In-depth story equals super easy baking

Well I made it through my awful week, just barely. And I didn't set anything on fire this week! I took my test, wrote my feminist theory about Dexter (it's a really interesting way to watch the show, but I think I'll go back to just watching it for entertainment), finished the yearbook....AND most of all, finished my major project.

I was super nervous about it — would it be true to its sources? How many people would it anger? Just basically, was it written well? Best feeling ever to finish it though. There was definitely some blowback from it, because as I found, that just seems to come with a historical piece. Everyone has a different memory of the time, you know? Forty years from now, I will feel differently about my time in college than all my friends. Just a fact of life. Another criticism I heard was it didn't show the "other side," the kids who weren't involved in the activism. That wasn't the point of my story, but it is a story that could be written. Anyway, it's finished! One thing that made me really happy was people were telling me they read it the whole way through, which for a 3,000+ word historical story is a pretty big compliment. Here's the story: http://www.kansan.com/news/2010/apr/20/generation-ablaze/ Tell me what you think if you get a chance to read it! There's also multimedia up now too. Pretty neat.

So since last week was so crazy, this week, after work, I've been sleeping a lot. I had to finish up the Jayhawker though, which took forever. I've been making real dinners, too! Last night was Asian beef kabobs — yummy! I used to never nap during the day, and now I do all the time, and for like 3-hour increments. My kitty likes it though; he gets to sleep in his warm spot during the day too.

I've actually baked quite a bit this week, but I don't think I actually tried anything new. I made Oreo cupcakes, like I had before. I was getting ready to pipe the frosting and couldn't find the tip I like. Turns out the garbage disposal ate it, so they're ugly :( Drew really likes them though, so he's taking care of them.

Liz's birthday was Monday, so Sunday we went to dinner at Tortas Jalisco. They have super yummy chips and salsa and margaritas. They're kind of like flour chips, which are my favorite. But of course I wanted to make dessert, so I made brownie cups with peanut butter, which is a recipe from one of the blogs I follow, Cookies and Cups. These are SUPER rich but super yummy too and not terribly hard to make. Basically you use a lot of chocolate chips and peanut butter chips and a muffin tin. They're best warm, but what kind of dessert isn't?

A few weeks ago I did a Sunday cookout with Taylor, Liz and Sonya, and Sonya mentioned dump cake. Since then I've kind of been craving it. Not sure how many people know what it is, but it's made just how it sounds. You dump into a 9x13 pan a can of pineapple chunks (not drained), a can of cherry pie filling and a can of apple pie filling (some people don't include this but I think it's the best part). You make sure the ingredients are spread out, then pour one box of yellow cake mix on top as evenly spread as possible. Then you cut up a stick of butter and cover the top with slices. Then bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes till the top is golden brown. Obviously this isn't the healthiest dessert ever (but it has fruit, which is good, right? That's what I tell myself). Doesn't look all that pretty either. But it sure is easy, and it's soooo yummy! My grandma taught me how to make it. I'm pretty sure it's one of those things that comes from being a 1950s/1960s mother and trying to cook things as simply as possible. Just like all her recipes using Jello. Funny story, I was going through her cookbooks over Christmas and actually found a cooking with Jello cookbook — complete with lemon Jello Salmon. Ewwwwww. Anyway, every once and a while I like to make it. If nothing else it reminds me of my grandma. I called her yesterday and we started talking about her coming to graduation. It's so weird to think that in November she turns 90! She's lived through the stock market crash, the Great Depression, World War II, everything. I hope when I get to her age (if I do) that I am still as healthy as she is.

Anyway, I only have one week left of normal school, then finals, then I'm done. Mom is coming down on her birthday for graduation, so I'm going to make my second ice cream cake. I'm going to need a good chocolate cake recipe, so let me know if you have one.