Exam Week

I’m almost done with my semester exams-one more to go and then I’m done tomorrow!
There’s nothing I hate more than exam week. All of this “could have/would have/should have studied” type of thing. And then the stress. It’s just awful. And unproductive.

BUT anyway. I dreaded Monday morning. I had a huge AP history test that I had been studying for all weekend. I trudged up the stairs to the main part of my school, and there, sitting on one of the tables, was moving box filled with fortune cookies with a handmade poster that sade “good luck on your exams! please take one!” So of course, I took one. Inside, the fortune read “good luck on your exams!” Yesterday, there were granola bars and pencils. Today, oranges and peppermints (sidenote: I’ve been smelling whifs of orange all over school). How cute is that?

Sometimes I say my school is crazy. But then this happens and I remember that I made the right choice.

Summer in Winter

So it’s the middle of winter and I start craving lemon.
shoot.
And then I start craving lemon bars.
shoot again.
So what do I do?
That’s right…make lemon bars.
…”But lemons aren’t in season”
But I really wanted lemon bars so I tried an experiment. They don’t really replace the lemony tanginess of a real lemon, nor do they have the extra layer of flavor from the zest, but they taste like lemon bars for the most part. I don’t really have a recipe, so the lemon part was too sugary (like crunchy sugary-is that supposed to happen?). I think another egg or egg yolk would help emulsify the lemon batter.

Instead of using the juice of a lemon, I replaced over 1/4 of the sugar with lemonade powder. I’m probably breaking some culinary law-either that or a famous chef has just passed out on the floor. But that’s the beauty of baking-it can be as scientific or artistic as you want it to be.

Smells

Most students eat lunch on the top floor of our main building. It is a large hallway/living room type setup, with lots of long tables and chairs. The library and other classrooms branch off to the sides and the grand staircase leads up to it.

I was sitting at the “senior table” when the putrid smell of sewage hit the top floor like a wave. We all thought the sewage had backed up again, like it did earlier in the year. I was annoyed that we would have to move because the stench was too awful to bear. We found an old room that is used for receptions, but rarely used by students. We pulled up chairs and sat at an intricately carved table in the middle of the room. The room looked like an old living room-there was a fireplace and various artifacts in cabinets. We told war (camp) stories and our laughs carried up to the coffered ceilings. For some reason our conversations were different in that room, like we were closer. We will probably return to the senior table tomorrow, but I hope that we can all find those close little moments a little more often.

(By the way, the smell was juice from before Christmas that spilled on the second floor)

Return to Routine

After having been out for two weeks, this day was especially long. The holiday break is now over, and we have jumped head first into the cold waters of the school cycle again. Finals are in a week (ugh, I know it’s awful having them after break) and teachers are not letting any time go to waste.

8:15 started bleary eyed with four poems by Emily Dickinson.
12:15 welcomed a much-needed free period.
By about 1:45 I was ready for a nap. Pathetic.

In the midst of my wallowing and my seeming dread for school to start, I do appreciate the schedule and activity involved in the school day. I feel productive , where before I felt sluggish. I feel active where I previously did nothing. There’s nothing like getting things done, something that just doesn’t happen as often during the holidays. Speaking of getting things done…need to go finish my English homework.

7:30 on Sunday mornings

I hate getting up early on the weekend. I also hate sleeping in too much on the weekend (because then I feel unproductive-1/3 of my day is gone! And then I can’t sleep, and then I oversleep the next day and it’s just awful).

But I honestly don’t mind having to wake up at 7:30 on Sunday mornings (okay, maybe just a little bit). But I have my horseback riding lessons then, and it’s always been the highlight of my week. It takes over an hour to get to the barn, a small privately owned farm. I sleep on the way there, and my willing father drives. We pass through the quiet streets of the city and the tourist destinations, which make way for the more open roads. Then we get to the farmland, with the rolling hills and the cows and the wells. And old barns that are falling apart. And the only sounds are the wind and the birds and the car rolling up and down the hills. And then 7:30 doesn’t seem so bad.

(More on the horses later)

Environmental? Or just a trend.

Unfortunately, before junior year started, I had to get rid of my old one polycarbonate water bottle in favor of a BPA-free bottle. I stared at the wall of bottles at REI, with all the colors and styles that I could ever imagine. Stainless steel? Copolyester? One liter? 12 oz? I settled on the Nalgene Everday OTG Water Bottle in blue and it worked well, from my trip to Yosemite to the classroom. The flip cap is convenient, but if dropped it can open and spill. Which it has. (Sometimes in your physics class when everything else is quiet.)

I bought the water bottle in the first place because I cringe at the idea of throwing away plastic bottles every day when I know there’s a better option. I admit, I use them occasionally, but usually because I won’t have a place to clean my water bottle or get clean water. This year, just about everyone has the camelbak with the bite valve in every color imaginable, including the ones with designs. We might as well be a walking Camelbak ad. (Not that it’s a problem. I love the brand and my bottle). It started with the tennis team, then the volleyball team, and almost overnight I saw replicas of the bottle in every class. I’m glad that there will be less plastic waste, but I can’t help but wonder if it’s just a trend that will go just as fast as it came.

Merry Xmakjh

I hope your Christmas was fabulous. If you don’t celebrate it, I hope your December 25th was nice and wintery.

I made pancakes in the morning. Snowman pancakes, to be exact.

In the afternoon I made gingerbread cookies. Because my oven is temperamental, I overbaked them and they need to take a swim in the milk pool before being eaten. Flavor-wise, they’re delightful and they made the kitchen smell so Christmas-ey!
The icing is royal icing with a drop of liquid green food coloring.
I

Hi there. Nice to meet you.

Hi. M here. This is my space, my online journey for the crazy trials of lemon bars and life.
Important things that may or may not matter to you:

1. I’m in high school-I can’t say which one, but it’s totally unique. We have a flat screen TV in the main area and we used to have a fooseball table. We have a couch in the locker room that’s icky as a New York gutter. I’ve gained at least ten pounds since I have arrived, but I guess it’s okay because so has everyone else. I wear a uniform and go to school in a beautiful building that overlooks the city. I’ve been here for way too long but I know I’ll miss it when I leave.
2. I love baking. I guess I’ve been inspired to have this blog because every other baker has one too. I am hoping to keep a journal of everything that has come out of the oven (except maybe the flan disaster of August) to remember.
3. I’m a dork. Not in a live-in-a-cave-with-no-friends type of way, but I like knitting and doing craft projects. I don’t wear mascara because I hate taking it off.
4. I ramble. Have you noticed that yet?
.M.