It's finished.
Our little class of 23 has been together since the 8th grade- a small time for some, but it has just made us so close. We're like a huge family... clichéd, I know, but it's true.
We're drama-free, group-free. We just love each other. 

I know we're all going to be here next year, but with one tiny difference: the addition of 60 new people for the I.B. batch.
In a way, I'm excited for new people; new faces, new personalities, new friends and new things to do.
But in other ways, I just like it how it is. Till the last day, all 10 of us girls still sat and ate lunch together; laughing and screaming and complaining and sharing and gossiping and just everything that goes on in teenage girls' lives.
It's hard to look back 3 years and see how far we've come as a class and how much I have changed as a person. It seems so... distant and unreal.
A testimony to our closeness was our little party on our last day of school. We all brought in food and supplies and held a buffet for our class and all the teachers that have taught us since we joined.
It was weird... it worked.
Our gaggle of young, chaotic, loud and uncooperative barely-teenagers from all those years ago was suddenly so orderly and responsible and- most unexpected of all- appreciated by the teachers.
I mean, we had our share of yelling at each other, but at the end there were guys tidying all the garbage and handing plates to the teachers and... I'm proud to have been part of our bizarre group.

The teachers, too made so much effort- a couple of them even wrote (and sang) gorgeous songs for us and prepared a lunch of canapés, cake and 'vada pau' (the 'Indian Burger', as my teacher fondly nicknamed it).

My sister got home from an exhausting, tearful and girly-melodramatic camp on Friday, and to make her feel better my mum baked chocolate chip cupcakes and lasagne, and I made her the 'Fabulous French Toast Sticks' that she's been asking for for ages. 

I love how good food effortlessly brings people together, and continues to be a way to show that you really care.
 It doesn't matter whether you're cooking for family, bringing your friend's favourite food or cupcakes to share at your daily lunch on the terrace, or you're enjoying a feast and reliving all your memories of 3 long (but all too short) years.

For my dad's birthday I was kind of stuck on what to make him. 
The problem is, he's just about as food-obsessed as I am, so it's really difficult to pinpoint a favourite: oliebollen, raisin buns, Indian sweets, Chinese, anything with dates or figs, Dutch pastries and cookies... the list is endless.
In the end I settled on a recipe for fruit scones from my trusty little book of 'Good Old-Fashioned Teatime Treats' -even selecting a recipe from the book proved to be an extensive project- and homemade ricotta from Smitten Kitchen.