Adventures in Bribing the Committee

The word on the street is that the better the snacks you provide for your committee, the better things go. So I have decided to bestow upon the committee and the other members of the audience one of my favorite foods: pirozhki made by the Russian lady at the Farmers' Market. Just this afternoon I called and talked to her on the phone, ordering four dozen of the delectable treats.

For those of you playing along at home, who will never get a chance to come to Urbana on Saturday mornings for the Farmers' Market, or to my thesis defense either for that matter, they are simply rolls with fruit filling. She also makes traditional varieties with savory ingredients such as eggs and cabbage. I think these fruity ones are geared towards us sugar-loving Americans. In any case, they're great. I walk to the Farmers' Market every Saturday morning for the sole purpose of buying pirozhki from Lyudmila, as I've now learned is her name.

So I'm supposed to pick them up from her next Friday at 1 p.m. Along with the pirozhki, I plan to have some fruit, possibly some brownies if I get the time to make them, and some milk and juice to drink. I think it will make the whole defense experience run much more smoothly.