Recipe: Tea Biscuit Cake

My latest foray into the kitchen came at the bequest of my sister for her senior english project. She did a presentation on William and Kate's royal wedding, so to add a little spice to the project, she asked me to help her bake make (literally no baking necessary!) William's groom's cake. Oprah posted the recipe here, but check out my changes below.

Prince William's Chocolate Biscuit Cake

What you need:

12 ounces dark chocolate chips

4 ounces of butter

4 ounces granulated sugar

1 egg

splash of milk

What you do:

1. Grease a round cake pan (probably the smallest one you have)

2. Break tea biscuits into almond sized pieces

3. Mix butter and sugar by hand until creation is fully blended and a light lemon color

4. Melt 4 ounces of chocolate (melt for 30 seconds, then stir, then melt again until liquidy)

5. Add the egg into the melted chocolate (I was nervous about this part at first, but the chocolate should be hot enough that the egg gets cooked. If you're concerned, pop it back into the microwave for 10 more seconds after you've mixed in the egg).

6. Add the chocolate to the butter/sugar combo until it is all blended

7. Mix in the biscuit pieces. Stir until every piece is entirely coated in chocolate

8. Place mixture into cakepan

9. Cool in the refrigerator for 3 hours

10. When cool, flip cake upside down onto wax paper and get ready to coat!

For chocolate coating:

1. Melt remaining 8 ounces of chocolate + a splash of milk to make it easier to spread

2. Using a knife, spread melted chocolate onto cake

3. Let set and cool for 30 minutes, then slice

Enjoy!

I'm a senior in college!

Ahhhh! I am currently freaking out. Last night I finished my last final and closed the book on junior year. I can't believe I just have one year left! I don't ever want this to end.

I'll be recapping junior year in the next few days, and can't wait to share how much I've learned with you all! And I just started compiling my college bucket list, so get excited for that as well :)

In the meantime, packing like crazy and enjoying my last day in Berkeley for three months!

Happy summer!

almost there!

taken at the Hyatt Regency Maui last summer--take me back!

"And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer."

-F. Scott Fitzgerald

I got it from my mama

Happy Mother's Day to all the mamas out there!

and especially to my mommy. People say they have the best mom in the world, but for me it's really true.

I love my mom because...

• she puts up with all my crazy (and there's a lot of it)
• she's hilarious
• she's the most resilient person I know. I wouldn't be half as strong as I am without her
• she is my biggest fan, always
• I can call her at anytime of day, crying or laughing, and she'll listen to what I have to say
• she's sacrificed so much for my sisters and me to have a great life
• she's really really cute.

Happy Mother's Day Mommy! So glad I got to spend part of the day with you. I can't wait to move home on Saturday and spend a month with you! I love you!

some inspiration

Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.

-Leroy Satchel Paige

Finals will end. I will get home. I will be tan, rested, and happy.

I will not give up.

And I will be thankful for the good and the bad,

because it all teaches me something.

**low quality iPhone picture of the actual happy list.

Coming full circle, you know.

The When Harry Met Sally Conundrum

“I love that you get cold when it’s 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you’re looking at me like I’m nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it’s not because I’m lonely, and it’s not because it’s New Year’s Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”

Lately I've been thinking a lot about the idea that men and women can't be friends. I saw When Harry Met Sally for the first time recently, and it sparked this line of thinking in my head. Harry argues that you never have friends of the opposite sex that you aren't sexually attracted to. Men and women just can't be friends. Harry and Sally start off as friends, but then end up being in love with each other. Which is great, but what conclusion does that provide about the question of men and women being friends? Sure, I've had male friends that I'm not romantically interested in, but then again, I've had a lot of male friends that I am interested in. What does that say about me? I'm incapable of having male friends? I don't know.

(Having this kind of existential crisis in the middle of finals week is so typical. Procrastination at its finest)

What are your thoughts on the subject?

Can men and women be friends?

Quite the historical weekend

I cried a lot this weekend, let me tell you.

Never have I been prouder to say that I cast my first vote for President of the United States for Barack Hussein Obama. God bless America, and let this serve as a testament to the courage and dedication of our armed forces. May you all return home safely and quickly.

I am also so inspired to have witnessed true love made official at the royal wedding. Perhaps I'm just a naive little twenty-year-old, but it made me so happy to witness the love and grace of William and Kate. They both deserve all the happiness in the world, and I cannot wait to see the beautiful children they produce!

Of course these events have nothing in common, and are of very different historical significance depending on which country you hail from, but the history made this weekend is still inspiring.

I remember the day Princess Diana died. My mom came into my room crying and said that she had been killed. I didn't understand. And I remember 9/11 vividly. I could tell you everything I did for every minute of that day. But again, I didn't really understand.

Now that I'm a grown up, I know that early Friday morning and Sunday evening were filled with moments I will vividly remember forever. I understand the significance of each event, and I am so excited to tell my children about them someday.

God bless America, and God bless true love!