The Top 13 of 2013!

This past year was a whole lot of ups and downs. We finally figured out why Beaker was sick, increased our garden, worked hard, kept going. A pretty good year, overall. Like most of us, I have spent the last few days reflecting over the past year and thinking forward to what may happen this year. And also fetching orange juice, ice water, and toast for my house full of flu patients.

For fun, and because other cooler people were doing it, I put together a Top 13 of 2013 post. Aw, it was fun for me to look back through the year and choose my favorites! I hope you enjoy the retrospective as much as I did.

So without further ado, and in no particular order, here is a baker's dozen of my favorite Chaos and Confections blog posts of 2013:

A Pirate's Life for Me! - Featuring a Jake and the Neverland Pirates Cubby open faced turkey quesadilla.

A Dalek-table Lunch - Dalek sunbutter sandwich for St. Patrick's Day? Of course!

Winter is Coming - Black bean chili with a Game of Thrones Arya Stark theme.

Alice in Wonderland - Lunch inspired by the wonderous Lewis Carroll in celebration of his birthday.

Are You Ready for Some Football? - Super sport ball lunch from early last year.

Goodbye Ten, Hello Eleven - From when the kids finally watched "The End of Time", in which the Tenth Doctor regenerates into the Eleventh (*sob*).

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! - A pair of lunches inspired by the works of one of the best children's authors of all time.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road - to a delicious spinach quesadilla Oz lunch.

Frogs - Ribbit-y lunches fit for a preschooler!

Resistance is Futile - A pair of Star Trek lunches, including this Takei salmon and rice meal.

Heart-y Sandwiches - a pretty pair of open-face layered mini sandwiches.

The Doctor's Wife - Celebrating the truest of true loves, between the Doctor and his TARDIS.

And finally,

And Now for Bean - A post all about my sweet older daughter's recent struggle with newly diagnosed food sensitivities.

It's been a great year, and 2014 is going to be even more fabulous!

Now, click the button to find a link party full of fantastic posts revisiting the best posts of 2013 from some of the greatest bloggers on the inter-webz!

Resistance is Futile.

I dearly love Edible Geekery blog hops! Remember to click the button at the bottom to continue with the hop!

I am a geek. For anyone who knows me, or has ever read this blog before, this comes as no surprise. I was geek before geek was chic! 

But I must confess. I am not really a Star Trek fan.

I know! Shocking! What kind of a geek doesn't do Star Trek?! It isn't that I dislike the shows. On the contrary - the ones I have seen have been quite good. It just hasn't drawn me in. The Dude, on the other hand, IS a big Star Trek fan. His favorite is Star Trek: The Next Generation. I have seen a good number of episodes with him, enough to have a certain level of appreciation for the show and franchise. At some point I will sit down with him and watch the entire ST:TNG series start to finish, I promise. I just haven't been converted into a total fan yet.

However, I AM a big fan of George Takei. The original Mr. Sulu!

Besides being a geek legend and an internet superstar with a fantastic sense of humor, the man has done some amazing social work. He has used his fame to turn the bright, shiny spotlight on LGBT rights and on the history of Japanese internment camps in the US. He is nothing short of awesome.

Mr. Sulu, thanks for everything you do!

"It's OK to be Takei" pepper jack cheese letters on steamed rice with baked salmon.

I do kind of love this. It is Takei's insignia painted with edible dye on cheese.

"Oh myyy!" kiwi slices and raspberries. There are also a few chocolate espresso beans from a local gourmet shop tucked in there as a sweet surprise.

Veggie rainbow! Red, orange, and yellow sweet bell peppers with cucumber slices and a purple packet of soy sauce for the salmon and rice.

Bonus lunch! I packed this one for him yesterday:

IceBorg (Heh. See what I did there?) and grilled chicken Caesar salad with red and golden cherry tomatoes and pepper jack cheese spelling out the infamous Borg motto: Resistance is futile. He also has bold guacamole (with tortilla chips in a separate container) and sliced apples and plums.

And as a special fun treat, want to win a nifty prize? Of course you do! Enter below for a chance to win this Star Trek tumbler and set of four cupcake rings!

** Congratulations to Kimberly W! You have won the giveaway! Thanks to everyone who entered! **

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But wait! There's more! You can't stop here. No! You must boldly go on to the next blog in the hop to see what awesomeness What's In Our Lunch Bags? has to share! Click the button below to continue...

Both lunches were packed in my favorite Easy Lunchboxes, which can be found at Amazon here:

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