Summer Desserts

As the weather begins to get warmer and winter starts to move behind us, many of you may be gearing up for long days by the pool, spending an afternoon in the sun and getting back to favorite outdoor activities. Another great warm weather tradition that I am personally excited for are barbecues. Every year as soon as it gets warm enough to wear shorts, you can find my dad outside cooking on the grill. While his steaks and burgers are to die for, its hard to think of the perfect dessert to match his perfect grilling. If you find yourself facing the same problem, here are a few spring and summer options to get your taste buds tingling.

1. Ice Cream Sundae Bars: Fast, easy, and creative, dessert bars are a great way to offer everyone something they can enjoy (just make sure you keep this bar inside to avoid melting). If you are looking for a more waistline friendly option, try frozen yogurt instead of ice cream. You can still have all your favorite toppings with half the calories.

2. Fruit and Yogurt Parfait: If you are searching for something light, delicious, and heart-healthy, this is the way to go. Use your favorite fruit, nuts, and yogurt to make parfaits that are attractive to the eye as well as the stomach. Have guests that are allergic to nuts? Try cereal or nut-free granola instead!

3. Fourth of July Cupcakes: Looking for something festive for your Independence Day barbecue? Not only are these cupcakes easy to make, you can also get creative with your decorative toppings. If you are looking for something on the healthy side, use strawberries and blueberries to create the flag. Or if you are in a rush, simply use colored icing to create the same effect.

4. For the extremely venturous…Watermelon Cupcakes! Two of my personal favorites all wrapped into one, watermelon cupcakes combine healthy and sugarcoated in a delectable combination. Just follow the recipe below and you will have one of the most creative desserts on the block in no time at all.

What you will need:

8 cupcake liners

8 cupcake shaped pieces of seedless watermelon

2 cups pineapple cream cheese frosting

Sprinkles (for garnish)

Place liners in an 8-cup cupcake tin. Cut 3-inch thick slices of seedless watermelon. Cut round cupcake sized pieces from the slices. Put a watermelon ‘cupcake’ in each liner. Place a dollop of frosting on each cupcake. Decorate as desired with sprinkles. Serves 8.

*This recipe and photo courtesy of www.squidoo.com

-K.H

It is that time of year again. All of the snow has finally melted, the grass is starting to get back its lovely greenish hue and the flowers are just starting to bud and bloom as Virginia shakes off that last bit of winter. While spring tops the charts as one of my favorite seasons, it also makes the list as one of the most frustrating. If you are anything like me, you love to look out your window and see gardens full of beautiful bushes and flowers teeming with life and vibrancy. Unfortunately, the one window that I am incapable of doing seeing this through is my own. Every year as spring rolls around, that excitement starts to build, this will be the year, I think to myself. That excitement, however, quickly dies around the same time as my flowers. In an effort to give my plants a fighting chance this season, and perhaps some of your own as well, I decided to post a few helpful hints in gardening to turn that touch of death into a green thumb.

A Few Tips for the Gardening Challenged:

1. Figure out what type of soil you have

· Yes, there are more types of soil than just one (don’t worry, this was news to me too). Different garden’s soil can greatly affect the success of your plant, so you will want to figure this out before you buy anything. If you don’t know what type of soil is in your garden, go to link at the end of this blog to start your classification process.

2. Keeping your garden pest-free

· Now that you are ready to start planting, you will want to make sure that all your hard work doesn’t get ruined by those ‘cute’ slugs and snails infesting your garden. Pesticides can be harmful to your garden as well as expensive, so why not try a cheap alternative: encourage birds, frogs, and other slug-loving animals to do the job for you.

3. Prune, Prune, Prune

· As you see your flower start to bloom and grow, you are probably thinking your in the clear this season, but not quite. While your plants may be doing well, it is vital that you prune them in order to encourage healthy growth through the spring and summer months.

Tips taken from: www.applegategardens.co.uk

- K.H. 2011

Funny College Moments

As a sophomore in college, I have gotten to see some pretty hilarious things. One of which that never seems to gets old is seeing someone, usually straight from the showers, get locked out of their dorm. While I have never had to experience this, my roommate has been unfortunate enough to be stuck in this situation. Living on a freshman floor where pretty much anyone can get into the building during the day, my roommate and I developed the habit of locking our door whenever we left for safety. It was precisely this habit that set the stage for one of the most hilarious moments of my college career. I had just come back from one of my classes to drop off my things before going to lunch with some of my friends. As always, when I left the room I locked the door, assuming wherever my roommate was she would have her keys to get back in. What I hadn’t realized, however, was that my roommate was not in class, but taking a shower with her keys now locked in our room. As you can imagine she was in for quite the surprise when she came back to our room, wearing only her towel, and couldn’t open the door. A few phone calls and a frantic voicemail later, I was rushing back to my dorm to open the door for my very wet, and very angry, roommate. While it took a few weeks for her to really forgive me, she and I look back on that day when we need a laugh. And now we always remember to check the showers before we lock the door.

K.H

George Mason Student, sophomore