Your Weekend Plans

This recipe is so good. Jättebra, underbart, utsökt. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I've made these Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies at least once a month since living here. Any chance I get-- girls' night, birthday fika, thank you gift, cure for homesickness-- this is my simple, no-fail, go-to dessert recipe. You can easily exchange the coffee crystals or chocolate chips for nuts, M&Ms, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, or toffee pieces to give the cookies a different twist.

During my last Book Club meeting, my kiddos happily gobbled up a coffee-free batch while discussing democracy, reality television, and how awesome Katniss is. (If you haven't read The Hunger Games, you should probably make it a priority this weekend. Read that book and eat these cookies.)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup instant coffee crystals
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (or chop up a dark chocolate bar if you live in a country that doesn't offer chocolate chips)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. In another bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, coffee crystals, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips/chunks. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. 
3. Try not to eat all of the raw batter.
4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. These are better a bit under-done. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

While we're on the topic of chocolate, the yellowish building on the right serves some pretty amazing chocolate cake.

’Tis the Season

We celebrated Saint Lucia Day at school on Tuesday, with a gathering in the morning that involved lots of real candles, small children, and flammable white outfits. Along with a few friends, I also attended a Lucia service the night before to watch one of my students play Lucia. It was so warm, so beautiful, so Swedish.

My mentor students had a holiday party on Wednesday evening, which was organized by the class parents. They rented out a historic house, decorated it, and served pizza, brownies, and Julmust. After dinner, they headed downstairs to a dance floor lit up with twinkle lights. One of my kids asked me what we used to do at dances when I was their age. And that… is how I found myself teaching a small crowd of young Swedes how to dance the Macarena.

It’s been cold and rainy here for the past several days. It’s also been a week full of marking and assigning final grades, which is my least favorite part of teaching. But there have been many bright spots—here are some things that are making me happy lately:

A decorated whiteboard.

Winter poetry board.

Christmas Eve tea, sent by my wonderful parents!

Decorating oranges with cloves and red ribbon at a Christmas fika.

Some Christmassy things around the apartment...

Comfy cowgirl boots, found at a secondhand store in Stockholm.

Watching a student play Saint Lucia at her church.

A little love from the students... (pretty sure they give all their teachers this compliment, but I'll take what I can get).

Excellent reading material (thanks, Kat!).

Listening to friends perform their music downtown.

Cutting out sugar cookies...

Baking them...

And turning the cookies into neon masterpieces.