As I munched on a slice of this delicious coffee cake—bedecked with sour cherries and infused with almond—for breakfast yesterday morning, I was delighted to read Amy’s responses to a meme at Eggs on Sunday and to see that she’d tagged me. So, here goes:

What were you doing ten years ago?
I was finishing up my junior year of high school, playing a lot of soccer and looking forward to a summer full of college visits, lakes, cabins and grilling. Life was hard.

What are five non-work things on my to-do list for today?
1) pick up a six-pack of beer (What? We’re making beer can chicken in a couple days)
2) salt the chickens (a la the Zuni Café dry brine method) for the aforementioned beer can chicken
3) water the plants
4) return some phone calls and emails (I have been soooo bad at this since I started studying for the Bar Exam)
5) get ready for dinner tonight—we’re having Kevin’s sister, who’s in Chicago for the week (!), over

(Click more for the rest of the meme, more photos & the recipe.)

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The other day, I was cleaning out the freezer and I hit pay dirt. I found a pint of frozen raspberries from my grandparents’ garden. When they came to Chicago last August for our wedding, they arrived bearing a small Igloo cooler, packed with a Ziploc of fresh herbs, tucked inside paper towels; a cucumber, completely free of that weird supermarket wax; and a mother load of tiny raspberries. I felt so lucky to get the contents of that cooler, which I knew were the product of a garden my grandpa had been working on as early as the preceding winter, in his greenhouse. I made sure we used the herbs and cucumber before we left for our honeymoon and, after popping a couple like candy, I nestled the berries in the freezer.

And every few weeks, I’d excavate one of the pints for just the perfect use, thinking of my grandparents as I made whatever it was I was making. And then, when it was still very much winter, I sadly used up the final bit of my cache.

(Click “more” for the rest of the story, more photos & a plea for a recipe.)

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Being the week of Mother’s Day, this recipe—for Lemon-Flaxseed Loaf Cake—is very appropriate. Because both my mom and her mom are what one might call flax fiends. They both have seemingly unending supplies of the stuff. My grandma prefers to stir hers into her morning cup of coffee, while my mom takes the OJ route. And they’ve been known to swap sources for the best and the cheapest flax in Minnesota. Hey, when you need your omega-3’s, I guess you have to get them any which way you can.

While I hate to disrespect my maternal elders (oooooh, my mom is not going to like being called an elder), but I will humbly suggest this recipe to them and you as a slightly more delicious way of getting your flax on.

(Click “more” for the rest of the story, more photos & the recipe.)

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As law school is drawing to a close, I’m surprised by my lack of nostalgia or my sense of momentousness. Instead, I’m distracted by the 70-degree weather, the plans for my parents’ upcoming visit (graduation) and thoughts of Mother’s Day. And, when I can manage to wrench my thoughts back to, um, final exams, it’s all just a little surreal. I’ve been through this routine five times now and it’s odd for it to be the last and even more weird to finally experience finals without severe bouts of anxiety.

In semesters past, I would be flipping through flashcards (or, more accurately, having Kevin flip through the flashcards, grilling me all the while … which reminds me: he deserves an honorary JD or something) or re-reading cases right now, instead of typing this post. But, these days things are coming a little easier (cruel timing that this laid back spirit is coming exactly when I will never need it again). Maybe I’ve got senioritis or maybe I’ve really got the hang of it. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s this frittata.

(Click “more” for the rest of the story, more photos & the recipe.)

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Wow. It seems that this day has really crept up on me. It’s my last day of law school. Quite probably (please, oh, please) my last day of school ever. And after two decades’ worth of school, I’m a little sad to see it go. I’m sure I’ll be singing a different tune when I’m putting the finishing touches on a paper that’s due on Friday or studying for my three exams over the next two weeks or preparing for the bar exam over the summer, but for now, I’m going to allow myself a bit of nostalgia.

I worked for two years after college, so when I came back to school, I think I was really able to appreciate it. And, hands down, my favorite (outside-of-the-classroom) aspect of being a student is the flexibility. Sure, you need to be in class for a chunk of every day, but beyond that, you really set your own schedule. And that’s allowed me to do things like workout whenever I please, to bask in the sun when it’s shining and, of course, to cook and bake things that just wouldn’t be possible if I were a work-a-day gal.

(Click “more” for the rest of the story, more photos & the recipe.)

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