Today's Kool Idea: Popcorn Egg Decorating Kit by The Popcorn Factory

What better way to end our "kool" ideas for Easter week than with our all-time favorite snack...popcorn! We at The Daily Kool like to think of ourselves as popcorn aficionados, if only because we eat so darn much of it! Yep, popcorn is an obsession in our family for adults and children alike. So, we were really excited to see this great idea for a popcorn egg decorating kit from The Popcorn Factory.

These popcorn eggs look so yummy, we honestly question whether we will be able to hold off long enough to decorate them. The delectable popcorn egg decorating kit comes with a candy writer tube, an assortment of candy eyes, flavored tootsie rolls, mini marshmallows, red licorice, caramel corn, licorice bridge mix, smarties, mini graham crackers, an instruction sheet and 12 popcorn eggs. Are you getting hungry yet? Because we sure are!

This is a terrific project for the entire family. It got us thinking, though. Being the cooking-obsessed fools we are at The Daily Kool, we had to find out if we could also do this idea on our own. So, we borrowed a fabulous recipe from the famous Paula Dean for popcorn balls and modified the shape to a more "egg-like" form. Delicious! It was actually easier than we thought, with a few slight considerations...we've included them in the recipe below. Whether you purchase the popcorn egg decorating kit from The Popcorn Factory or try your hand at making it on your own, these tasty morsels will definitely sweeten up your Easter holiday. Enjoy!

Ingredients
2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups water
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
18 cups plain popped corn (not microwaved...use either pre-popped corn or make your own)
Candy of your choice and icing tubes to use for decorating


Directions

1. Place popped corn in a large greased glass bowl (we sprayed with Pam)
   
2. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, water, syrup, vinegar and salt. Cook over high heat, stiring constantly with a wooden spoon until mixture reaches 255 degrees F (hard-ball stage) on a candy thermometer.
3. Stir in vanilla.
4. Pour SLOWLY over popped corn, tossing gently with your wooden spoon. Again, do this slowly or you will melt the popcorn.
5. Let the mixture get cool enough to handle.
6. With lightly greased hands (we used oil), press popcorn into an egg-like shape. Make sure they are large enough to decorate!
   
7. Should make 10-12 nice sized popcorn eggs.

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Today's Kool Idea: Nyokki Egg Pet Plant

We at The Daily Kool have a confession to make. Until we started our research for "kool" Easter ideas, we had never heard of these adorable Nyokki egg pet plants. We certainly would never have suspected that they were becoming such a popular collector's item. We do have to admit, though...they are really cute, aptly described by one fan as the "next generation of the Chia pet."

Nyokki! Nyokki! Nyokki! ("grow! grow! grow!") and that's what these cheerful pet plants do. Small, but precious characters (about the size of a real egg, with fabric legs), Nyokki are handmade in Japan from glazed ceramic. They are filled with a growing medium and rye grass seed that grows to full height in about two weeks. Then, style Nyokki's "hair" or cut it and watch it grow again. Some of the characters available include a pig, frog, chick, monkey and bear. The bunny (not available on Amazon.com) seems especially appropriate for the spring holiday.

What a wonderful Easter basket gift for children! We originally thought the Nyokki egg pet plant was catered more for girls, but to our surprise, our four year old son absolutely loves it (we chose the monkey). Then, again...what's not to love? Nyokki teaches our children responsibility for taking care of a living thing, while giving them a creative outlet at the same time. Such "kool", happy characters...looking at them, we just can't help but smile! See? Check them out:

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Today's Kool Idea: Photo-Egg Digital Frame

Welcome to day three of our Easter feature (sorry, this still makes us chuckle). We hope you are enjoying our "kool" ideas this week as much as we love bringing them to you. Hopefully, we have already given you some inspiration for an extraordinary spring holiday season. If not, don't give up on us yet...check out the Photo-egg digital frame by Cybecho, Inc.

No, this is not an April Fool's Joke...can you believe how cute this thing is? Give it as a gift for Easter or keep it to store your own precious holiday memories. The Photo-egg has a patented design and is a fully functioning digital photo frame that will hold up to 100 images. This sweet item has a 1.5 inch LCD display, adjustable LCD brightness and 128 x 128 resolution. It's built-in lithium battery boasts up to 6 hours of continuous photo display (charge w/USB connection).

The Photo-egg digital frame is available in 7 main colors: blue, white, red, green, black, orange and pink. Beware, though...if you decide you want to order this from Amazon, Cybecho will choose a random color for you. If you have a preference, you must call them within 24 hours of your purchase to choose your specific color (no extra charge for this). Since the company claims only one business day of handling time for your Photo-egg, don't take a chance by waiting too long to call.

The Photo-egg digital frame is a charming and whimsical gift for adults and children alike. Don't let it's compact size fool you...reviewers say that the photo quality is top notch. Since the Photo-egg now ships from WA (used to come from Hong Kong), you can be assured of timely delivery before Easter. What a "kool" way to relive all the special moments of this holiday season. No fooling.

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Today's Kool Ideas: Wilton 3-D Cake Pans (Lamb, Bunny, Egg)

We at The Daily Kool are suckers for unusual baking molds. Imagine our joy in finding three super "kool" 3-D cake pans to share with our readers for our Easter week...a Stand Up Lamb Pan, 3-D Bunny Pan, and 3-D Egg Pan Set. This is a wonderful baking project to do with the kids or on your own.

We were thrilled to see that these 3-D cake pans were made by one of our personal favorite bakeware companies, Wilton. Wilton is an industry leader in cake decorating, quality bakeware and food crafting. They are the number one resource for nationally-located decorating classes, and proven supplier of professional Wilton decorating bakeware. Their website gives some great ideas with clear, step-by-step instructions to ensure success, even for the amateur baker.

Check out this adorable Stand Up Lamb Pan! An especially sweet addition to Easter festivities, the lamb cake is fun and easy to make using Wilton's Stand Up Lamb Pan. The two halves of the pan fill with six cups of pound cake or another firm textured batter and bake without the need for a heating core. Contoured for realism, they produce a life-like lamb with long ears and a little snout nestled in a laying position. The Stand Up Lamb Pan comes with five decorating suggestions, or use your imagination to design your own. Measures 10 by 4-1/2 by 7 inches.


Peter Rabbit is a welcome guest at any Easter or other springtime event! This precious 3-D Bunny Pan is sure to impress. The two-piece set fills with 4-1/2 cups of pound cake or another firm textured batter and bakes without the need for a heating core. Contoured for realism, the pan produces a lifelike bunny with long ears and plump cheeks nestled in a sitting position. The 3-D Bunny Pan also comes with five decorating suggestions. Measures 7-1/4 by 7 by 4 inches.



The 3-D Egg Pan Set is The Daily Kool personal favorite. A lovely addition to a spring holiday table, this egg-shaped cake is fun and easy to make using Wilton's 3-D Egg Pan Set. The four-piece set includes two oval halves and two ring bases to keep the pans level in the oven. Simply fill the halves with any two-layer cake mix and bake, then flip one cake on top of the other and decorate. Yep, you guessed it...the 3-D Egg Pan Set comes with five decorating suggestions but has infinite possibilities. Measures 6.2 x 6.3 x 8.8 inches.


All three bakeware sets are crafted of quality aluminum for even heating and long-lasting durability. We do not recommend putting these pans in the the dishwasher, though...they will hold up better if you hand-wash them. Also, we have found that many of the 3-D cake pans have stickiness issues, so make sure to grease them very well when baking...we personally use Pam baking spray with flour (found in your local supermarket) with excellent results. Make sure you do a practice run before making any of these 3-D cakes for company...it's always a good idea to get the kinks out. We also suggest experimenting with a boxed cake mix first...they are likely to have the best consistency for 3-D cake pan beginners. Another idea is to use chocolate (we are partial to white chocolate) instead of cake...you make them solid or hollow to fill with other candy. What a "kool" way to impress your guests this Easter!

Check out some other decorating ideas (using our featured 3-D cake pans) from Wilton's website:

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Today's Kool Idea: Oggz Color Morphing Lamps / Accent Lights

Easter is fast approaching, so it's time for The Daily Kool to help our readers with unique ideas to help make this special holiday even more so. Okay, we know what you're really thinking...a bunch of Jews coming up with good Easter ideas? We actually thing we did a pretty darn good job of it. Stranger things have happened, you know, and we hope that you think the products we've selected for our Easter feature (catchy, huh?) week are as "kool" as we do.

We at The Daily Kool were so impressed with Oggz color morphing accent lights, we just had to make them our first featured Easter product idea. Oggz look like huge eggs (about 3 1/2" tall, 3" diameter) that glow and continually transform colors through the whole rainbow. Don't go so much by the picture here; the Oggz actually morph colors much slower...we just wanted you to be able to visualize it online. Oggz come as singles or sets of three. We love that they are portable, soft and squishy...they are fun and absolutely safe for children to handle. Each set includes a recharging station, rechargeable NiMH batteries (good for over 500 charges) and an AC adapter.

We can see an Oggz as a beautiful accent for your home or as a unique centerpiece at the holiday dinner table. Oggz can be an unusual nightlight to help children relax at bedtime, or a mesmerizing distraction for your infant during diaper changing. Your teenagers can take them to concerts or dance clubs and they create nice ambiance for a college dorm room. Imagine how relaxing a bath would be with a few of them lit up around the tub. Or how, when placed on a desk at work, they might take the edge off from an otherwise stressful day. No doubt about it, Oggz are a great gift for children and adults alike.

Okay, so maybe we're stretching it a bit here for Easter...egg shaped or not, Oggz certainly don't qualify as a traditional holiday gift idea. But, what a great excuse to deviate a little. Whether you like the idea for Easter or just for everyday fun, Oggz color morphing accent lights might just be too "kool" to pass up...even for us.



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