New Things: Tests and Truffles

"You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives."  -Clay P. Bedford


Tests


I have taken tests before, but never a law school exam.  There were practice exams in two classes, but those didn't count and they weren't as long (only one hour).


Today my final Torts exam was a four-hour marathon, and my brain is exhausted.  For four hours all I heard was rustling papers, typing fingers and that tension-you-can-cut-with-a-knife buzz that filled the room.  And that was with earplugs in and everything.  All I can say is, "Wow."  They tell you it will be hard and unlike other testing experiences, and they (whoever that "they" is... the reasonable person, perhaps?) are right.  It's a lot of pressure knowing that your entire semester grade -- your entire semester's work -- depends on one four-hour period of several multiple choice questions and an essay.


And that's that.  I'm glad it's over.  Just two more to go... and then four more next semester... and then... it never does end, does it?  Nor will it end when I am officially a lawyer because the law changes, and we must learn the changes... it truly is a lifelong-learning profession.  Perfect.  I always said I wanted to be a professional student.


Truffles


I am a shy cook and do not put much stock in my culinary talents.  I can follow a recipe and cook meals that I consider tasty, but... the fewer ingredients, the better is my motto!  I like simple recipes, and prefer to spend my time doing things not in the kitchen.


This year, however (since I actually have to cook on a regular basis), I have found little, hidden joys in cooking and baking.  Sometimes, I actually enjoy it, and I am slowly starting to desire to try new things and actually do new things in the kitchen.  Maybe it's because I like eating so much, but I also think I'm starting to enjoy the process.  It's kind of fun to watch things blend together into something rich and creamy and it's kind of fun to stir it up myself.  It reminds me of my first cooking forays with my mother using my Easy-Bake Oven. There was something just neat about creating a treat.


So... truffles.  Something new, and, frankly, something a little bit scary.  They seem so fancy, don't they?  Luckily, I am modeling my truffles after The Pioneer Woman's recipe which she reassures her readers is quite simple.  I feel like a pioneer woman... let's forge ahead!


Here goes somethin'!

The recipe calls for semi-sweet, bittersweet, and milk chocolate (8 oz. each).  You can use any type of chocolate, but I read on a another website that fancy chocolate (yes, pricier chocolate) is better since it is higher quality. So, Ghiradelli it is is for the dark chocolate and Perugina for the milk!  Yum!

You put the dark chocolate into a double boiler (or, for the poor cooks like me into a class bowl over a pot of simmering water).  The chocolate will start to melt after a few minutes.

Before the chocolate is fully melted and before you even mix it up, poor in one can (14 oz.) of sweetened condensed milk.  Now there is some sweet and yummy goodness if I ever saw some!  As The Pioneer Woman says, nothing can beat the real deal here... go all out!

Then, mix the chocolate and condensed milk together, keeping the bowl over the pot and the water at a gentle simmer!

I just love this swirly goodness... something that looks like that just has to be delicious!

Keeping folding the chocolate into the condensed milk and do not worry about the texture... it turns out just fine!

Once all of the chocolate is folded into the milk, turn off the heat and remove the bowl from the pot.  Add 1 tablespoon of vanilla.  It will make the chocolate a little extra shiny.  Pretty!

Next, cover the glass bowl and stick it in the fridge for a couple hours to let the chocolate become "firm and workable."  Once it is, take it out of the fridge and get rollin'!

Rollin' some chocolate into balls that is!  Place the balls on wax paper on a cookie sheet and then stick them in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes until they are firm.  You can leave the truffles like this and add a topping if you please... or...

You can give them an outer coating!  I followed The Pioneer Woman's advice and dipped the truffles into melted milk chocolate.  Make sure the truffle is fully coated and use a fork to lift them out to allow the excess chocolate to drip away.  The milk chocolate will begin to harden quite quickly, forming a nice shell.  You can leave them plain and pretty like this... or...

You can add a topping!  I chose nuts (crushed pecans to be specific) because I like a nutty-chocolate flavor, but you can choose whatever your heart desires.  The Pioneer Woman used sea salt, but I don't think I'm that brave of a baker yet!

There you have it!  Dark chocolate truffles with a milk chocolate shell and pecans on top!  I tried one tonight, and I must say they are quite tasty... don't worry my roommate tried one as well and approved!  I am proud of myself!  A new culinary adventure -- Success!




"I am learning all the time.  The tombstone will be my diploma."  -Eartha Kitt

The (First) Homestretch

Time continues to amaze me.  Life moves from one day to the next, and (still to my surprise) those days add up to weeks, to months, to years... and I ask, "Where has life gone?  What have I been doing?"

I remember meeting my first best friend in second grade.  Her name was Emily, and she asked me a simple question: "Do you want a gerbil?"  I do not think I knew what a gerbil was at that moment, but I soon learned, and I named him "Squeak."

With memories from when I was seven years old so vivid, life seems short... yet those memories also seem like a lifetime ago and like they belong to a different person.  I admit I am not old.  Twenty-two can hardly be called ancient, but the experiences I have had since meeting Emily have helped me grow into someone very different from that little, curly-haired girl.

I now spend my days staring at podiums that say "Law School" and think, "Gosh, am I really here?  How did I get this far?"  Law school is something I have been thinking about since I was in high school, and now it is real, and that reality makes me feel older than my actual age.  Maybe because it was always something that was part of the ambiguous thing called "the future" and now the future is the present.

I have finished classes for my first semester at law school, and three exams stand between me and three weeks of vacation.  It's the homestretch at the end of the year...

 These are the books that have been my friends through this semester, and they will be through the next 12 days...







These are some of the orange and pink highlighters that have graced the pages of those books.  I only have a few because the suggestion to save them was made to me quite late into the semester... I probably went through one orange and one pink highlighter per week (much more quickly than the other colors) and had to order boxes of orange and pink highlighters from Amazon.  Maybe I will create a masterpiece with them at the end of this first year.

 These are the chocolates that are now my friends as I study.  A study party cannot be a party without some chocolate... Dove Dark Chocolate makes life very sweet... or semi-sweet, if you want to be technical.

These are the things that are carrying me through life outside of school.  There's only so much law school and law reading one can take.  Life is empty without poetry, adventure and prayer.






Besides these things, there are beautiful people who make life truly worthwhile and help to keep me sane, or -- rather -- quite silly and quite myself...

I am blessed with wonderful friends, including my lovely roommates with whom there are many fun conversations... especially if they take place late at night...

I avoid the law library at all costs because it stresses me out and often study in more relaxing places with my dear friend and nursing-student study buddy... with whom there are probably too many laughs and not enough productivity...

And, of course, my wacky and amazing family that shows their support through letters, emails and phone calls... though they are a thousand miles away (literally), they are truly very close to me, and I look forward to another crazy photo shoot this Christmas...






These people and things have shaped my life in significant ways over the last twenty-two years and brought much joy into it.  I am thankful that I have such great support as I tackle law school and especially this first of six exam homestretches...

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do / With your one wild and precious life?" -Mary Oliver