Completion!

. . . When all through the apartment there arose such a lot of pranking,

We all checked everything twice to make sure nothing was lacking.

Away to our classes we raced down the hill,

Rushing to the library and speeding through the chill.

The thought of finishing finals glimmered in our minds

Giving the image of happy vacation with our own kinds.

When, to our tired minds should appear,

But the realization that classes, projects, exams

Would be over so soon -- it seemed oh so quick!

We knew in a moment we'd soon be frantic.

Faster than cheetahs the tests did they come,

First papers, then projects, then tests to take home

"Now music, now math, now English and history!

Then science, then economics, then education and art history!

To the end! To the finale! To the exam we will rush!

Now, take the test, take the test, take the test all!"

Again, to be continued (theoretically . . . ).

I can finally celebrate the end of a long couple of weeks of lesson planning!

Hooray!

So technically, yesterday I was still lesson planning, but I just couldn't bring myself to not cook for any longer. So I broke down yesterday and cooked. And baked. But, I'm glad to say the project is still done before the last minute. Even with the breaks yesterday.

First of all, Friday and Saturday nights were both concert nights for me . . . our Christmas concert is by FAR the biggest of the year and always a lot of fun, but it makes for a busy weekend. One of my friends, CJC, came back for the concert over the weekend, and stayed with me. So I made her soup and roasted veggies for lunch. Yum.

I must say, I don't know how I came up with this combination. Maybe I just couldn't wait to make both when I started cooking, but I made them together the first time, and now they're stuck together in my head.

I LOVE both. Yum, yum, yum! And both are easy! Double win!

The veggies were originally part of a chicken and vegetables recipe, but I extracted the veggies to stand on their own. Good choice.

Rosemary Roasted Veggies

1 lb. new red potatoes

Carrots

2 small zucchini

4 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary

1/2 tsp. salt

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Quarter potatoes. Cut carrots and zucchini into 2 inch sticks.

Mix all ingredients well.

Roast on an aluminum foil-lined cookie sheet for 25 minutes.

Toss veggies and roast for 20-25 minutes more.

I'm never very specific with amounts for the veggies. I just use what I have.

Then there's the soup. It's soooo good.

Tomato Tortellini Soup

from Better Homes and Gardens

2 cans chicken broth

1 can condensed tomato soup

9 oz. tortellini

4 oz. cream cheese

Bring the broth to a boil in a medium saucepan.

Add the tortellini and turn down the heat.

Simmer for 5 minutes.

Separate 1/3 cup of the broth and add the cream cheese and whisk till smooth.

Mix tomato soup and cream cheese and broth back into pan with broth and tortellini.

Heat through.

CJC and I had a wonderful lunch. It was nice to catch up and the roasting time for the veggies gave me the time to FINALLY make the paper advent wreath (to go on top of my paper fireplace, of course) that I've been meaning to make since . . . well, since my first year here.

Then, after . . . well . . . a little while of working on my lessons, it was time to bake cookies with LO. It's Christmas, after all -- that means it's cookie season!

(Hi LO!)

She already had the sugar cookie dough made, so we just rolled it out (do you like our improvised watter bottle/rolling pin?) and used the various cookie cutters we could scavenge to make cookies.

So, that meant the cookies were in the shape of fish, bears, cats, pineapples, music notes, and Taiwan. Random assortment, much? They were still pretty yummy though.

I also discovered that LO has the most amazing measuring cups ever. I am in kitchen-equipment-awe.

Then, came the most exciting part: (drum roll please) peppermint whoopie pies! I had never made whoopie pies before.

Ok, so they came out of a box. We're college students, after all, what can you expect? But next time, I'm going to make them from scratch. Really.

Anyway, the filling was basically butter, powdered sugar, peppermint extract and a little milk. It tasted soooo good, but can you say un-nutritious? Oh well.

We really should have used an electric mixer, but it was a good arm workout.

They were so good.

Oh, and to mention the other exciting food that's been happening in my life recently while I haven't had time to cook: Big Sky Bread. It's only like the best bread ever. You walk into the store and the store smells like bread. It's wonderful. Plus, they have the most amazing granola I've ever tasted. It's so good. But now it's gone. Anyway, if you ever see Big Sky Bread, buy some.