The Boyfriend Cooks and the End of Torts (for now)

It took me from about 7:00am to 6:00pm, but I finished the Torts section that lasted 3 days (except for completing that heavily discussed one-page study guide) and I got done with the Contracts Foundation course. It was rough. Between eating regular meals and going to the gym, there ain't much time for anything else. I did pretty excellent on the torts quiz if I do say so myself, but tomorrow begins the "deep dive" into Contracts. Vomit.

We agreed last night that the boyfriend would cook dinner... based on what I had planned that is. Kidding, it was very good and surprisingly filling for a salad. He cooked the fresh sweet corn we bought last week and some chicken to go on top of an iceberg and spinach salad with tomatoes and avocado. He even used some of the leftover tza as a "base" salad dressing, meaning he mixed up all of the stuff/vegetables in it until lightly coated. I put way too much of that spicy chipotle-greek yogurt sauce (that I made last week) on my salad, and my nose was running by the end of the meal. REAL spicy. However, the addition of Ranch dressing to that mix made for an excellent combination of flavors. [I mean, come on, chipotle-ranch is critical.] I'll have to remember that. It's SO southwest, Bobby Flay would be proud [yeah right, like Bobby eats Ranch dressing. Also, the Internet is ambiguous on whether or not to capitalize "ranch" in this context]. I tried my best on these lovely pics, as Charlie tried his best on this meal:

Wait for it....

Okay, we are in business now. I just got a new photo editing app [Aviary]. This is the only pic of this blog post that uses it, but you can damn sure tell a difference. Will be using it again soon. Again, this is still the salad plain, wait for it...



It doesn't look like a lot, but that chipotle sauce will burn you up. Yes, this amount only.

Oh, and again I'll be having leftovers during bar-studying tomorrow... for the fifth day in a row. It is very convenient though. And quick. Maybe tomorrow I'll have my roasted red pepper tomato soup outta the box alongside the salad with its all of two chunks of chicken that are left after tonight. Based on my progession in the studying routine right now, it looks like I'll have some catching up to do over the weekend (womp womp), but for once I am not going out of town. The good news: dinner date night for tomorrow is still happening anddddd a FOOD TOUR of downtown Durham is on for Saturday afternoon. Get ready for pics on pics on pics. [I'm writing this like I have an audience... nerd.]

As promised... Results of Ground Beef Gyros

After a day of studying and looking forward to dinner, I made the ground beef gryos I found on Pinterest via the blog passionate homemaking. And yes, her pictures are a lot more beautiful than mine, but these were great. The boyfriend liked them too. Not difficult, and I even took a study break to make the greek yogurt tzatziki with my little Cuisinart mini food processor [invest in one, it will change your life]. I watched a couple episodes of the League on Netflix while I did this and made the beef patties.

I followed the blog's recipes exactly, and I used lean ground beef to make the patties and only spray olive oil to cook them. Imagine how dank they would be had I used 80-20 beef instead. Also, after slicing the patties, I seared them a little more in the pan to brown them, as I didn't think the pink in the middle of a hamburger that I usually would be a good fit for gyros. The oregano, onion powder, and garlic powder really gave the meat good flavor. Also, the tza was fantastic and healthy since it was yogurt. I bet a spoonful of mayo would've been a real nice addition too. I used Trader Joe's fat free feta to top them.



I keep forgetting to style my food I get so hungry- Should've done a dramatic sprinkling of feta.

They turned out fantastic and took me back to my days of waiting tables at the delicious and not-so-fancy No Name Pizza of Beaufort [seriously that place is magnificent]. I kind of wish I was still living at the beach and making those tips now...


Unfortunately Aldi did not have pitas, so I used some "Fit & Active" flatbreads



 So maybe I went overboard with the pictures. It could be a lot worse and I could've just ended up with a picture of three bites of pita and smeared tzatziki all over the plate.

 

Another angle, just in case you can't get enough. I wanted to make sure I got a good one.



Showing you how to eat one... Don't you love my beachy orange nail polish?

And then I was still a little bit hungry/didn't want the meal to be over yet but I wanted to have leftovers for lunch tomorrow [I know, decisions, decisions] so I made a plate of...



Seconds... a little Mediterranean nachos?

The good news is I'm going out to eat on Friday. Maybe a little dinner and a movie? Maybe a little sushi and sake? I'm excited. Too bad I heard the new Hangover was awful and not funny. Dammit.
In other news, I JUST started watching the Walking Dead tonight after dinner. Great timing for studying. How many seasons are there? Pretty sure I'm hooked.

Memorial Day and the First Real Week of Studies

The beach really couldn't have been more perfect this weekend. On the first night, we went to the Dock House in Beaufort and my straw hat from Roses stirred up a conversation with a guy who happened to be the first mate on a ridiculous yacht formerly owned by Dale Earnhardt. He invited us aboard where we proceeded to act like we had never been anywhere before, took lots of pictures, and asked a million questions about how awesome it was to live on this boat. The name of it: "Sunday Money." We also met the chef of the ship, who was also about our age and just living the dream.

The next day, we invited them to come to Shackleford with us and they really got the full experience of the southern Outer Banks. The wild horses came right on up to us, the sun came out, and we also walked across to the ocean side of the island with my dad. We returned to Beaufort to have painfillers on the Rhum Bar at Stillwater then played several drunk games of pool at the Royal James, probably my favorite spot. We had a dinner of fish tacos and did a little porch-sitting and loud talking. Later that night, our new friend the ship chef even came out to the bars on the Morehead City waterfront with us, though we saw that he might have been cheating on us with even newer Beaufort friends that he had met on his brief stint at port. We hung out (and took shots) at Sammy's and then went to Chef's 105 before desperately trying to get a cab home. I might have laid on the sidewalk and Christina might have peed in the parking lot, but we made it back.




Not a trick picture, they came up really close and had a little pow wow in front of us.

The next morning, I gorged myself on tomato pie, which turned out to be not so great for my hangover about 30 minutes later. Then we went on the boat with my family to Shackleford for a day of even more intense sun(burn), socializing, and horse-watching. The water was still pretty cold, so there was no swimming, but just a few dips to go pee once in a while. That night we had hotdogs and hamburgers with family (sorry no pics!), I fell asleep on the couch a little early, and played with sparklers. We were very tired and did not make it to the bars, which was good for our conditions on the car ride home the next day.

We did, however, get invited on a last minute trip to Cape Lookout (although we didn't know that's where we were going when we got on the boat) with some friends. Soaked up a few more hours of sun (to get rid of the strap tanlines from the day before) and had a couple more beers before having to clean up and head home. See the obligatory lighthouse picture below.



Last minute trip to the Cape before leaving the coast.

 

We made it home to Chapel Hill (and Christina to Raleigh), and I had gotten it in my mind that I was getting Thai food for dinner. Unfortunately, unlike Chik-fil-a, the two best Thai places here were closed for Memorial Day. I had to settle for Japanese food (some takeout hibachi) which was good but I did not take pics, though that is more likely what most of the people currently studying for the Bar are eating on a regular basis.

 

Last night, after some planning and a trip to Aldi (so cheap), I made sausage and peppers. To make it healthier, I used turkey sausage, some olive oil, and lots of vegetables. Though it might not look appetizing below (because I cooked down the ingredients a lot), like Anne Burrell says, brown food tastes good. I browned the sausage with onions, drained some of the fat off, then added chopped red, yellow, and orange bell peppers. I then added some mushrooms and some juice from a can of petite diced tomatoes (no measurements are exact). After the mushrooms were cooked most of the way, I added the tomatoes. I let that cook down even more and made some brown rice to serve this conglomeration over. This is a combination of about 3 pinterest recipes that I used last time I made it. This instance was just a memory of what I did that last time. I added red pepper flakes (because the sausage was not spicy), black pepper, and garlic salt. At the last minute, I put in about half a cup of regular marinara sauce from a jar, so you get kind of a glaze/sauce. Of course, I forgot to take pictures of a plated dish or the full skillet when it was done (um because it was so delicious and Charlie gets hungry when I pause dinner to take pictures) so this is just a picture of the leftovers.

 

 

Close-up, onions, sausage, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes

 

 I swear it is really so much better than these pictures show. We also had a piece of grandma's chocolate cake that I cut up and individually wrapped and froze before leaving the beach. It's a great idea for desserts since we had so many leftovers and we have no more 100-calorie Klondike bars here (though I'm sure the piece of cake, even split in half, was more than 100 calories).

Leftovers for my lunch today

 

Meanwhile, bar studying is going better than expected. I actually downloaded the Kaplan app on my phone and listened to the criminal law lectures while working out and while riding to the beach. Turns out, the daily lectures- at least this yesterday- were not that time-consuming. Needless to say, I have not been previewing outlines for the next day's work or anything, but I finished the Torts lecture at 1.5x speed, filled out the bar notes, and reviewed most of them, while still having time to work on the Contracts foundation course that I didn't get done last week. Unfortunately, I remember (or never learned) anything about contracts, so I'm having to pay close attention. I should be able to get my work done for today and finish that up with any luck.

 

Also, my bar candidate interview letter came in the mail. It is dated May 13th and since I just opened it, I'm sure I'll get the worst time ever. Thank goodness I found the letter though. Would hate to miss that.

 

Annnd I just looked at the assignments for today's bar prep. Don't like the idea of starting with a 4 hour lecture and then having another 1 hour lecture on NC law distinctions later... I feel like yesterday might have lulled me into a false sense of comfort with this study schedule. At least it's still early. And I'm attempting gyros made with hamburger from Pinterest tonight, so I'll look forward to that.

Bite of DC or Last Fun Event Before I Began Studying

So I had an excellent weekend in DC with friends this past weekend [before the studying]...




Each restaurant had a tab on your wristband to be torn off when you consumed their course!

Bite of DC was a food and wine/beer festival in Yards Park, Washington DC down by the Nationals Stadium. It was about $50 for a 5 course tasting menu and pairings of wine and beer, along with tastings and pours of wine and beer for about 3 hours. My friends and I went from 7:00-10:00pm to make a dinner [and pregame] out of it. There definitely could have been more food, but it was a grand time.



Mary Ann and Melissa live in DC permanently and I am incredibly jealous.

All of the food was interesting and generally ranged from decent to amaaazing, but the lobster roll from Luke's Lobster easily won out. I'd say it was followed by the rabbit sausage course from Cedar. There was also a really good smoked trout roe and cucumber yogurt soup. And anyway, who am I to say that Jose Andres's restaurant had the worst dish and that the rose he served as a pairing kind of tasted like it had a splash of tequila? But yeah, Jaleo's dish was not that great.




Holy wow, I wish I had this right now, all over my face.

 

I bet those flowers on the dish make the rabbit feel better. He was tasty.



We heard that there was some pizza available, for those who opted for the alcohol-only option or for the people like us who still weren't full after the 5 courses... but it wasn't free so we just continued to drink. See the full menu! [Jaleo actually served an empedrat, which is Spanish fish and white bean cold salad...eh]

That's the boyfriend and the awful rose that I forced down...

Prior to the festivities we walked all over the city, following our guide Melissa, visiting some pretty swanky bars [and a Starbucks for caffeine on our route]...

Billy Martin's Tavern in Georgetown, where JFK proposed to Jackie... and an empty vodka gimlet.

The Hamilton. A Betty's Apple. Very good, but we should have taken advantage of the happy hour sushi deal or at least gotten some sliders instead of starving ourselves for the tasting menu 2 hours later.

DC is awesome. Drinking the District was awesome. Food is awesome!

Moving slowly

Well I finished the diagnostic test and did not do as horrible as I imagined. Obviously I'm better at criminal law and evidence than the other subjects, but apparently I know some torts too. I then barely got through Torts foundation course, and there's no way I'll get through all of the supposed 18 hours of introductory courses before I leave for the beach or even before real bar prep classes start, but hey, whatever. We have til the end of July right? Right?!




I ate all these peperoncinis while hearing about "other torts" in one and a half speed. I love them.

I wasn't gonna post my dinner tonight because it is kind of a repeat of the homemade pasta I made- apparently it does freeze excellently by the way. But who am I kidding, I'm sick and love food too much, I obviously took pics of my dinner tonight:

 

 

Yeah, that light lemon-y sauce with parmesan just alll over it.

 

 

In my lap, ready to eat. The things I do for food pictures.

 

It's those noodles, olive oil, garlic, mushrooms, spinach, and kalamata olives with lemon juice and Parmesan. It's a little healthy and feels light, but I promise it's not if you eat a pound of it. This would totally not be the same without the homemade pasta. On the side is a little piece of wheat baguette with some garlic oil and dipping seasoning. You know, trying to be fancy. Food is the best part of the day, especially when you study all day.

 

. . .

 

So the best hypothetical I read today said exactly this: "A young woman felt crushed after to her boyfriend of two years broke up with her. Feeling despondent, she consumed several bottles of wine, and then decided it would be a good idea to fry up some bacon." How awesome. I laughed out loud and then highlighted it on the screen, despite the fact that I was being timed when answering these questions. Maybe because it is ridiculous? Or maybe because it is so relatable? Anything to break up the boredom!

Why pork tenderloin should be a regularly used deli meat

Well on the first day of bar studying, I only finished 75 of 150 diagnostic test questions, but I did discover how awesome leftover pork tenderloin [that you originally undercooked but fixed the next day in a skillet] is on a sandwich.



 

Yeahh, toppings...

Yeah, damn delicious. Made a little chipotle-Greek yogurt sauce with lemon juice and garlic sauce the other day, spread it on wheat bread with tomatoes, feta, and cheddar- all with that pork tenderloin that I cut up super tiny. I ate this sandwich alongside a black bean soup I had frozen from like December. I made it too- involved an immersion blender and several cans of beans and tomatoes. Threw a little of the chipotle sauce in that bowl too! I love soup-sandwich combos, and this one was dank.

Black Bean Soup- Great for dipping. Maybe one day I'll post some step by step pics of how I made it.

 

 

It has begun...

Well, I got all my bar prep books from Kaplan, and I knew that class officially started May 28th. Unfortunately, I did not realize the ridiculous magnitude of videos, documents, assigments, and "diagnostic tests" I would have to complete before that date. Hell, I'm going to the beach for Memorial Day weekend on Friday.

So today after completing three job applications, I finally signed into the website to discover all of this nonsense awaiting. I'm slowly completing the 150-question diagnostic test with TV breaks in between every ehh 30 or so questions, while coming to the realization that I remember little to nothing from 1L year classes. [I also recently gained access to a Netflix account and may have just watched a whole season of Scandal in less than 3 days.]

I really should have started posting pictures of things I cooked last week [during the post-law school-graduation period when I went crazy with my new KitchenAid mixer]. I'm also proud of all the things I found at the thrift store during that downtime and the fun pillow I sewed out of the excitement of having absolutely nothing to do. I'll do a few though...

 

I promise the quality of photos will increase, but for now, a jelly roll. Reminds me of my childhood. I may have only had a few before I made this one, but they are sooo delicious. Only takes 5 eggs and some parchement paper to get a cake to roll up like that. Oh, and there's a whole jar of raspberry preserves in that bad boy. Recipe via this lovely cookbook thanks to an ex who hated me so much he would not return to my house to get all of his possessions. I think his mother gave it to him. I also got to keep a nice blender.

 

Pound cake with lemon glaze. Cake recipe is from the same cookbook above and the glaze is from Southern Living, though I had to substitute half and half for whole milk. Delicious, or so everyone says. I found it a tad dry, but I blame that on Harris Teeter's lack of "cake flour" or maybe I just didn't look hard enough. I had to use a larger pan than I would've preferred so it was wider and shorter than it should have been, thus the close-up. Thanks, Instagram.

 

 

This homemade pasta with shrimp and pesto is the result of an effort made much easier by the aforementioned KitchenAid mixer and a pasta maker that my grandma gave me. Although it can be done with sheer willpower, a rolling pin, and a knife, having a few machines makes homemade pasta a much easier endeavor. And it is SO WORTH IT. The noodles are much more tender, cook faster, and just f'n awesome. I even froze some of them that were leftover [and I also froze a ball of dough because I was worn out from making so much- hope that was okay.]

 

 

Anyway, this is what the noodles looked like straight out of the pasta maker. Pretty cool.

For a nice little appetizer, my friend Matt brought over some foie gras he had frozen at his apartment for about two years. I googled how to sear it and we made it happen, balsamic glaze and all. Granted, between the three of us it was like two bites a piece, but those two bites were phenomenal. Cruelty be damned. Unfortunately that whole cooking and eating process happened so fast there are no pictures.

 

Well, on a different day, I set out on a quest to use the $10 yard sale sewing machine that my grandma also gave to me. I knew I was gonna be cheap about it, but thanks to the biggest thrift store I've ever been in, the Durham Rescue Mission, I was able to complete this exquisite piece for 75 cents [the pillow was .50 and the scrap "linen" was .25]. Those are some very cultured tiny monkeys. I even have fabric leftover. I learned how to make a pillow cover so I could change them as I pleased, and I also didn't want to trap my pillow in something I sewed if it ended up being terrible and ugly on my first try. Seriously, you can learn to do anything from blogs, like this one.

 

 

Thanks to a coupon from a nice man there, I was able to get SO much stuff for so cheap! In addition to the pillow ingredients, I got the short stories of Sherlock Holmes and a Southern Living cookbook from the book section. I went through all of the ladies' denim until I found a pair of Joe's Jeans for $3 [yea, they're regularly like $160, no big deal], and a pair of Express jeans that I used too make some sweet cut-offs. I got two coffee mugs and a liquid measuring cup for the kitchen. Then I found a Martha Stewart queen comforter that will be great for my duvet that currently holds a too-small quilt. Then, in order to get to $20 worth of stuff so that I could use the $5 off coupon, I found some sweet novelty hats. Now I can pretend that despite being an unemployed law student, I stayed at the Ritz in the Caymans. Or what's more likely, that I shot some ducks for bucks.