Mid-Semester Break: Day 1/10

Today was my first day of the mid-semester break! Yipee! Well, technically it starts tomorrow but I have no classes on Fridays, so I count today as the start.

Anyway. I have been feeling a bit melancholy lately. Mostly due to some home/Clark/hippie/-sickness, as well as anxiety about the future-working, to grad school or not to grad school, living situation, etc. So I have just been puttering about in a very glum state. Today, however, was probably one of the best days I have had lately.

Unfortunately, it did not start off fantastically. Some idiot purposefully set off the fire alarm at half three this morning. I was not a happy camper, nor was anybody else! I couldn't get back to sleep until 5 or so, and by then I could hear birds chirping. I was going to sleep in, but then the fire alarm went off again at half nine or so-though only for a few seconds. In my tired stupor I was very confused-we test fire alarms on Wednesday, and this made me think it was Wednesday and that I had missed class. Anyway, I finally came to and realized that no, it was Friday, and who knows what that false alarm was about. I didn't get back to sleep though.

I went to a potluck tonight, which meant that this afternoon I baked some nutella cookies. I took lots of pictures to document the easy and delicious process =]

First! I got all my ingredients together. All four of them, that is.

That's right! Just four things: 1 cup flour, 1 cup nutella (or other chocolate-hazelnut spread), a half cup of sugar, and one egg! You just mix all that in one bowl!

Once I had everything stirred together to form a dough I rolled 1" balls, then squished them on the baking sheet. 

Sidenote: The sugar granules in granulated sugar here are bigger than in the States. They're not huge or anything, but you can feel them crunch when you eat the cookie (dough). 

I don't know why this is rotated weird. -_-

Then I baked them at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, or 180ish degrees Celsius, for 7ish minutes. And TA-DA!

This one is rotated normal!

The overall verdict: Delicious, but not the most aesthetically pleasing. I also would like the change the texture a bit to make them less sticky/chewy and more soft. But they really are just like sticking a spoonful of nutella in your mouth!

Anyway. I took the bus into town to go to the girls' flat where we were having the potluck. Only....I missed the bus on the way there and the next wasn't coming for about 10 or 15 minutes. Which was fine. It wasn't even cold out! I was standing outside the bus shelter when it started to drizzle, so I stepped inside with the other people. Everything was so quiet except for the soft rushing of the rain. It was really weird. I also kept expecting to look up and see Totoro right there. Mostly because of the lighting, rain, and waiting for the bus situation. 

Finally, I got there, after getting turned around a bit when walking there from the bus stop. Despite being late, I was still the first one. Once everyone got there (just four of us), it became apparent that we had all brought something sweet. Nothing wrong with that, right? Well, one girl made these savoury pancakes with sweetcorn and peppers that were really good. But otherwise we had my cookies, cinnamon cake bars, chocolate chip banana bread, and blueberry muffins.

So....I guess I can no longer complain about the time my dad let Iggy eat chocolate cake for dinner. Because that is pretty much what I did. Though I think this is more like the time when Iggy had a couple of carrots before the cake, rather than just straight-up cake. So I probably will still, and always, complain about the one time ALL HE ATE WAS CHOCOLATE CAKE FOR DINNER!!!

Ahem. Anyway. These people know how to cook! Everything was so delicious-I have not dined so well in ages! Fo' realz though! The blueberry muffins were even better than those at the Noe Valley Bakery! They were like....madeline cookies with blueberries in muffin form. Basically. And the cinnamon cake was so yummy and buttery. And the pancakes were so good, and now I think I will have to try making them! Mmm. And the banana bread was so perfect. Oh my goodness. Ugh.

We also played some really intense French card games-Dobble and Jungle Speed. Seriously, I was so anxious and my heart was beating so fast even though we were just sitting there. And I couldn't stop laughing, which did not make things easier.

Around 11 I decided I should probably get back to campus-especially since the buses run less often at that point. One of the other girls (the maker of the fantastic muffins) walked with me to the bus stop. At first I thought she was taking the bus too, but when the bus came she said that she actually just lived around the corner and was just waiting with me. It was really sweet! 

Basically. Today was just a really good day, and definitely made me happier than I have been the past couple days. Also. We exchanged baked goods so now I have some banana bread for breakfast tomorrow. I'm excited =]