"Thank you for the Mondays, Saturdays and Sundays..."

Happy September!! It has been far too long since I got caught up on here! Life has been very busy, but very good. I can't believe it's nearly October already! There is a crisp, fall scent in the air and some of the trees are starting to turn yellow and orange already. The other day, I heard a familiar sound and quickly went out on my balcony to see geese flying overhead. I love the changing of the seasons and always look forward to each one as it comes. I love the food that comes with the different seasons, too, and am looking forward to thick beef stew and fresh baked bread, warm apple pie and roasting pumpkins for soup and pies. It's so much fun to have a "grocery store" at your fingertips!

Last week I decided to visit Sarah K-B, and took the bus to her place. The above picture was taken out of boredom waiting for the bus, but I love it! We finally got around to making donuts this time too. Sarah had been wanting to make them with me but it just never seemed to work out. This was the day though, and Halvor made good coffees to go with them. Quentin, looking cute as a button in his new hat!

Emily and I have been looking at baklava recipes and wanting to try it! We finally gave it a shot one evening at my place. We didn't have phyllo dough but rolled out puff pastry dough, which wasn't too bad. It tasted awesome anyway and went perfectly with a cup of mint tea! During one of the last events here at Brunstad, they rented out the dining hall in House 33 so we had to move tables and chairs into the kitchen downstairs where we usually do food prep, and eat down there. It was rather interesting and a lot of work, but surprisingly, people seemed to like it. I was told by numerous people that we should eat down there more often. Um, let's hope not! In the background is the window into my office. :)

Nadia, making Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies. (ok, chocolate chunk. They do have Nestle chocolate chips at Meny now, if you're willing to pay the price...!) We came up with the idea to make chocolate Brunstad logos to go on top of the dessert for the A-lag feast last Saturday. It took 3 girls 2 days to make 350. They were so cool looking and worth the effort!! Stela and Natasha, putting together the appetizer for the feast. Our table Doris, from France. She works in the kitchen and is awesome!

Agnes and Katinka (Holland) Rachel (France) and Dorota (Poland) - awesome girls!!

Marina, Tanja and Alle (Ukraine) hanging out at my place. They came wearing kitchen hats which I have to get on them to wear while working! We had a fun evening playing Dutch Blitz and Phase Ten and I got them hooked! I am now taking orders for games when I go home for Christmas! Tomorrow, Haaike, Emily and I are going to IKEA in Oslo! We are missing so many plates and cups in House 33 and we don't have enough of everything to go around between them breaking and people taking stuff to their rooms. ("but I didn't have anything else to carry milk back to my cabin in, so I HAD to take a pitcher.") Right. So we are off to replenish the supply and are bound to have a great time as well. I might take my camera and do a post later. My to-do list for the rest of this week includes taking a walk in the woods and finding the lake with big rocks in the middle that you can walk out to, the one we went to with Kris and Johanna way back when, catching up on some letters, getting to the mall to grab a few pieces for fall, maybe getting to Sarah's and taking care of some lingering cell phone issues from home. Happy September!!