Poke Cake Recipe

Here is a recipe--well, really, it's just a how-to--for poke cake.

Ingredients:

1 box Strawberry flavored cake mix

*3 eggs

*1 c water

*1/3 cup oil

1 box lime jello

3 tbsp salted butter

2 tbsp strawberry preserves

1/4 cup sugar

*Ingredients called for by cake mix box--depending on your brand, this might be different.

1.) Bake cake according to directions. Set aside to cool.
2.) Once the cake is cool, poke many holes into it using fork, knife, fingers--whatever. (Don't destroy the cake, though. Be gentle!)

3.) Prepare jello according to directions. Pour evenly over cake while it is still in the pan. Chill until set.

4.) After chilled, place cake pan in a bowl of warm water to loosen cake. Turn out.

5.) In a small saucepan, combine butter, preserves and sugar over medium-low heat. Mix until thickened. (Should happen fast.) Drizzle carefully over the cake.

That's it! Easy peezy!

One helluva night...

Last night, while watching one of my favorite shows ("Breaking Bad"), my husband and I heard a loud crash. (Loud is an understatement--it sounded like an airplane crashed into our yard.) We run outside and once we see what happened, I run back inside to call 911, and he goes to help. There was a car accident right outside our house. A pick-up truck was leaving our subdivision and, apparently, didn't stop before pulling on to a main street. It was struck by a BMW. The red truck FLIPPED and landed on it's back. The driver was able to remove himself from the overturned vehicle, but suffered from a compound fracture in his leg. What a fiasco! I was so scared for the people involved in the crash it took three tries to correctly dial three numbers. (Incidentally, my husband were not alone in trying to help. Several other people were around, calling 911 and checking to see if everyone was okay.) There were only two drivers involved, and, luckily, no serious injuries. (Besides the broken leg, that is!)

The car accident really puts things into perspective, though.

The Double Standard

I must have missed the fine print in the Constitution that says freedom to assemble and freedom of speech are only granted to some. Was there an asterisk somewhere? A side note?

The tea parties of last week were ignored or criticized--no, villainized. (What the hell was up with Jeanine Garofalo? Does she hear the crazy coming out of her own mouth?) Miss California, when asked a difficult question, gives an honest answer, and gets publicly bashed for her beliefs. (Very classy, Perez. Using slander to garner support for gay marriage? Well played.) If you disagree with the tea parties, or Miss California, more power to you! Disagree, but don't stifle those that don't share your beliefs. What I have seen on the news is not a difference of opinion, but personal attacks against those with a more conservative ideology.

On a related note, you can expect me to be at the next Tea Party.

Fernback Forest

Yesterday I took a trip to the Fernbank Forest for my Environmental Science class. Here are a some pictures!

The Fernbank Forest used be privately owned land. When the owners died, they left the land, and the mansion on it, to Dekalb County, which turned it into a natural museum. The forest contains many trees and plants which have grown, undisturbed for the last century and a half!

Below is the mansion built by the previous owners. It is currently being renovated.

Here is a close up of the artwork on the front of the house. (They're birds.)

There were a lot of plants that are exotic. The problem with exotic plants, like the Japanese Honeysuckle, Kudzu, and English Ivy is there is nothing to prevent them from getting out of control. The same goes for animals introduced to a foreign ecosystem. It takes away from indigenous species.

Below is a small lake.

Another angle of the pond. If you look, you can see stairs carved out of the rock.

I wish I took more pictures, but the tour was lead by my professor, and I had to pay attention for class!

Still here?

Not really. I haven't been here. Nothing to blog about! I'm in school, and have zero time for anything other than homework and cleaning....alright, just the homework, I guess. There is good news, though.....

SCHOOLS OUT IN JUST THREE WEEKS!!!!!

I already have plans a-brewing in my brain for new quilts and art and whatever creative thing I haven't been able to do in the last few months! I'm going to bake, and decorate! Knit and crochet! Revisit all those lovely, lovely domestic arts I have neglected in the pursuit of an education. Summer break, I can not wait!