Visa, Subway, and brownies!

Today was to be my last day of rest before returning to work after my bronchitis, but at 10 am I got a call from the Indian Embassy saying that my passport, complete with Indian visa, was ready for pickup!  I bundled up against the cold and headed off, and surprise of all surprises, the pick-up was easy!  It only took 15 minutes and I was walking out the door, Indian visa in hand!

I was ecstatic, and stopped by a Subway sandwich place on my way home to celebrate.  My first experience with Chinese Subway was at an arena, and the quality was horrible, but today I was reassured immediately upon entering by the familiar sights and smells.  I managed to order successfully (the steps of making a Subway sandwich are the same everywhere!) and sat down at a table grinning like a maniac at my sandwich - my first real non-homemade sandwich in China! A guy sitting nearby caught me grinning and laugh/smiled at me.  I must have looked pretty silly, looking that excited about a sandwich!

And tonight, I decided to attempt making brownies to take the office tomorrow.  A friend of mine here just bought a mini oven and so has gotten me thinking about oven recipes, and I wanted to show him what brownies are.  And now I know that it is indeed possible to make brownies in a casserole dish - since that was the only oven-friendly pan I have! And my taste-test (see below) proves they are good!  I can't wait til tomorrow!

My Chinese homemade brownies! Mmmm...

ps. Today is the first day I have really felt good all day long.  Hooray for recovery!