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Hello, world! It's been a hectic couple of months in Barrister Land. Around the time of my last post, I began volunteering at my local Obama campaign office. Within a week, I was sucked in, spending 12 hours a day there (and sometimes more). I took on the role of office manager and coordinated all of our large Get Out the Vote phone banks along with another very awesome volunteer. Those
Look, before you say anything, I know I've failed you. I promised to post, but I haven't. I'm sorry. The reality is that life got in the way, and I haven't been motivated to do much of anything. Plus, I basically ate watermelon, stone fruit and yogurt all summer long. There's no fun in posting about that. Before we get to today's recipe -- sesame orange kelp noodles --
We're going to ignore my prolonged absence and just jump into the fun part -- jam! I've always wanted to learn to can, but have been fearful of poisoning my friends and family. That's a handful of lawsuits this attorney just does not need. Fortunately, this past weekend I had a chance to get over these fears with the help of jammin' gurus Gina and Lisa. We visited the home of one Mi
Lately, I've been obsessed with goat cheese. I put goat cheese on sandwiches. I put goat cheese on pizza. I put goat cheese in salads. I combine goat cheese with mashed up blackberries and a drizzle of honey. That one is really good. I'm so obsessed with goat cheese these days that I'm subjecting others to my love. I brought it, along with leek confit and crostini, to Patty's baking
I have to be honest with you -- I don't like pears. When they're ripe, they're mealy. When they're unripe, they have no flavor. And don't even get me started on pear-flavored candy -- it's worse than banana. And that nasty grape-flavored medicine, too. You're probably wondering why I bought a pear, right? I didn't! Well, not intentionally. I'm trying the whole Community Supported A
It’s Hanukkah, but this is not fried food. Nor is this a Hanukkah post, so let’s just move on. Truffles should not be made while your house is at a cool 52 degrees. No, truffles should be made in a temperature-controlled room set to some yet-to-be-determined number. When I figure it out, I’ll let you know. You see, my house is really cold. Like, so cold that in the winter my roommate
These are the product of a bet. No, not the kind of bet that brought you Spam Cupcakes. That was pure folly, and only netted me a silly post from Ben. This bet was pure ego. And a little bit of boredom, too. I jokingly challenged a co-worker to a posting duel.* She agreed, and we settled on a bounty of baked goods. I lost by a measly 1 minute and 45 seconds. I rose my fist in
Instead of baking this carrot cake for my birthday two weeks ago, I went out and bought a big ol' slice of the stuff. My roommates and I simply didn't need an entire cake to ourselves. But you see, the purchased cake was dry. And there wasn't enough frosting to compensate. When cream cheese frosting can't save the day, you know something is wrong. And sad. That cake was wrong and
Delicious. Taken by Kimmie. As you may be able to tell, I like to play with my food. And I played with my food a lot this past weekend while amongst my blogging peers. I also drank an inordinate amount of wine, which may or may not have contributed to the above photo. Whatever, I have no shame. This was my second year at Foodbuzz Fest, and it
I bought a 3-pound bag of cranberries. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t pose such a problem. I can go through more than 3 pounds of most types of fruit in a week. Hell, I can devour a whole watermelon in a day if left to my own devices. Actually, I did exactly this a few times over the summer. Breakfast, lunch and dinner—all watermelon, all the time. It’s an addiction, but 80% of
Donning my"thinking" cap: the best and worst I ate. things. Despite Gilroy being known for its yearly Garlic Festival, I never believed that the city smelled of the pungent bulb until I was driving through about a month and a half ago during harvesting season. Rolling down my windows on the 101, my car filled up with the distinct smell, reminding me that I had to look up t
My roommates are convinced I'm going to turn into a watermelon. Or a plum. Or a nectarine. I've been functioning on a steady diet of fruit, yogurt, chicken and cereal for the last month as I attempt to recuperate from a work-induced repetitive stress injury. Not that obsessive consumption of summer fruit is that odd for me, but I need to blame my lack of posting on something.
Earlier this evening, I received the following e-mail from my mother: To: Baking Barrister From: BB's Mom Subject: post you have gotten lazy-you must post So, maybe she's right. I have been sitting on these pictures for about 10 days. But I have good reasons! First, I went into a two-day long food coma after the Blogger Brunch hosted by Jean (she served this, and I wanted to take
Today, at work, I witnessed perhaps the most egregious use of a kitchen appliance that I have ever seen. While tossing my trash in the lunch room, I noticed that someone had placed paper plates in the toaster oven. Yes, paper. A woman, who is most likely an attorney or an engineer of some sort, had put food on two small paper plates only to stick them in the toaster oven--which she had set on
I know that, in the title of this post, I called this delicious looking dessert Chocolate Walnut Coffee Cake, but I'm going to be honest with you: In my house, it's actually called Funeral Cake. Before you jump to any conclusions, let me explain. My family first had this cake in 1993, when a friend of my mom's brought it to the funerals of both of my grandfathers. It's also reminiscent of cof
I’m going to start off with a bang here. Want to know the secret to making a successful mango salsa with intense mango flavor and crunch?Apple.Counterintuitive, no? But it works wonders.The idea is that you get a wonderfully ripe mango with an intense flavor profile. To make up for the lack of crunch that you’d find in a slightly less ripe mango, you add chunks of a mild-tasting apple. The apple g
We have a snail problem.I know this for two reasons. First, on mornings after the lawn is watered or when it rains, our front walk is covered in them. And second, they've been eating my basil.And the mites apparently love my mint.My cilantro, however, is faring well, and is one of the stars of my Sesame Lime Slaw.As many of you know, I find the idea of mayonnaise absolutely horrifying, which means
We're back to bread. I just can't escape it, even if this is my first loaf since moving. It just takes so long. And I'm afraid that without my family, I'll eat it all in one sitting. Yeah, that's just how I roll. Anyway, the thing about the loaf above is that it was supposed to be a sandwich loaf. Totally didn't work out. See, I thought the recipe called for a larger loaf pan, which I h
This post is part of RSVP Redux. Every month, food bloggers cook a recipe that has showed up in Bon Appetit's RSVP section, where readers request restaurant recipes.For those of you who don't follow me on Twitter, I was drying one of my two favorite bowls about two weeks ago when it slipped and hit the granite counter top. Mimicking my poor heart, it shattered across the kitchen, cutting my finge
Fish & Chips! Last one, my dears. I baked today, so soon. In the meantime, I will get straight to the food. We had fish and chips twice during the week at the Fresh Fish Market, which is on the water in Tauranga. The first time, we couldn't pinpoint what made the batter so unique, so I knew when we went back, I would have to hunt down a little information. Luckily for me, the owner was ther
Jetboating in Te Puke; People-eating Kiwi A jetboat is a speedboat on crack. As in, you go much faster, make 360 turns, and your playground is a narrow and windy river. It's unbearably fun--as long as you have a strong stomach. My mom does not have one of those. New Zealand may be surrounded by the Pacific, but it also happens to boast a number of gorgeous lakes and rivers. We spent some time on
View from our Beachfront Villa at Papamoa Beach Top 10 Holiday Resort. Some of you may recall that my post for Kiwi Tartlets won the blogger contest held by Zespri Kiwifruit at the end of last year. I just returned from cashing in that prize--an amazing trip to New Zealand for four--and am finally ready to share my adventures with all of you. This is going to happen in four parts, with the final
Yeah, just wanted to let everyone know that I'm alive and well despite my lack of posting and tweeting this past week and a half. I have a ton of exciting posts planned for the next few weeks, including a giveaway of my own making, so keep an eye out for new content. While I flutter about making these things happen, consider taking a look at the blogs below. We recently spent a most wonderful Sa
I spent the entirety of yesterday pajama-ed and in bed. While I worked. And it rained and other people had to commute. The only negative involved booting Henry the MBP into Windows XP so I could do that work. It saddens me to taint my dear computer so.Clearly working at home twice a week is agreeing with me.Anyway, you should all know by now that I absolutely adore garlic. Like, I would eat 10 clo
I already wrote eight blog posts today, but I'm writing a special one just for you. Drained from my first week of work, I didn't end up going into the city this past weekend, instead choosing to meander around Silicon Valley. And my couch. And my bed, too. Clearly there isn't much meandering to do around here--not unless you enjoy strip malls and driving. And I hate driving. Especially whe
Blogging about legal topics for forty hours a week is putting a damper on my food blogging. I'm working on balancing the two, including managing Twitter, e-mail and reading all of your blogs. But it's difficult to even look at Twitter or e-mail during the day, and I kind of like spending my lunch hour not staring at the computer. I'm trying not to go blind over here. But have no fear. While I pond
I've had my eye on this recipe for a month or so--ever since Barb mentioned her RSVP Redux project, which has bloggers make dishes from Bon Appetit's RSVP section and post them at the end of the month. For those not in the know, RSVP is a monthly column that publishes restaurant recipes requested by readers. This Meyer Lemon Budino is from Delfina, an Italian restaurant/pizzeria located in
I've spent a lot of time in my car in the last few years. There were the summer trips between Los Angeles and the Midwest. Then I drove from the Midwest to DC and then from DC back to Los Angeles. There were a few Los Angeles to San Francisco trips in there, too. Why am I telling you this? Because I'm going to talk road food that really isn't fast food. And because I have an announcement t
PORK! I told you I had another pork shoulder lingering in the bowels of my refrigerator waiting for its chance to shine. Oh, and shine it did. As promised, I extracted the banana leaf and coconut milk recipe from The Chef. He was over here for some reason or another a few nights back when I sat him down at my kitchen table, notepad in hand, and began to grill him for the info. He was high and ke
For how often I mention cookies on Twitter, I should really have more cookie recipes up on the blog. Unfortunately cookies and I haven't been on friendly terms as of late, with their high fat and high calorie counts. This separation is not necessarily a choice, as evidenced by my frequent longing for these sugary morsels. I finally gave in the other night. You see, I had been eyeing this "health
THIS IS A BLOGGER SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT I've had my photographs and text stolen twice in the past month. As an attorney, I knew where to look and what to do to rectify the situation--plus I can add that ever imposing Esq. after my name. In the aftermath of my annoyed tweeting, I realized that most of my fellow bloggers don't have this luxury, nor do they know what to do when they find that their
My brain turned off at some point yesterday afternoon (it did, however, return for a short jaunt today during an interview and lunch with Kim of Rustic Garden Bistro). However, this tasty (and insanely easy) dish needed posting, but due to my lack of brain function, I had absolutely nothing to say until about 10 minutes ago. I decided I was going to do one of those Wordless Wednesday or Silent Sun
I don't do sappy. I don't do years-in-review (unless they're hilarious, like this one). I also don't do resolutions. I just kind of do what I want. And I wanted to start this year off right--with a delicious dinner followed by a delicious dessert. So yesterday I did just that. And it comes with a story. I planned this most wonderful sandwich Thursday night, starting the biga for my asiago
Ooooh baby.You done yet? No? Dirty minds, people, dirty minds. I'm currently on an airplane (clearly not as I post this, but as I write this) on my way to San Jose. Don't ask, just accept. Last night I was puttering around the house, bored to death as I usually am this time of year. I decided I wanted to make something. The problem with this was that I didn't know what to make. I had decided o
This is the first of two posts focusing on pork shoulder, as I have another one chilling out in the garage waiting its turn.While sitting in the family room the other night, my parents each on their own computers and me on mine, my dad turns to me and bemoans the fact that he doesn't know how to cook a pork shoulder. You see, he was looking at the weekly grocery ads (a favorite pastime of both him
I'm obsessed with Keywords--the portion of Google Analytics that tracks the search engine phrases that lead to my blog. The things people search for sometimes induce fits of laughter, or, alternatively, make me want to cry for the sake of humanity. In the spirit of the season, I decided that, as a Jew who will be enjoying my stress-free Christmas with Chinese food and a movie, I would throw a litt
I'm sick of sweet stuff.Recover yet? Okay, good. I've been stuck inside for days on end in this seasonal-yet-unseasonal rainstorm, puttering around the kitchen with my mom as we completed our holiday baking. There was a lot of baking going on. This means there was a lot of batter and dough tasting, as well as double checking to make sure the final product was satisfactory. Basically, I ate way too
Did you know that I have a guest post up on What's For Dinner? -- a food blog written by Miss Mara? Well, I do. I made some delicious Spinach & Cheese Stuffed Focaccia and waxed poetic about homemade bread. In fact, I think it's some of my best writing to date. One would think I would save that stuff for myself, but I'm a generous person. And in case you're wondering, which you should be, the
Note: I've been sucked into StumbleUpon. Follow me or something. It can be mutually beneficial, if you know what I mean. Wink wink. Last night, when I mentioned my condiment preferences and what I would not be putting in these crab cakes, my Twitter feed decided to attack me for my apparently blasphemous ways. My first mistake was announcing that I was going to make crab cakes without mayonn
It's Dungeness crab season! You have no idea how excited this makes me. Hell, I even used an exclamation point. When I was much, much younger, my dad would bring home ginormous King crab legs and eat them in front of my brother and I. When he was feeling generous, he'd let us have a bite or two, but would quickly return to selfishly hoarding the rest for himself. At about the age of 11, when w
My Chanukah Troll, which I've had since the age of 9, oversees the Coconut Macaroons.Back when I first started this blog--when my photos were atrocious and no one read a word I had to say--I tried to make those fancy French macarons. They were, without a doubt, a disaster. I hadn't yet figured out that a tall glass works wonders for getting batter into a pastry bag, and had no idea that over-beati
I'm back with another Chanukah post, but this time it does not require power tools. I know you're disappointed, but I promise that the power tools will make another appearance sometime soon. So, in my Pomegranate Mascarpone Cream Puff post I talked about (and pointed you to) the story of Judith, the beheader, and the reason why my fellow Jews and I should be chowing on cheese during Chanukah. I
In my last post I whined about my inability to find Chanukah anything despite my very Jewish location. What most caused my ire was the lack of mini cookie cutters for my holiday despite the glut of Christmas cutters out there. The reason for my concern is also the basis for this post. You see, I'm a fan of multitaskers and do-it-yourself projects. I like to experiment in the kitchen even if it end
Before I get into my usual ranting, I'd like to announce the winner of my "Quiche Is Better Than Green Bean Casserole" Contest. There were some wonderful entries that produced a few chuckles on my part, but I did not judge the contest--my mom did. I watched her deliberate yesterday and have determined that her decision was based solely on what best represented something I would say. She declared K
It's chilly and rainy and gloomy and foggy and Thanksgiving is coming up. I know you all are running around your kitchens frantically trying to get as much done before the big day. Well, I'm not. Nope. This is the first year I'm taking charge of the Thanksgiving menu and I'm not one bit worried. My dad is going to cook the turkey (he likes Alton Brown's method and so do I), and I have planned a
When I was much younger, my birthdays were filled with Barbie tiaras, pink Minnie Mouse shaped pancakes, ice skating and even multi-colored manicures. The frenzy of pink became trips to amusement parks and small-scale sleepovers. I will skip my college celebrations for uh, obvious reasons. I graduated to law school which was mostly filled with group dinners, one of which provided me with my very f
Most of you know that this past weekend I shed my anonymity, pinned on my Baking Barrister button, and headed to San Francisco to attend Foodbuzz Fest. Well, here's the recap, Barrister style.Vegetable tart, pastries, and over-sized coffee at La Boulange de Union.1. Apparently certain people associate me with evil cackling and a refusal to divulge my identity.2. Amanda The Cilantropist, Megan from
Knock, knock. Anybody there? I'll be in San Francisco Thursday through potentially Tuesday for Foodbuzz Fest and a side of harassing my dear friends. I have tons to take care of before then, so unfortunately I won't be posting anything this week unless I manage to whip something up in my friend's kitchen or I decide I just have to share something with you. I'll provide you will something ext
If you follow me on Twitter, you may have recently noticed the cupcake jokes flowing between myself and Ben of You fed a baby chili? He has lukewarm feelings towards cupcakes, and my contention is that they're overrated. I will never pay four dollars for a normal-sized cupcake no matter how many positive Yelp reviews the bakery gets. A normal-sized slice of cake? Maybe. Which brings me to my othe
I made something for you. Well, I really made it for me; but I tried to make it pretty for you. See, my dad brought me home a "present" from the grocery store as he is prone to do these past few months. This time it was an acorn squash to accompany the two pumpkins he purchased for my carving pleasure. The thing about acorn squash is that I'm (1) not particularly fond of winter squash, and (2) hav
