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Evidence was long, but at the same time, a review of material I'm fairly familiar with. I certainly have memorizing to do, but after working through four trials, a lot of the concepts are well ingrained, somewhere in my brain. In between my thoughts on Pepsi-brand coke (ugh!) and Tom Cruise, pre-crazy (yum!). I did however, feel a slight tinge of sadness for the students I overheard on my commute discussing how they had never taken evidence. I was shocked. I wasn't aware you could graduate from law school without taking it. So to all of you law-students out there, please note that evidence and your-state's civil procedure classes aren't really optional. Take them. You will thank yourself.

And now, onto the food which has gotten quite the positive response. Universal language I suppose: Calories. Now after perusing the comments I've decided that I'll share all the recipes, and for today I'll share two, of both a full-fat baking variety and of a healthier dinner option.

And for those of you that don't love to cook, well, I don't have a million recipes so this can't last forever. And for those that do, enjoy! And please feel free to share any successes with the recipes! Or make requests. Or share your own favorite recipe. (Please share? I love to cook.)

But for now- onto the calories, I mean food. The truth of the matter is, in my kitchen, it all goes. Special occasions (or particularly bad days at work) deserve comfort food of the highest variety, which often includes, eek, cream and other such unhealthies. Normal eating is an attempt at flavorful & delicious with lots of fresh veggies & whole grains. So lets see what we can do.......

Today we are going to do Shrimp Creole & Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting....tomorrow I will share the secrets of chocolate chip cookies (no matter your preference of crispy, fluffy, or gooey.) But for today, these two recipes have been in my family for generations, literally handed down along the way. I firmly believe food is to be shared at a common table, and as such, I have no qualms about sharing the love. (You hear that Anonymous Hottie? Now hand over your Mother's rum cake recipe, please. I need it. For my starving rum-cake-less soul.)

Shrimp Creole is simple and fast. It isn't unhealthy per se, but it is served over white rice, and if that isn't your thing, feel free to try a whole grain rice or rice you would use in a jambalaya. I think all things in moderation are ok, so lets go.

Duke Family Shrimp Creole

1/2 cup of chopped onions (white or yellow)

1/2 cup chopped bell pepper (I like to use green for color purposes)

1/2 cup of chopped celery

1/2 to 1 pound peeled shimp, depending on how 'shrimpy' you like it

2 Tbsp flour

1 1lb can of tomatoes, save the juice

Olive oil

Tabasco

Sea Salt

Black Pepper

Rice

French Bread

Clean & peel all your shrimp prior to cooking & put your french bread in the oven on low heat, wrapped in tinfoil.

Cook your rice according to directions & how many people you are serving. This recipe is plenty for two and will feed four with side dishes such as a nice green salad and some fresh fruit.

Saute all your chopped vegetables in a splash of olive oil until the onions are clear. Sprinkle a little sea salt & black pepper into the veggies while they saute. Add the tomatoes but put the juice into a separate saute pan, and heat the juice. (So now you have veggies+tomatoes on low heat and a pan of bubbling tomato juice). Once the juice comes to a low boil, add the flour to the juice while stirring with a fork or whisk until smooth. Slowly add veggies into the juice. Add a splash of Tabasco, more salt & pepper to taste. You can also add in any creole or Cajun seasoning you like (I'm a big fan of Tony's in the green can, I use it on everything) or even some Old Bay if that is your thing. Add the clean shrimp to the mixture and allow them to cook, about 6 to 8 minutes. Take off heat and serve over a bed of white rice with a slice of french bread. Delicious comfort food!!

Red Velvet Cake & Cream Cheese Frosting

The frosting in this recipe calls for oleo, which was a brand of a margarine-like spread prior to WWII. Today, after much conferencing, the Artful Blogger and myself agree that the best oleo stand-in is 1/2 butter flavored crisco and 1/2 butter. I know this sounds odd to put in frosting of all things, but trust me. It is divine frosting.

Cake Batter:

l 3/4 cup Wesson vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

2 tsp.cocoa

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups cake flour (yes, cake flour NOT regular flour)

1 cup buttermilk1 tsp. each - soda, vinegar, salt and vanilla

Red food coloring (ooh the not-so-secret secret ingredient)

Put all of the dry ingredients in flour and sift together. Mix the vinegar and vanilla in milk and add to the flour mixture, and mix well. Add 1/4 oz. red food coloring & mix well.

Grease & flour 2 9" round cake pans & bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Cream Cheese frosting (this is what makes it perfect)

3/4 stick oleo (so 3 tablespoons of butter flavored crisco & 3 tablespoons of room temp butter). This should be the same physical amount as 3/4 a stick of butter. So hopefully I did that computation correctly in my head as I don't have it written down anywhere I just kind of do it.

1 8 oz.pkg.cream cheese.

1 box powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Cream oleo and, cream cheese then add sugar and vanilla and mix/cream until mixture is smooth and uniform. Frost away!

This frosting shouldn't be away from the fridge for more than an hour or so, so store any uneaten cake or cupcakes in the fridge!!

And for those of you that made it this far, check out what came in the mail today as a graduation gifty from Eddie & HASWOE:

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