Baking at School

         At school, each dorm group has their own dorm kitchen--equipped with a stove, microwave, fridge, kettle, sink, and a mismatched variety of utensils and kitchenware. My kitchen is connected to our oppholdsrom--a sort of living room with couches, a table, and the balcony. It's a great place to hang out, whether for cooking or socializing, because you can always be sure that someone will come in and strike up a conversation. 

        The hallway next to mine that houses most of NLC has a much less exciting kitchen. It's separate from their oppholdsrom, and therefore quite cramped and not a desirable hangout spot. Despite living in that side, Alina often comes to my kitchen to bake--her specialty is a type of cinnamon rolls from Hamburg called Franzbrötchen. We always have fun baking, and the delicious smell tends to draw a friendly crowd. (Here's Alina rolling the dough with a water bottle because we didn't have a rolling pin).

        When we want to bake, we generally need to buy all of our own ingredients. For språktrening--our language training elective--teams of NLC students bake and get reimbursed by the school. The same goes for ingredients from trips. Sometimes there are leftovers, and those tend to be for us to use. After our most recent trip to Hovden, there were lots of baking ingredients left over. The school had given us some food as well--that would have gone bad over vacation--so when we returned, there were a lot of ingredients around.

        While most people spent our first day back sleeping in, I was up bright and early to walk to Kiwi. The one thing we didn't have was milk, and that's a necessity for pancakes! I spent the morning making the batter and cooking the pancakes. When I had some ready, I texted our class group chat, and a steady stream of sleepy and surprised NLC students made their way to the kitchen. 

        I've been a little homesick lately, so a 'family' pancake breakfast was just what I needed. The best reaction was from Tommaso, who appeared to have literally rolled out of bed and followed his nose to the pancakes. I had made both chocolate chip, and banana chocolate chip, and he was so amazed at the idea of chocolate chips in pancakes! Sofia said she's never tried them either, but that they were delicious. (Yes, I had to use a pot for the batter because their kitchen lacks bowls).

        Later that day, I made banana bread with some of the leftover bananas. Ananda and I ate some, and shared the rest with anyone that stopped by. It went so quickly that I decided to make another batch the next day! On my last day at school--with some of the chocolate and the rest of the dry ingredients--Valeria and I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Some of the NLC students rented an airbnb for part of vacation, so they grabbed a few before they left, but we had a ton left over. I saw Marianne in the classroom and gave her a container, and then I brought a bunch to Aurebekk with me. The kids loved them, and they were gone that evening!

        I'm not quite sure what kind of baking spirit possessed me, but I had a lot of fun making treats for myself and my classmates. I'm usually not the one to bake--Alina makes her cinnamon rolls, and Ananda's always coming up with something new, from chocolate cake to peanut butter blondies. At Aurebekk, Alina and I have been trying to create a sort of cookbook with all of our favorite FHS treats and meals, and it's been a lot of fun collecting recipes and thinking of all the delicious foods we can continue to make when we go home. As some people have asked after it, here is Ananda's Cinnamon Roll Cake recipe: