My career, in my opinion, has taken a nose dive since the baby was born. Going from a 100 hr/week attorney to a part-time attorney has been a major hit on my career self-esteem. So, when one of my cases recently was scheduled for back to back depositions and a settlement conference, it was my time to get back on the work horse. And, I loved it.
After very successful depositions, I marched into the settlement conference with dare I say — a swagger. My client and I sat in one room while the opposing party was in another and the attorneys were to walk back and forth with settlement offers. Walking back to my client’s room, I happily thought that I put aside the mom clothes and was back to my old self. I took one step inside my client’s waiting room when she said, “I think you sat in chocolate.” Mortified, I stood there for a minute attempting to salvage this most unprofessional situation. But, she was right. Somewhere between feeding my kid a chocolate chip granola bar and driving, I sat in it. Oh, and my suit was tan/light brown. It paired well with my dark chocolate chip stain.
Luckily, my client quickly said, “Oh, I figured your son did that,” and went on about her life as a mom. And, there I was – in my professional element, exchanging mom advice with my client. The settlement went well and on the drive home, I accepted the duality that has become my life, where the mom part is the base and everything else is seemingly built around that. When I got home, I celebrated by making a pie. No chocolate.
Banoffee Pie
Ingredients:
- 2 cups graham crackers, finely crushed into crumbs
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
- 2 (14 oz) cans dulce de leche
- 4 large bananas, sliced
- 2 heavy whipping cream, cold
- 3 tbsp confectioner’s (powdered sugar)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In a 9-inch pie plate, mix together the graham crackers and butter, and evenly press into the pie plate for the crust. Bake for 5 minutes to set the crust. Set aside to cool.
- Once the crust is cooled, spread the dulce de leche from one can over the crust. Layer with bananas. Finish with the last can of dulce de leche.
- Chill in a refrigerator.
- Make the whipped cream: With a stand or handheld mixer, whip the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla until stiff. Spread evenly over the cake. Serve immediately or put back in the fridge to chill.