Star Wars Galactic Drinks

Graduation Redux

Turkey’s college graduation was almost two weeks ago…today we decided to run it back!

When he graduated, we knew he had earned Latin Honors (summa cum laude, if you’re keeping track), but because he was a transfer student to UMSL his junior year, they had to wait for each of his classes to be finalized so he had the proper credit hours as a Triton to make the Latin Honors official. I won’t even start on how ridiculous it is that they don’t either require the professors to have those grades in prior to graduation, or simply delay graduation until they know which of their transfer students (a large percentage of the graduating class) have earned them, thereby depriving all of them the experience of having those honors read at graduation in front of everyone. OK, I started a little bit, and it is ridiculous…Bunny didn’t run into this problem when she received her honors as a transfer student to WKU at graduation last year. But he will have summa cum laude on his diploma, and today we drove out to UMSL to pick up his honors tassel in the school colors of red and gold (and took a few more pictures with it).

We did a replay of his graduation dinner of Ronto Wraps and the “High Republic Cordial,” from the new Star Wars: Galactic Drinks cookbook:

But I made a different dessert this time…since we’ve been in Chicago recently, I made a Portillo’s cake!

I’m still really frustrated for him (and the other graduating transfer students), that he wasn’t recognized the way he should have been at the ceremony, but as least he knows he earned the honors!

  • Bachelor of Science in Mathematics
  • Alumni Award for the Senior Math Student With Highest GPA
  • Summa Cum Laude
  • Dean’s List
  • Pierre Laclede Honors College
  • Accelerated Master’s Program
  • Phi Kappa Phi
  • Highest UMSL Score–MAA Putnam Exam
  • Mathematical Association of American Missouri Section Meeting Attendee
  • 2026 Graduate

The 2026 Graduate

It’s graduation day! Turkey received his Bachelor of Science in mathematics, which is just amazing to me…he knows and loves math so well!

Very early this morning, we all headed to UMSL for the graduation ceremony for the College of Arts and Sciences.

The rain held off long enough afterward for us to get some pictures:

And the traditional parents and graduate photo at home, of course!

Turkey picked Star Wars Ronto Wraps for his celebratory dinner:

And we toasted him with the “High Republic Cordial,” a sweet and spicy drink from the new Star Wars: Galactic Drinks cookbook:

For dessert, we had Biscoff cookie butter pie:

I’m so proud of all of Turkey’s accomplishments, and it was my joy and privilege to celebrate him today!

  • Bachelor of Science in Mathematics
  • Alumni Award for the Senior Math Student With Highest GPA
  • Summa Cum Laude
  • Dean’s List
  • Pierre Laclede Honors College
  • Accelerated Master’s Program
  • Phi Kappa Phi
  • Highest UMSL Score–MAA Putnam Exam
  • Mathematical Association of American Missouri Section Meeting Attendee
  • 2026 Graduate

Star Wars Days 2026

May the Fourth Be With You! (But watch out for the Revenge of the Fifth!!!)

We have once again enjoyed a duo of Star Wars Days, starting yesterday with a breakfast of Circumtore Hoops (buttermilk donuts flavored with nutmeg and topped with a vanilla glaze and freeze-dried strawberries) from Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook. I also made Huyang Tea, which was flavored with coconut milk and honey, from the new Star Wars: Galactic Drinks book.

We had a snack of Kullgroon Drops (frozen grapes tossed with blue raspberry Jell-O) from Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook. I don’t even like grapes, but I thought these were really good…freezing them makes a ton of difference!

For dinner we had our favorite Ronto Wraps made with pork tenderloin, sausages, a tangy slaw, and a spicy peppercorn sauce on homemade flatbreads, just like we had at Galaxy’s Edge at Disney World!

To go with dinner, I made Yocola Azalus, a kiwi and matcha based drink from Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook:

And for dessert, blue raspberry flavored Csaplar Shakes from Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook:

Of course I had a fashion for the day…I wore the same skirt as last year, and added a new pair of earrings also inspired by Padmé: 

For the Revenge of the Fifth, we had “Darth Donuts,” my own creation that was a twist on the previous day’s recipe for breakfast.

For dinner, I made Sakhet’s Special from Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook. It featured soba noodles topped with steak and a sweet sauce made with tamari, mirin, ginger, and sesame oil.

Our drink was the Red Kyber Crystal from the new Star Wars: Galactic Drinks book. The main flavors were watermelon and mint, and included a Pop Rocks coated piece of watermelon on top!

I made Nectrose Crystals, a homemade candy from the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge cookbook:

Which went on dessert, the Mimbanese Mudslide. from the same cookbook. It’s chocolate pudding with a touch of cinnamon and topped with whipped cream and crushed Oreos in addition to the candy:

This is one of favorite celebrations of the year, and I love coming up with menus and trying new things for it!