The 8th Grade Writing Test

Today was the eighth grade writing test for the state of Georgia.  This test determines whether or not you pass the eighth grade or need a little extra help called- "Saturday school" (why Saturday, you ask?- because they want to torture you as much as possible!!)  Here's how it works: first you get a writing prompt, and, depending on which type of essay you get (persuasive or expository) you make a plan and "pre-write".  They give you 15 minutes to do this.  Next, you are supposed to use the 35 minutes given to you to write your rough draft.  By this time, I was still planning.....with me, it takes more than 15 minutes to translate my ideas onto paper!!  So, about 15 extra minutes had gone by in the rough draft time period when I actually started my rough draft.  I was thinking the whole time, "I'll have enough time, no problem!!" (Yeah, right...)  Long story short, I was about 3 paragraphs out of five when my homeroom teacher said words that gave me a miniature heart attack- "Your final draft time is up.  Now starts the proofread, which lasts 10 minutes."  The way she said it, it was as if she was discussing the weather, but to me, it was almost like a death sentence (Yes, I take my grades VERY seriously).  It's funny, talking about it now, but my handwriting changed from my teeny tiny, neat print, to my fast, not exactly sloppy, cursive.  Near the end, my hand stopped working.  Well, not exactly stopped working, but I swear it was numb-- and the problem was, I COULDN'T JUST STOP WRITING!!!!  Just as my homeroom teacher called time, I curled my last "e".  Almost collapsing with relief, I thought to myself, "I HATE the writing test....".

Yummy Toffee!!

Last night, my mom and I were sitting on the couch watching Tim Tebow (woo hoo!) and the Broncos play the Patriots when we had an intense sugar craving.  That is one of the many ways (along with our shiny brown hair and knack for puzzles) that we are alike.  So, she said-- lets make some Graham Cracker Toffee.  I was ALL for it!  I searched the internet for Graham Cracker Toffee.  We looked at recipe after recipe, and after lamenting about the amount of butter that it contained, we finally decided to go with the first recipe we saw.  It was amazingly easy and wonderfully delicious!!  Here's the recipe just incase you want to make some for YOUR mom.  But, remember-- don't tell her how much butter is in it!  :)

Graham Cracker Toffee

1 1/2 sticks of butter
3/4 cup of BROWN sugar (it really gives it that signature "toffee" taste)
Dash of salt
12-20 graham crackers (preferably honey or original-- nothing funky like chocolate or peanut butter)
1/2 cup of nuts (your choice)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 15 x 10 x 1 pan with aluminum foil and make one layer of graham crackers to cover the entire bottom of the pan.  Melt butter, brown sugar, and salt in a small saucepan.  Chop up your nuts and add them to the melted mixture.  Pour over the graham cracker layer.  Bake for 10 minutes or until bubbly (we put it in for 7 minutes, but it wasn't very crunchy).  ENJOY!!!