'Tis the Season

Strawberry season that is. Who could resist fresh local strawberries? Especially when combined with cake. I must admit this is so simple I am almost ashamed to put it on here. However, not so ashamed to make not one, not two, but four of these delicacies in the last two weeks. All this is is a simple sour cream pound cake sliced in half. I slice the strawberries and let them sit making their own juice for a few hours and then lay the slices on the bottom slice of cake, and pour the juice in the bowl over them so it will soak into the cake. Then I layer some store bought whipped topping on top of that and of course some more strawberries. Next I place the top layer of cake and lightly smush (yes, that is a technical term) it down. On top of that cake I spoon more whipped topping and then some strawberries that I halved lengthwise. Any strawberries left over and juice are places around the bottom of the cake for garnish. Voila! It is finished and ready to be cut. Oh, on the last cake I swirled some chocolate sauce over the slices of cake and served it. I did not hear any complaints. Feel free to use this and adapt it...it is easy and so ugly that it appears elegant. Go Figure!

Blue Ribbon Cake for Blue Ribbon Families

As you may have noticed from some of my other posts, my career allows me the opportunity to enhance our programing with cake on occasion. One such occasion presented itself recently. Our final session of Strengthening Families allowed us a grand celebration with four families who completed the program.

Strengthening Families is a curriculum from Iowa State University that Christy Strickland, our Robeson County Center of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Family and Consumer Sciences Agent implements. During the seven week program the families have dinner together, then split into adult and youth groups (the youth in this program are 10-14), then come back together during a family session at the end of each night. During the program the parents learn about listening to the youth, setting limits, discipline, and having families meeting to allow the entire family to work as a group. The youth learn about the responsibilities that parents face, learn why it is important to follow rules and gain tools for dealing with peer pressure. As a family they work on their communication skills and find ways to talk about the tough subjects like alcohol, drugs, and sex. After completing the seven week course the families will be invited back in September for a refresher and to let us know what is working for them.

For the families that finished the program they received a certificate on the last night and celebrated with a blue ribbon cake. After all they are blue ribbon families and I could not think of a better cake to make for them. After the night everyone sat down and had one if not two pieces of cake and we were even able to salvage some, for someone important to our program to take home the next day. We just want to wish our families good luck in the future.