Thank you for your reply. I was worried about the soil volume also because I read that Sweet Peas are heavy feeders. The water is no problem. I poked a drainage hole in each egg shell before I put the potting soil in, and watered them well. They all drained out and I misted them every day to keep them damp. This morning I set one out. I broke a lot of the shell, especially the bottom and pressed damp dirt around it. It's my test plant. If it makes it through the day, I'll plant the rest tomorrow. They should be planted directly in the ground, but I was afraid the gardners would weed whack them before they bloomed. The little egg shell planters showing above the ground should give them a clue that these are MY plants and not weeds... Sigh I have a border for plants between my pool and the golf course. I can't wait to see the beauty these sweet peas will bring. I had a new one poke it's little head through the soil today, so all but one seed has "hatched." I like the fact that the egg shell will add nutrients to the soil and help my little sweet peas do what they do best, bloom and smell soooooooo sweet! My next effort in my egg shell "incubators" will be fennel seeds and nasturtium. It's very hot here (108-114 degrees average) in the summer, so I'm starting early. The heat starts in June. It rarely freezes here but I'll know from the news if it is going to freeze, and I'll cover my seedlings to protect them. And also, just so you know I never crack my eggs in the middle anymore because I want more soil volume for the seedlings. I crack the top off, let the egg slip out, rinse the shell, and THEN back in the tray it goes for my little seeds. When the eggs are all gone, I have a dozen new little pots for seeds. Since the shells are good for all plants, I use the tops mixed with my coffee grounds as a sort of mulch. My jalepeno peppers LOVE it!! Thanks again for your reply:-)

Tilled in the paper would not be mulch and would not do much to block weeds (although it might have other benefits depending on what you are planning to do with your soil and what your soil is like). I have successfully used shredded paper as mulch but it helps to wet it a bit or put something on it to weigh it down so it doesn't blow away. Sometimes the shredded paper can turn into something like paper mache which does not breathe as well (although the "paper mache" doesn't happen to have done much, if any, harm in my projects). Newspapers or cardboard are a little better as weed blockers than shredded paper but since you have shredded paper to use give it a try or use a combination of the options.

I've had a "doh!" moment. My grandma's Italian Cookies are lemon flavored with lemon frosting. The cookies are much more cakey than you are describing, but the frosting is similar to what you've described--it gets hard on the surface but is creamy underneath. funny thing is, I have no amounts for the frosting ingredients, so I wing it every year (I make them at Christmas). I blend a T or two of soft butter with cups and cups of powdered sugar and give it a dash of lemon extract for flavor. Then stir in a few T of milk to get it to spreading consitency. Not quite to glaze thiness, but I dip the tops and you want it thin enough to smooth itself without dripping off the cookie(told you I wing it!) I wonder if it would be a brighter lemon flavor with fresh juice--or if that would sour the milk? I need to experiment more...I really need to take a trip to Arlington this weekend...LOL btw, heres a pic of my Christmas cookies and the Italian Cookies are the pink and green frosted ones, so you can see how it is smooth.

Thanks dcarch, I often use sushi plates for sandwiches because the shape works so well and in this case, the brown flowers matched the dark brown egg whites, I thought more about the color than the motif. I made egg salad again for lunch today, and yes Max enjoyed it too. He hadn't noticed the eggs reposing under cover in their dark bath in the fridge over the weekend. I know I'll be making them again. Cathy they were fun to do. To me, the predominate flavors were soy, five spice and the star anise. My Sichuan peppers didn't seem to pack much punch, maybe they need replacing. And I couldn't detect any flavor from the apple or the tangerine peel. John, the pressure cooker worked well for cooking the eggs in the soy/spice liquid, just remember LOW pressure. And while I really like steaming eggs, I won't use that method again for hard cooking the tea eggs, they just cracked too well. Laura, how nice of you to comment. I really enjoy your blog and your Milk Poached Fennel and Creme Caramel are on my short list of things to try. For anyone reading this who has an interest in trying some different things with a pressure cooker, take a look at her blog, she has some unusual and great recipes. Lee Here is a link that might be useful: Hip Pressure Cooking