March 2016 Bucket List: Graduation and French Cooking

I know, I know... another late post. March presented a lot of changes in my life. I graduated college (bucket list item!) and  I got a full time job IN my field before my degree was even official. This meant sending the little one off to daycare for the first time, adjusting to an entirely new schedule, and seeing less of my family. I've found it difficult to want to open my computer in the time that I do get at home with my family.  I don't want to stare at a screen, I want to spend time with them. (Although really that time seems to be mostly spent in front of another screen, the television.) So as a result this post is super late.

First up: I finished my Bachelor's Degree! It was a long process for me, with several extended breaks from schooling. I honestly thought I may never get there and there were definitely times I nearly gave up. As of March 2016 I am officially a college graduate with a degree in Psychology and Criminal Justice minor. I don't get a ceremony or a big party so it does not feel very real, but I know that I did it. And that's pretty rad.

Next up, I did a whole lot of French cooking in March to make a dent in my 44 French Meals list.

First up was Roasted Chicken & Garlic. I followed a recipe exactly, which I almost never do. I have roasted chickens before but this one was both simple and amazing. That may just be due to my severe garlic obsession. Pretty sure there were basically no leftovers though.

 Photo by Poison Megz

The second recipe I made from the 44 French Meals list was also on my 30 Before 30 list. Boeuf Bourguignon. We love beef stew in this house, so I figured this was a recipe I could make for dinner that everyone would eat. It was pretty good, but I am never peeling 20 pearl onions again when I can buy them ready to go in the frozen section. I mean what on earth was I thinking? I had some pork jowl bacon in my freezer, so that was what I used to make the lardons and that turned out to be a great use for it! Just look how crispy they got and STAYED in the stew! (Stews are not pretty, the tastiest food is not pretty.)

Photo by Poison Megz

Now, my family is Jewish so we never really did the whole Easter lamb or ham thing. My partner's family is not Jewish, and they do Easter. My partner came home with a leg of lamb awhile back and it was stuck in the freezer and saved for Easter. I knew exactly what I would make. Gigot D'Agneau Pleureur (Weeping Lamb). This is made by roasting a leg of lamb directly on the oven rack over a pan of potatoes. The fat from the lamb "weeps" on to the potatoes cooking them. I didn't want to put this directly on my oven rack, so I put the rack from my roasting pan on my oven rack and ever so delicately balanced the lamb on it over the potatoes.

Photo by Poison Megz

How good does that look? It also looks like it may tip over at any moment, but it never did. It cooked beautifully. And the potatoes were probably the best roasted potatoes I had ever eaten. I may or may not have stood over the pan and eaten all the crispy potato bits that stuck to the edges before letting anyone else eat any food.

                           

Photos by Poison Megz

Did I mention the lamb was cooked beautifully? All we had with the lamb and potatoes were some Hawaiian rolls, because we are also obsessed with those in this house.

Photo by Poison Megz

And that is really all there was to March bucket list wise. As I mentioned at the beginning I also started a job in my chosen field. Now if you remember my bucket list you'll now "Job I Love" is on there. March was mostly just training courses and shadowing, so it did not give me the chance to know if I would love it yet or not. Maybe that will be crossed off my list soon, only time will tell.

Until next time (which will hopefully be very soon...),

xoxo

Poison Megz