Cookies and Classes

Classes start tomorrow and I"m actually excited. I'm looking forward to my TA, and I'm really looking forward to being able to get back to a regular cooking schedule. No evening classes this quarter! I'm also mixing things up in the dance dept and taking Modern II for the first time since college. I am very picky about my modern classes, but b/c there is not jazz in the spring, modern it is. Plus, I'm figuring out this diss research thing and have some clear goals I've set for myself (and will hopefully meet).

The other big news is that we're moving. Faced with raising rent (7.5% for the 4th year in a row w/ no justification or improvements on the place), we decided to take the opportunity to look at off campus housing. We found a 2 bdroom, 750 sq ft cottage (no attached walls) over on the seabright side of the SC River. The real deal clincher was the storage unit that is the size of a one car garage. We decided that we'd be happy moving into a smaller space that had storage and this one fit the bill. It's also about 2/3-3/4 of a mile walk from down town, 1/2 a mile from the Buttery/Shopper's Corner, and 1 mi from the beach. We'll have to commute, but maybe it'll actually make us get our butts out the door earlier and help to create a clearer work/home separation. All in all, we're very excited and L is doing his best to stop me from going moving-mad. (I'm crazy, but I love packing. I love being able to organize everything in to neat, labeled boxes, and then being able to clean the heck out of the apt. But I also love it so much that if left to my own devices I'd have everything but the basics packed by the end of the weekend - which doesn't make for a comfy home for the next 4 weeks.... This is one of those opposites-balance-one-another elements of our relationship.)

I also tried 2 new cookie recipes w/in the last week. The first one are Mocha Cookies courtesy of Some Crust bakery in Claremont, CA. I adored these cookies in college and have been holding onto the recipe for the last 7 years. These cookies are more like mini-lava cakes or deep chocolate brownies. They have 21.5 oz of chocolate and only 1/2 cup of flour. I made the recipe true to form, but would reduce the sugar by 1/3-1/2 c. in the next batch because I thought they were a little sweet. Recipe found here, and highly recommended.