Fridays are lovely days

Thank goodness it's the weekend. My first full week of classes have sufficiently worn me out. It's only week two, yet my courses are already moving full steam ahead. This week I had a paper for econ, an assignment and my others piled on the reading. As much as the work is exhausting me, all my subjects are very interesting, so I will appreciate it later. For now, I am beyond thrilled it's the weekend.

This morning I ventured out for a run at the perfect time. The sun was breaking through the clouds and I had near perfect conditions. It was a bit windy, but the resisitance just gave my workout a boast. I discovered a gorgeous park with many trails. There are paths to little hills that give great views and it is all dirt paths. Bikers were out in full force. I think I will be spending quite a bit of time in there. Another bonus: I can see the tall office building from anywhere in there, so I can't get too lost. Though I'm sure I'll prove myself wrong.

Today after class I marched to the grocery store armed with a list. Over the summer while living in the mountains I learned that mapping out a schedule of dinners and shopping for that list is the most cost-effective way to cook. Last night and this morning I completed my schedule for the next month. It looks good, if I do say so myself.

The problem is I have a problem with estimations. I either shop thinking I am much stronger than I actually am, or that 5 pds of flour, milk, yogurt, ect. aren't really that heavy. Either way I got an additional workout coming home. The DIS student living next door and I were going to make pizza, but she had a meeting so I decided to go ahead with it on my own.

I love to cook. I love to bake. I would say, though my brother and father disagree, that I can hold my own in a kitchen. Tonight, however, was a certainly a challenge. Making the pizza dough, I forgot that they don't cups over here. Furthermore, their scale wasn't working correctly. There was an old measuring cup that wasn't accurate, but beyond that I was on my own. They don't have teaspoons in the kitchen, so I had to approximate the entire recipe. I looked up conversions on the internet and used what they said, but the dough was incredibly wet. So I had wing it. I add sugar, salt and a lot more flour. When I put a towel on the dough I had no idea if it would rise. I've made dough at home that has flopped, and that's with the proper tools.

Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised when it doubled and even more shocked at the end result. It was delicious. Best one I've ever made. I also made a rustic tart, in honor of my upcoming birthday (didn't have room in my fridge to wait until tomorrow). It is equally good. The difficulty in making the tart was that the butter here is in blocks and I don't know how to measure it. Never the less it's great.

By the time I had finished and cleaned up I had been in the kitchen for three hours. It was fun, though. A girl down the hall made dinner in there so she stayed for a bit after she was done to talk. Now I am going to met up with some people and watch Ace of Cakes. I'm bringing the tart to share. Tomorrow I'm going to meet with a Danish student that I've been paired with. We're going for coffee and then I'm going window shopping, well that's the plan anyway...