College caf desserts

Another school year has ended or is coming to an end. During the last semester one of us (Dessert Survivor) ate at a college cafeteria once a week, and took the opportunity to take pictures of a small part of the variety of things they offered.
Chocolate always works as a dessert.
These brownies not only looked good, but were good.
They even told people what the desserts were. Who cares what you call it? If it has sugar, it is probably good.
I found a couple things surprising. One was the large variety they offered. No two days were alike. The other thing that surprised me is that the students did not eat more desserts. I would like to say that they have better eating habits than I do, but then I see the amount of soft drinks they consume and I have a hard time with that conclusion.
Cheese cake with strawberry stuff on top--this was good. I would have been happy if they had served this every day, but I only saw it once.
Did you say, "Saint Patrick's Day," when you saw the green cake? Yes, that is what it was.
Student complaints about cafeteria food are common and go back in time to the start of caferia food. One difference between what is happening now and what happened in the past is that there are many more options.If the students at this cafeteria do not like the daily selection, there is also real ice cream available in addition to the soft serve (at least when the soft-serve machine is working.)

They are all gone now

Before Christmas the baking begins. Dozens and dozens of delicious Christmas cookies come out of the oven. But they are not to be eaten under pain of death or something almost as awful, at least not until December 25, when the feasting begins. Then they go to friends and family.
They were very good. Both Dessert Survivor and Desert Survivor enjoyed them, though neither had anything to do with their creation. And now Dessert Survivor has miles and miles to run to undo the weight gain that they caused.

My Favorite Christmas Cookies

I love cookies, and to me, Christmas is the ultimate time to eat cookies. There are so many good recipes to try. I didn't have a lot of time this year, but I probably made seven or eight different kinds of cookies, and these are some of my favorite. The bars in the middle are Seven Layer bars. I didn't have butterscotch chips so I used dried cranberries, and they were great. The cookies around the edge are almond-raspberry shortbread thumbprints. These have been a hit every year, and I can't stop eating them. The ingredients are simple: butter, sugar, flour, almond extract, and seedless raspberry jam. Yum, yum, yum.

Cookie cutouts have been a tradition at Christmas. I didn't have any helpers for decorating, so the cookies look rather plain this year. I like the strange ways kids decorate cookies! Nevertheless, they tasted great, and alas, disappeared all too fast.

Holiday cookies and desserts

The Christmas season brings with it many parties, concerts, open houses, and various special events that have cookies and other desserts. This year I decided to keep track of all the cookies that they offered. (If you have a blog that needs pictures of desserts, and you do not have the talent to make them, you do whatever is necessary.)

The first was a sale at the college bookstore. The little cookies were bait to attract shoppers, who then were expected to buy something that was on sale.
I attended a community event called Santa's Village, meant mostly for kids, that had cookies.

I skipped a December graduation event because it was too late in the day, but I suspect it had cookies. However, I did attend a band concert with big cookies.
Some Christmas events are by invitation only. Here are desserts at a very nice invitation-only Christmas party I went to.
Wait, there was more. The little men were solid chocolate! I am not sure what the little white snowmen were made of--I did not try one, but I am sure they were delicious.
One of the local banks had a customer appreciation day or some excuse to serve big bakery cookies. I would like to make an Alliance with them--they provide cookies, and I will eat them.
And finally, there is the employee Christmas party with cheesecake.
That is enough for one post. If I find more cookies, I will show them in another post.

The two Lindas serve dessert

On the first day of finals week I was surprised by an array of cookies, cake, candy, cider, and even healthy things like grapes in the lounge. The two Lindas had been at work.
Here the new Linda is preparing brownies for the table.
Here the old Linda (can I say that?) is sampling some of the cake.
Thanks, Lindas.

Educational cookies

The good Karen in the education department brought in lots of deserts today. There was banana bread, some kind of muffins, brownies, and other sugar-filled delectables.
Thanks, Karen.

Bazaar desserts

Tonight was the annual St. Augustine Church Bazaar, a turkey dinner with much fund raising after. Of course they had desserts, which were bazaar desserts but not bizarre deserts. I wanted to try out my new camera, but found that the picture I took with my old camera was actually better. (I need to read the manual--there are a lot of buttons I do not understand yet.)
I did not have cookies tonight--I had blueberry pie instead. It was a change of pace from apple crisp in the morning, apple crisp in the evening, apple crisp just about all the time.

Motel cookies

I recently stayed several nights in a motel that not only provided breakfast in the morning, but also set out cookies at night. (I almost wrote that they provided a free breakfast, but caught myself. The cost of staying there included the breakfast and the cookies--there really was nothing free.)
Anyway, the cookies not only looked very good, but were very good. This young gentleman totally agreed. (Maybe we should call him "dessert boy.")

Chinese dessert

Yesterday I went to a Chinese buffet, and got to sample their "Chinese" desserts. I doubt it they were really Chinese--I do not think that dessert is a traditional part of Chinese meals. What they had looked pretty good. I was less impressed with the taste.
Of course they had fortune cookies. None of the fortunes, though, were as intriguing as the advertisement on the table for Coke: "Refresh your thirst." Doesn't refresh mean renew, revive, or restore? Does the ad mean that you can take some water to quench your thirst, then drink some Coke to renew it, so you can drink some more water?
Inquiring minds want to know.

Picnicking with the Education Club

The Education Club at Saint Joseph's College had a picnic on the first Sunday in October, and I was invited. The day was sunny and warm (for October), and the kids were having a great time catching (or in some cases, trying to catch) minnows. (They were using kitchen utensils as fish nets. I hope they get washed well before they go back on the kitchen shelves.)
Who really cares if you catch anything as long as you can get soaking wet?
The students enjoyed the food and the conversation.
This little boy enjoyed his bottle. He also later got very wet when he went down to the lake. (According to Desert Survivor, his diaper should have weighed about 2.5 pounds.)
And here another little kid tries to finish his potato chips while I torment him and he tries to capture a lady bug.
The picnic had a lot of food, and a tremendous amount of dessert. The delicious brownies alone would have been plenty.
However, the picnic also had a huge box of cookies. After just three I was overloaded on sugar and had to stop. So many cookies, so little space in the stomach. Sometimes life is not fair.

Cookies at the Library

As part of its programs to entertain and inform the people of the area, last night my local library had a musical performance. A professor from the local college played a variety of tunes on an electronic keyboard with a range of electronic enhancements. (Desert Survivor does not have a local library--she only has a bookmobile that comes by every few weeks. She should write about that sometime in her desertsurvivor blog.) Although the music was fun and free, there were only about 30 people in attendance. To make the evening extra special, there were cookies and refreshments at the end. I think most of the cookies were homemade, but I am not sure. The kinds I tested were very good. I did not try the pink stuff below, but it looked good.
I will have to pay attention for more library programs that feature cookies.