Brauns Law - January 2021

Brauns Law - January 2021

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JAN 2021

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Cooking A Lifelong Hobby That Brings Me Joy

Many people have one or two hobbies they enjoy, and since January is National Hobby Month, it is a great time to celebrate them. I have a few hobbies of my own, but the one I enjoy most is cooking. I’ve been cooking since I was about 12 or 13 when my mom started to teach me how to make the basics. One of the first things I learned how to cook was spaghetti, using a jar of sauce, browning beef, and boiling noodles. From there, my interest in cooking and food grew. In previous articles, I’ve written about how I worked in restaurants when I was younger. I’ve been surrounded by food since I was a pre-teen. Now, as an adult, cooking has become an ingrained part of my life. It’s my biggest joy on the weekends. At my household, I cook Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and my wife and daughter cook the rest of the week. I get so much joy from cooking that it’s hard to list out everything I love about it. But, I’ll try to list as many as I can. Cooking involves getting the timing, ingredients, and organization right. The analytical lawyer in me loves thinking throughout the week about and planning the dishes I’ll make on the weekends. As I plan each meal, I think about the timing

and how it will come out when everything is finished. Lately, my focus has been on which types of meat I can cook and how I can pair them with potatoes. During this year, in particular, this has kept me pretty sane during the week. Rather than worrying about the many challenges of 2020, I was thinking about the best way to prepare a steak and whether I should mash or bake potatoes as a side. Recently, I’ve also gotten into barbecuing. Cooking allows me to continue learning new techniques and methods, which is something that I love about it. I’ve been smoking and slow-roasting a lot of meats. The focus here is temperature rather than time. Though I’m almost ashamed to admit it, I used to cook based on time and touch, but now I cook to internal temperature. It’s a complete game-changer. It allows me to bring out the flavors of the meat without overcooking or undercooking the food. In addition to the food aspect of this hobby, I also love the vibe of it. Preparing and cooking food is an analog activity. It’s a knife, a cutting board, the ingredients, and the tool I’m using to bring everything together. That, to me, is very soothing. After being in front of a computer 60 hours a week and talking with lawyers and judges,

cooking helps me relax. It’s so enjoyable to be able to create something without thinking about work or staring at a screen. While all these things bring joy into my life, the aspect I love most about cooking is that it naturally brings everyone together. When I’m in the kitchen making our meal, my daughter and wife come in to help and talk. And my cooking doesn’t just bring my family together; our house has become the house for my daughter and her friends to spend time together. Cooking on Friday and Saturday nights means creating a meal for myself, my wife, my daughter, and my daughter’s friends. Though this has become more difficult and less frequent due to pandemic restrictions, we still enjoy each other’s company when we can. Coming together around food creates a community feeling of togetherness and shared experience, which I believe is so much bigger than cooking itself. While I love everything that goes into it — from thinking about what to cook to sitting down to eat the final product — enjoying the meal with family is what my cooking hobby is truly all about. -David Brauns

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How Habit Tracking and Daily Resolutions Could Transform Your Life

Yearly resolutions are so last year … if they’re your only resolutions, that is.

Having long-term goals isn’t a bad thing, but do you have a daily plan to reach them? The huge boost of motivation in January isn’t always enough to sustain you all year long. That’s why there are major benefits to starting new healthy habits, whether you increase your weekly exercise time, eat healthier foods, or work on getting better or more sleep. Luckily, sticking with these habits might be as easy as making daily resolutions to complement your yearly goals. BJ Fogg, a Stanford University professor and author of “Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything,” notes that tiny habits can make a new habit easy to implement into your daily ritual. For example, taking a short daily walk could lead to an exercise habit, or keeping an apple in your bag every day could encourage healthier snacking.

It’s important that you stick with it because habits take a long time to create. One study published by the European Journal of Social Psychology asked people about a simple habit they wanted to form, like drinking water at lunch or taking a walk before dinner. They found that the average amount of time it took before the action became automatic was 66 days! Don’t be too hard on yourself if you miss a day, but know that sticking to a new habit is serious work, so starting small might help you out. Another important aspect of forming new daily habits is rewarding yourself. Bad habits, like smoking, have an inherent

reward. However, healthy habits can have rewards too! Try consuming a bit of dark chocolate after a workout or treating yourself to a fresh beverage or relaxing to a podcast after tackling an important task. Find ways to reward yourself, and you’ll be more likely to stick to your new habit. Certain daily resolutions don’t have to be related to exercise or diet to majorly improve your life. For example, having a gratitude journal might boost your long-term happiness by 10% and improve your blood pressure. Don’t hesitate to improve your quality of life! Just start small, and you’ll be amazed by how far you’ll go.

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Testimonials

“I called them on a weekend, and David still called me back. From the surgery to getting back to work, they were like family, always there for me. I was very satisfied with the settlement. They are exceptional . Thanks!” –Richard Sealey

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4 Tools to Keep Your Knife Blades Sharp

Professional Sharpener If you are uncomfortable using a whetstone and are reluctant to use a knife sharpener, a professional is your next best choice. If you do sharpen your knives at home, you should still take them to a professional once or twice a year to have them inspected and sharpened. After your knives are sharp, it’s important to store them correctly, either into a knife block or a sleeve. When washing your knives, never put them through a dishwasher — always clean and completely dry by hand before storing them. By using these methods and appropriately storing your knives, they are guaranteed to stay sharper and last longer.

Nothing is worse than cutting with a dull blade. It makes cutting bread, fruit, and meat not only difficult but also dangerous. Dull blades need force to cut, and while the blade is dull, it can still hurt you if the knife slips. By using these sharpening tools, you can improve your kitchen experience in no time! Honing Steel Although this tool is also known as a sharpening steel, it doesn’t actually sharpen knives; it realigns them. After using a knife for quite some time, the blade will naturally begin to bend. The honing steel ensures the blade is straightened out before it’s sharpened. Knife Sharpener One of the easiest and most inexpensive tools to sharpen your knives is a knife sharpener. However, this is not always the

most reliable, as the tool may do more harm than good to the blade. If you use a knife sharpener, it’s best to use it on inexpensive knives, not pricey ones. Whetstone Sharpen your expensive knives with a whetstone. This tool should be completely saturated in water before use. Submerge the whetstone for 5–10 minutes or until there are no more bubbles coming from the stone. To sharpen your knife, place it at a 20-degree angle and drag the blade down the coarse side of the stone in an even sweeping motion. Do this several times on each side of the blade before

flipping the whetstone to the side with the fine grain and doing it again. This method gives you more control of the blade and a sharper edge.

WORD SEARCH

SLOW COOKER CHICKEN CASSEROLE

Ingredients • 8 chicken thighs or drumsticks, lightly salted • 1 tbsp olive oil • 1 tbsp all-purpose flour • 1 onion, finely sliced • 2 celery sticks, thickly sliced • 2 carrots, thickly sliced • 1 leek, thickly sliced Directions 1. In a large frying pan, heat oil and fry salted chicken on high until brown. 2. Transfer chicken to the slow cooker. Add flour and stir. 3. In the frying pan on high heat, fry the onion, celery, carrots, leeks, and potatoes until lightly browned. Add garlic

• 1 lb potatoes, peeled and cut in large chunks • 2 garlic cloves, sliced • 14 oz chicken stock • 1 sprig rosemary • Finely grated zest and juice of 1/2 lemon • 1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped and fry for 30 seconds. 4. Transfer vegetables to the slow cooker and add the stock, rosemary, and lemon zest. 5. Cook on high for 2.5–3 hours or until chicken is tender. 6. Check seasoning and add lemon juice to taste. Top with parsley before serving.

FAMILY FIREWORKS FRIENDS JANUARY MIDNIGHT

BEGINNING CELEBRATION CLOCK COUNTDOWN

NEW PARTY WINTER YEAR

Inspired by GoodHousekeeping.com

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404-418-8244 | WWW.BRAUNSLAW.COM 3175 SATELLITE BOULEVARD, SUITE 330 DULUTH, GEORGIA 30096

Page 1

A Hobby That Brings People Together

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How Habit Tracking and Daily Resolutions Could Transform Your Life

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What Some of Our Clients Are Saying

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4 Tips to Keep Your Knife Blades Sharp

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Slow Cooker Chicken Casserole

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Give Yourself the Boost of Getting Outside

4 Tips to Make Getting Outside Easier Let That Fresh Air Fuel You

Hunkering down and waiting for the dark and chilly winter season to pass sounds pretty nice. But the reality is, if we deprive ourselves of time outside, we do ourselves a big disservice both mentally and physically. Staying indoors all day affects your energy and mood, which makes it hard to get anything done, so here are four easy tips to make it easier to get a little fresh air. 1. Make it a priority. Getting outside means making the conscious effort to do so. If you want to reap its benefits, you have to decide to make it a priority in your day-to-day schedule. If you make the act important to you, you have more motivation to actually do it. 2. Use mornings effectively. Waking up and getting the day started can be hard. But studies have shown that natural light

helps decrease your melatonin production, which means you feel ready to face the day sooner. So, set yourself a second alarm to head outside and take a quick walk around the block just after waking. Don’t even wash your face or grab coffee. Just get out there. 3. Take your work outside. If you’re working from home, take some work outdoors. Phone and virtual meetings are a great outdoor option, especially if you’ll just be an active listener and aren’t required to do any work simultaneously. Attach a note to your meeting reminders to get yourself set up outside five minutes before you start. 4. Create a schedule. It might feel strange to set reminders throughout the day to step outside, but you easily get wrapped up in activities and overlook breaks, and these reminders are exactly what you need.

Start with 10-minute blocks three times a day. If you stick to them, soon you won’t need a schedule to get outside anymore. Winter weather may be cold, but even when you’re bundled up under a jacket and scarf, just 5–10 minutes outside can do wonders for your mood and energy for hours.

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