First day, first assignment...what a relief!

Today I completed a module and turned in my very first assignment for my program. My first reaction to actually starting class was "How anticlimactic." I had built this day up so much in my mind that now it's here and I'm able to say "Hmmm...that's not so bad."

It was an interesting morning. The online interface that the program uses is not hard to get through, for which I'm eternally grateful to the designer of said program. I exchanged forum posts with the class's mentor, another grad student who is almost done with her program, and she put the seed of an idea in my head.

A couple weekends ago, I spent a Saturday evening with my mom and my sister watching "Julie and Juila." I didn't make it through the movie (I don't last very late into the night anymore), but I really liked what I was able to stay up for. And with that in the back of my head, my class mentor asked if I deliver sweets (in response to my saying that I like to cook desserts). So now that has me thinking. What if I included recipes in my blog every so often (aka on the weekends)? I have a few favorites that I would be more than willing to share, and I've come across many that I've tried and loved as well. The cooking could be a "reward" for keeping up on my studies, and I know it's a reward my boyfriend and family would be perfectly on board with. After all, they could help reap the benefits!

So today, I will post the recipe I used this last weekend. I found this one online while browsing around. For any size of a group of people (or just for you and a friend) this is a good, easy recipe. I was eating it right out of the baking dish not long after it came out of the oven, it was so good!

Here is what you'll need:
Filling:
2 baskets of strawberries
1 basket of blackberries
4 nectarines
3/4 c. sugar
2 Tbs. cornstarch
Batter:
1 1/2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 sticks butter, melted

Here's what to do:
1. Wash all the fruit. Cut up the strawberries into quarters, and peel and cut the nectarines into chunks. The blackberries can stay whole. Place fruit into a large bowl, add the sugar and cornstarch, and mix until sugar and cornstarch have been thoroughly moistened. Let it sit while you work on the batter.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar, and baking powder. In another smaller bowl, mix the milk, eggs, and vanilla together until the mixture is even. Then add the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix until fully incorporated. Next, add the melted butter and stir until you get an even batter. The batter may be a little thin.
3. Put the fruit into a 13 x 9 in baking dish and spread it around until the fruit forms an even layer on the bottom. Next, spoon the batter (don't pour it!) over the fruit around the dish until all the batter has been used. Put into the oven and bake for 45 minutes. The cake should be golden brown on top when it's finished.

I don't remember the exact website I first found it on, but the original recipe can be found here (credit where credit is due): http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/mixed-berry-spoon-cake. I changed a few things, like eliminating the lemon zest. I don't think the cake really needs it, but that's probably a matter of taste. Also, I used regular butter instead of the unsalted, which is why I didn't add any extra salt into the batter. Another difference was the time it cooked. Mine only needed 45 min, when the recipe called for 1 hour. This could have something to do with the size of my oven (which is very small).

Spoon it up when it's done and enjoy! It's really good warm or cold (which I found out the second day after it had been sitting in the fridge).

With a spoon cake to fortify me, I'm ready for the week ahead.

6 Days Left...

Thank you Mom and Papa (and my grandparents!) for paying for my education in the past. I cannot express how blessed I feel that you wanted to take care of that for me and provide that for me.

And I have discovered something: the student loans are such a headache! There is so much paperwork to take care of and things that I am told I must do in order to receive the loan. I don't like the feeling that the school is waiting until the last minute to finalize everything. I start classes on Monday, and I still have not found out when the loan money will be disbursed for my tuition. Only last Monday I was sent an email (everything is done online nowadays) to complete my Master Promisory Note saying that I promise to repay the loan. Is this the norm? Is everything taken care of right before the semester starts? I would rather have had this done by July 1 to make sure everything was taken care of long before class starts.

I suppose I should have expected the paperwork and the red tape. Education is a large expense, right up there with houses and cars. It's going to probably be the second or third-largest investment you make in your entire life (depending of course on what schools you choose and how high of a degree you go for). The only difference between school and your house or car is that your education can never be taken away. Whatever you get out of class, whatever you take away from your program, that is yours forever. Unless you don't attend class at all and fail out your first term, you will come away with something. You will have more than you started with. No other investment will give you that guarantee. How incredible.

Farmor, once again I hear you telling me "Education is something that no one will ever be able to take from you." I thought I understood you when you told me this over 10 years ago, but I didn't have the context of adulthood through which to view it. I think going through the recession for the past couple of years makes this even more poignant. Your house can foreclose, you can lose your job, and you can be thousands of dollars in debt (as so many people right now have gone through), but the collection agency will never be able to take back what you have learned. Even when you have nothing material, you will always have your education.

Starting Monday, I'm investing in education.

The suspense is killing me. I want to start my classes and get going already.

I've spent the last couple of months since my acceptance letter mentally preparing myself for this big change in my life. I've gone over my checklist to make sure everything is taken care of on time; I bought my textbooks and started reading through one of them to get a head start on my studying; I almost obsessively check and re-check my student account online to make sure no new message has come through. It seems that in an effort to prepare myself for the big day, I've over-prepared myself.

It's almost laughable how much of a switch has happened in the last couple of weeks. Just last month, I was looking to the end of summer with trepidation and anxiety, not sure if I was ready for this. Questions swam through my head, like little fish flitting around and trying to escape the fishbowl. Now, the questions no longer hound me; they have settled to the bottom of the bowl like pebbles and are content to see how things play out. Anxiety and trepidation are no longer the words of the day. Now I want things to happen--and soon. I want the waiting to come to an end.

I'm sure that next July, after I have a year of school under my belt, I will look back on these few months of preparation as nothing more than amusing. I will have become a seasoned student by then, and will possess the confidence that goes with having developed a routine and knowing what to expect. For now, I wait on the edge of my seat for next month and the start of my new program.