Ridin' Solo and a Break from the Norm

On the journalism side of life:
This week, I produced my shows totally on my own!  The way we learn producing at the Missouri School of Journalism is by taking the Advanced Producing class.  A person who has already taken that class is our TA.  Over the course of 6-7 weeks, the TA goes from producing most of the show to giving the student producer all the responsibility for the show.  Last week, my TA only stepped in at the end when I didn't have no-live scripts written for my live-shot and I was busy with other things.  This week, my TA didn't show up for any of my shows and I'm proud to say the shows went off without a hitch!  Yesterday, I produced the 5 p.m. show and another student did the 6 p.m.  We chose this as the song of the day: "Ridin' Solo".


On the personal side of life:



Last week my mom had a big birthday and she didn't want a party.  Well, we didn't listen.  Dad and I planned a surprise party back in Dallas.  I flew in from Mizzou, my uncle came from Chicago, and my little brother Casey (well, he's not so little) drove up from Texas A&M.  We gathered at Fearing's Restaurant  downtown with some close family friends,  my brother Kevin and my aunt and uncle and yelled a loud 'SURPRISE' when she walked in.  And we all won the big bet: she started crying as soon as she realized what was going on!  It was the perfect surprise and for how sneaky she is, Mom didn't know a thing about it!

I love to cook and bake, but with my schedule, I don't get to do it that often.  But last weekend, when I returned home from my Texas trip, I made time to try a new recipe.  I'd never tried to make fortune cookies before but I found a recipe from Martha Stewart on a link the Cooking Channel tweeted that looked doable.

This is what they looked like in the oven.  The recipe says they're meant to be large fortune cookies, and they spread out even further and thinner in the oven.  You can only bake a few at a time, because when you pull them out of the oven, you have to shape them quickly before they harden!

When they're done, the edges might look burnt, but they're not.  The cookie has a sweet almond flavor that's not overpowering with a satisfying crunch.  They looked nice (while they lasted) and would be great for a party!

Cooking and baking, especially baking, is a stress-reliever for me, but bad for my waist-line.  So I've decided to work out (which my friends know is a big deal for me) a couple times a week, and reward myself with time to bake.  So far this semester it's worked... we'll see if I keep it up.