the state i am in

Our kitchen goes through states, which may or may not reflect the general life states the roommates are going through. Right now, in general, there is a sense of unexpectedness, of disorder, of a little anxiety of what’s to come for all of us. (See: canning.) Usually our kitchen is a near perfect balance between cleanliness and disorder, not so clean you feel like you have to pick up every crumb you spill (well, god knows I don’t) but not so dirty you don’t want to spend lots of time there, either cooking or hanging out. Because we do, we love to spend time together in the kitchen.

The other night the kitchen was cluttered, it was filled with canned goods and rice and dirty dishes and my computer and shredded coconut and the millions of water glasses I am currently going through.  The next morning it was a little better, as all cluttered nights feel better after you sleep on it. And I think as the week goes on, it will most likely stay on the cluttered side, but I kind of like that. Life is never a shiny, clean kitchen. Especially when you’re graduating. But regardless, even the most cluttered kitchen has the potentiality to produce the best kind of cookie: Coconut Oatmeal white and chocolate chip. Yeah. These cookies go into the baked goods hall of fame.

Samoas, Interrupted

If there’s one thing I’m certain of in this life, it is that Samoas (aka Caramel DeLites) are the best Girl Scout cookie. Yeah, I said it. Thin Mints aren’t adventurous enough, Tagalongs make your mouth feel all weird if you eat more than one, and the others don’t have names worth remembering.

That is why Emily and I decided to make our own Samoas one lazy afternoon. Sounds like a great idea, right? If only we knew then what we know now.

a sweet return

Whew! We have been missing in action over here, but not for the wrong reasons. Every winter this point in the semester seems inevitable – the weather remains stubbornly cold, cloudy heads and stuffy noses come and never seem to go, classes begin to drag. I can’t speak for everyone, but I’ve generally been exhausted and/or cold for the past few weeks. But it looks like the sun is out today, I’m taking the morning off, and we have spring vacation in a week. To Paris! To Greece! To Berlin! To New Orleans! The five of us will be around the world in a matter of time, and hopefully writing about it here. And on the topic of worldliness, I have Italian cookies to share with you.

on winning hearts and minds

There’s something really very wonderful about baking, and that is you can never bake only for yourself. I’ve made cookies and cakes before in which yes, probably, I could polish off one lonely evening or a day the refrigerator is lacking. And after living in smaller apartments with less people I’ve often found that tempting. But now living with four other people, we bake and cook for each other. Which is good because cookies are never meant to be eaten alone.

family fun

Hey mom, how was work? What’s for dinner? Do you mind if I take some pictures of the kitchen for our blog? Monday night dinner with my family, readers … come see!