Six Layers of Chocolately Delicious Doberge Cake

I made this for my mom’s birthday last night. Mmm. That’s a spongey white cake in six layers soaked with homemade chocolate pudding-custard, iced with chocolate buttercream and showered in ganache. It was delicious. It looks amazing. I made this?

The flight jinx

Remember last summer when I tried to fly to Paris? My dad and I fought off oncoming contraflow traffic to get me into New Orleans right before Gustav hit. I was afraid my flight would get canceled and I’d be stuck in the middle of Katrina No. 2.

Well, the next flight I took after that, or was supposed to take, was from Beauvais to Barcelona. Yeah, Ryanair. Canceled due to fog. They surely tried to take my money. It required some costly calls and a certified letter to get my $$ back.

I did successfully make it to Ireland via Aerlingus in November.

On the way home from France … 

Gustav stirring fears on Katrina anniversary

Welcome Knoxnews.com visitors.  I thought you might also be interested in my Katrina anniversary column about Gustav for my student newspaper, The Daily Mississippian.  It’s from Friday.

Here’s an excerpt:

Perhaps it’s fitting that on the three-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, another hurricane churns away, poised to enter the Gulf.

Here on the coast, we’re not ready for round two, not mentally, not structurally and certainly not financially.

Gustav could switch directions, disappear due to wind shear or cause my flight out of New Orleans to be canceled Sunday.  I’m worried that I won’t be in Paris on time to start school abroad.

Fleeing Gustav at the New Orleans airport

I started to think things were getting a little weird yesterday when the National Guard drove through my neighborhood in Bay St. Louis and set up camp outside town near the Silver Slipper Casino sign.

Is it just bad luck that I have a flight out of the U.S. to study abroad on the same day a hurricane is coming?

Today I got up at 3:45 a.m., threw my stuff in the Corolla and headed toward New Orleans with my dad.  Somewhere in Waveland we started to see long lines at gas stations … at 4 a.m.  My dad said something was terribly wrong.  I thought the cars were from Waveland people gassing up.  Wrong.