Quote

"Before burning all your bridges be sure you're a strong swimmer." 

-a sign from a photo (friend on Facebook; sign located in Texas I think)

Books and Pumpkins

Went to HBP (Half Price Books) today after my hair appointment (blonde and ready for summer!)  I got "The Wisdom of the Enneagram:  The complete guide to psychological and spiritual growth for the nine personality types" by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson.  Looks great so far.. Eager to continue reading...

Also, I'll be making these pumpkin cake bars by Paula in the next couple of days. 

Chocolate Cupcakes

I made these Chocolate Cupcakes from Martha Stewart's website on Memorial Day.  They turned out delicious!  I've had 2 people request that I make them again.  

Recipe:  Chocolate Cupcakes

Link:  Martha Stewart

Notes:  

I used low-fat sour cream, baked them for about the amount of time listed, and used store bought frosting (but then put the frosting in a Ziplock bag to ice the cupcakes). 

Ingredients:

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

- Line 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners.

- Into a medium bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each, then beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with sour cream and beginning and ending with flour.

- Pour batter into cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

- Cool in pan 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, then spread with Easy White Icing using a table knife or small offset spatula. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired.

The Enneagram

I've been MIA with the internet world.  Emails, Twitter, Facebook, and Blog.... My online world is neglected. Well, to be honest since starting graduate school my online-ness dwindled. 

This summer one of my courses is called "College Student Development - College Student Services."  It's basically Student Affairs 101.  We've had 2 classes so far and I'm loving it.  Last night we learned about a useful tool for understanding yourself and others called "The Enneagram."  Here's a link for taking the test to learn about yourself.  See the sample test (it's free, about 35 questions, pretty easy). If you find it interesting I suggest learning more about it...   

I'm loving the Enneagram and planning to do more research on it myself. I did not take the sample test before class, so during/after class I was confident that I am a 9 (The Peacemaker) (with a 1 "wing";  and 6 and 3 "arrows"), but might be some of a 2 (The Helper).   After taking the sample test last night and just now, I'm coming up with a combo of 9, 2, and 6 (The Loyalist).  So I will be looking to get these books that my Professor (Director of Residence Life) and our Guest Speaker (Assistant Director of RL) recommended last night:  The Enneagram by Rohr and Ebert, The Enneagram by Helen Palmer, and The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Power of the Enneagram (actually recommended by the Enneagram Institute and our Guest Speaker!)