My Red Herring.... Post 2: A dash of sugar?

Today is Sunday, and while most Southerners believe its God's day of rest, it is also the day for procrastinating college students like myself to do what we do best, anything but study. Today I have washed and folded all of my laundry, cleaned my kitchen to a T, and went food shopping. Now I'm not generally one to favor large corporations and their heartless numbers driven mindset; however today I had a slight change of heart.

Have any of you guys been to a Walmart supermarket before? Perhaps its the strict college student budget in me, but today I felt like Ms. Bargainista in our local Walmart Supermarket. Everything in there was a third of the price lower than my local Ralphs. I felt like one of the actors in the new commercial for Staples- have you guys seen it? shouting, "Wow, thats a low price!" throughout the store. Although my biggest find during my bargain food shopping excursion in Walmart was in the baked goods aisle. Into my cart went chocolate chips, one dollar flour, baking soda, and fun colored sprinkles.

Why in the world would I be so excited about baked goods you might be asking?

Ever since I was a little girl, I had an image of what a young woman should be. Call me old fashion, but part of me has always aspired to be a mix of Martha Stewart, Bree Hodge, and Toni Collete (watch her podcasts, I am obsessed with Toni's vegan cooking recipes). However, no matter how many sara lee products I buy, everything I mix, frost, or bake comes out burnt or undercooked. Overall resulting in food poisoning to all who dare to try.

Fate seemed to sense my overall baking despair, and drew me to a can of Fat Free Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk (because nothing fat free can ever be bad right?). Chance has it, that I glanced at the back of the can and happened to stumble upon a recipe for chocolate fudge. And since this recipe caused my baking revelation, I think its only proper I share it with you all.

Chocolate Fudge (a summarized version of the recipe): Prep time 10 min, makes about 2 pounds

Ingredients:

3 cups semis sweet chocolate chips

1 can of sweetened condensed mil

1.5 teaspoon of vanilla extract

a dash of salt.

Steps:

1. In a sauce pan, melt chocolate chips, condensed milk, and salt over low heat. Stir continuously. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.

2. Pour into a wax paper lined (I used cut up ziplock bags sprayed with pam and found that worked just fine) 8 inch pan. Chill 2 hours or until firm. (but to be honest, I was eating spoonfuls out of the pot warm, if anyone needs a good chocolate fondu recipe to impress a loved one, this would definitely be a very tasty option!)

3. Turn fudge onto cutting board and cut into squares. Store leftovers in fridge.

How easy is that guys? And let me tell you, it turned out amazing!! This recipe was so easy to make, only 3 ingredients. I feel as though a passion for baking has been ignited in me, and I credit it all to Eagle Brand. Tomorrow I'm going back to the grocer, perhaps I will try the brownies. I'll let you know how it goes, but until then, I have a pile of homework that isn't getting any shorter... oh the pains of being a procrastinating college student. At least I will have a delicious study snack!

I'm Jherring, and this is My Red Herring.

My Red Herring.... Day 1

Hey everyone,

As many of you may know, I am a college student at a southern university. Part of college is discovering who you are and figuring out your life's calling. Thirty course credits and half my college career complete, what have have I figured out? Well, don't take Roycee Kerr's class, thursday nights should always be spent at Home Bar, and the expressway should be avoided at all possible costs between the hours of 4-7pm daily. Of course, I've learned how to do the basics of accounting and take derivatives; however, I have mastered the skill of procrastination through my time in college.

In the true spirit of my nature, I have decided to create this blog to share the stories of my procrastination with you. Each week, instead of cracking out the books, I am going to venture off and try a new hobby. I will garden, bike, cook, walk, bake, and possibly even backpack and share all of my procrastination adventures with you.

I am JHerring, and this is my Red Herring.