Dear Publix, I Love You.

"Publix.  Where shopping is a pleasure."  -Publix Motto

I love Publix.  I really do.  When I first moved to Nashville, it was very disappointing that no Publix existed within a reasonable distance to school.  Where did people buy groceries?  Do other grocery stores even exist?  If you're from Florida like I am, you're at a loss to answer those questions.  I quickly heard about other stores...

Kroger.  I visited.  I never wanted to go back.  Blech.  Did people actually buy food from that place?

Harris Teeter.  Okay... but seriously overpriced for the quality.

Trader Joe's.  Trendy.  Cool.  Good food.  But sometimes I don't want to be trendy and cool.  (Yes, I know I live in Nashville which is the trendy/cool/hipster capital of the South, but I don't think I'll ever fully fit in.  I grew up much too preppy in Catholic school to forsake my strange Northern/Southern SoFla roots.)

Alas.  What was a Florida girl to do?  Nashville was almost perfect.  It just didn't have a Publix.  At least for the first three years of schooling I had a meal plan that could have fed me and two other people... Probably why I had to buy new pants almost every year.  I blame brunch.  All you can eat on Saturday AND Sunday?  My waistline doesn't thank you, Vandy.  I digress.

Then... it happened.  I was in someone's car coming from somewhere after doing something.  We were driving down West End.  I saw it.  A sign from Heaven that Nashville could be home forever.  The sign said "Publix Coming Soon."  I almost died.  I forget who was in the car with me, but whoever it was got a whole lot of excited shouts and exclamations of "OH MY GOSH, PUBLIX IS THE BEST GROCERY STORE IN THE WORLD.  NO, REALLY.  YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND."

Publix opened.  Now I make a weekly trip to the second happiest place on earth (After Disney World - Florida is full of good things).

Free coffee while you shop, free wipes to clean off the shopping carts before use, meals being cooked right in front of you with all the ingredients necessary to make the dish at the ready, fresh produce, a delightful bakery, and the friendliest employees you'll ever meet.  One time I asked for a recommendation about guacamole.  The man handed a package to me, and I put it in my cart.  I ran into the same man nearly 20 minutes later on the other side of the store.  He was holding a different guacamole package, and had been looking for me because he'd realized he'd handed the wrong one to me!  Now that's a job well done!  (Especially since good guac is no laughing matter.)

All in all, Publix is great.  You should shop there.  It's pretty and shiny and full of deliciousness.

**Please note that this is not an official endorsement, and Publix did not pay me to say any of these things.  I just really love the store.  Go find another Floridian.  I bet they back me up.

Also note that Nashville will be even more forever-liveable shortly.  Nordstrom opens at Green Hills this fall.  What?!  I just died again.  (Nordstrom didn't pay me either.)

"When women are depressed, they eat or go shopping.  Men invade another country.  It's a whole different way of thinking."  -Elayne Boosler

Tea and Books

"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me."                     -C.S. Lewis


It's a chilly Sunday afternoon, and I am sitting at my desk with steaming hot mint green tea in my roommate's pretty "Le Pear, Produit de France" mug and leftover pizza on a stark white plate.  There must be some romance in that, and if there is, I'm sure the poets will find it.  I write short stories.


The real issue is my reading homework and legal writing assignment and the many ways to avoid them.  So far, I have watched a movie (One Night with the King, the Hollywood-ized story of Queen Ester), spent too much time on Facebook, revised an old short story to give it a new spin, and heated up my tea and pizza.  Of course, my killer sore throat, hacking cough and inability to breathe are contributing factors to my unmotivated behavior.  And -- contrary to friendly advice -- the copious amount of Vitamin C I have taken over the past couple days has not yet worked its magic.


I would, however, like to post one of my favorite poems for you.  (I never said I do not read poetry.)  It is simple and beautiful, though I may not agree with all of the author's politics.


"The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean -
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down -
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?


Now, I think, I will start a load of laundry.

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