels great because they are giving- that is a *good* habit to build.

On Ariel's day, I made Marshmallow-Mermaid Pie, someone brought Halloween Oreo's, she got a few treats and a big hug from Dale. Marshmallow-Mermaid Pie is a winner, so here is my version of it.

1 bag large marshmallows

1/2 cup milk

1 small container (pint I think?) whipping creme, about 1 1/2 cups

1 oz unsweetened chocolate grated

1 graham cracker pie crust.

Heat milk and marshmallows together until melted. Let cool 15 or so minutes

Grate chocolate. (make sure it is unsweetened- and just use a steak knife. Easy!)

Whip cream at medium speed with a mixer until stiff peaks form. (I had my doubts, but whipped cream *really* does whip! amazing! I suppose you could substitute cool-whip, but not sure... will experiment)

Fold marshmallow melt into whipped cream. Add chocolate

Fill up the shell and refrigerate overnight. (I used individual pie shells. It filled 10 perfectly)

This is AWESOME! light but rich, sweet but has that edgy chocolate taste. Texture is fluffy but not marshmallow- kinda.....well, don't know. Bit like cheesecake in a way, bit like 3 musketeers, bit like heaven. I didn't think it would turn out this good- I was amazed!!!

Go rent the movie 'Waitress'- the recipe comes from there, though I changed it a bit (no coconut and I'm to lazy to make my own pie shells....)