The Hubster's Grilled Turkey Sandwich with Cilantro Pistachio Pesto

I'm convinced I'm married to the smartest man in the world. See, the hubster has figured out that he needs to cook just one thing every year. Not two or three because that's heading toward routine and expected. No, just one. That way, it's always an exciting surprise. Back in 2006, he made Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner one night and he is still riding on the glory of that one meal. When a

Garlic Noodle Bowls and the Great Paint Conundrum

I didn't know Dadi, my paternal grandmother, at least not like I knew Mumma. My Dadi passed away long before I came around. She left behind my dad and my two uncles who aren't big talkers, much less storytellers, so all I know about Dadi is what I've gleaned from random tidbits my mom has shared over time. Under ordinary circumstances, the prospect of losing such a crucial part of my family's hi

Relying on Banana Peanut Butter Cup Muffins

Last week was rough. On Monday, Little Man started daycare. This, after a year and half of being cared for by his grandparents. But while the grandparents could care for a baby cooing in a crib. their achy knees don't allow them to run after a shockingly fast toddler. Plus, Little Man needs to be around other little kids. Or so we tell ourselves. And so, I dressed Little Man in a crisp wh

Mumma's Sharp White Cheddar Mac n' Cheese

The bowl was in the dishwasher at work and I recognized it instantly. That rim of earthy green flowers decorating the edge of a crisp white Pyrex bowl. My grandmother had a set of the very same dishes in her house in Karachi and they would sometimes make an appearance at chai time. Was it a sign from god? Maybe. Maybe not. But it was something. See, my grandmother passed away last wee

Fabulous Finds at the Fancy Food Show 2013

January is kind of a terrible month. You have to accept that you're not getting a really really long weekend until November. You've somehow convinced yourself you need to eat vegetables everyday. Oh, and there are no Christmas cookies in sight. January would pretty much be a total waste if it wasn't for my favorite food event of the year, the Fancy Food Show. Besides being the perfec

Tandoori Chicken Naan Pizzas for the Messiest of Days

The hubster made a comment recently that made me laugh. Not just laugh but out and out chortle. He said, "You know it seems like things have calmed down for you because you're no longer blogging about the chaos around you." I looked at him with my standard, "You're kidding, right?" expression. Look, it's always a poop storm around these parts. I just opt to focus on the fuzzy parts every now and

Brown Butter Pistachio Cookies for Chai Time

When I was seven, I spent every day that summer at my Mumma's house in Karachi. Mumma was my maternal grandmother and really, everyone from the ancient gardener to the youngest grandchild called her Mumma. To call her anything else would simply offend her and no one wanted to bear Mumma's wrath. As far as her house went, I use the term house loosely, because it was more a palace, at least in

New Year's Day Pot Pie

On a New Year's Day not too long ago, the hubster and I found ourselves, laughing uncontrollably with friends as we waited in an all too long line outside our favorite San Francisco brunch joint. In hindsight, I giggle at our cliched urban yuppie'ness, what with our black, plastic-framed glases and wool peacoats. In typical downtown fashion, we'd spent the night before, having dinner in a large,

Bang Bang Chicken

I never thought I'd say this but I may be suffering from a slight cookie overdose. I know, I know, it's basically blasphemy. But somewhere in between the Biscoff Oatmeal Cookies, the Blogger Cookie Swap, and the cookies that keep magically appearing in lunchroom at work, I think I may have developed some cookie fatigue. Yesterday, someone asked me if I wanted a cookie and I paused to c

Cinnamon Bun Biscotti for Christmas Cookie Swap

I don't celebrate Christmas. There's always a moment of utter shock when people first find out. Their eyes widen and their mouth forms a surprised O. Their shock is inevitably followed by utter sadness and sympathy. The consoling pat on the arm, the light hug, the pitying smile. And I'm forced to play along because that seems like the appropriate reaction. I smile sadly, with my eyes downcast. B

Silence

Ina Garten's Shortbread Cookies for Birthdaymas

Back in the third grade, the kids with birthdays during the upcoming month got to decorate our classroom's door. The September birthdays did a beach theme. The October birthdays obviously did a Halloween theme. The November birthdays broke with tradition and abandoned turkeys in favor of a baseball theme. And through it all, I patiently waited for December. And then we found out that the Dece

Mexican Fried Rice and Momhood

I work in an office with lots of young moms. Well three, but in a law firm, that qualifies as lots. At least once a week, we run in to each other at the microwave and commiserate over teething babies, mom jeans, and meals. Or really, lack of meals. Someone mentions how she fed her baby grapes and tofu for dinner last night. Someone else chimes in that their family ate take-out sushi for the

On Blessings and Blueberry Toasted Almond Scones

It's easy to count your blessings at the Thanksgiving table. That exact moment when you look around at your friends and family, dressed in their best, the table set with fine china and crowded with heaping platters of your favorite foods, you know that you are so very lucky. It's so much harder to count your blessings the week after Thanksgiving. That Sunday night, when you (um, me) have six

Thankful for Chewy Biscoff Oatmeal Cookies

You know how they say the way to a man's heart us through his stomach? Well good god, I must have been a man in a past life because that saying totally applies to me. I would take a food present over a wussy bouquet of flowers or some weird grandma print scarf any day. Last week, the hubster brought me half of his sandwich from lunch and I swear, I almost married him all over again. For the

Hasselback Garlic Potatoes and a Thanksgiving Giveaway

*The giveaway is now closed. The winner is LisaP!* We are a family that loves our potatoes. And nothing kicks that love into true lurve territory like Thanksgiving! Over the years, our Thanksgiving table has been graced by the likes of mashed potatoes with roasted garlic, baked potatoes with sharp cheddar, roasted potatoes with root vegetables, and sweet potatoes with streusel topping

Baked Pumpkin French Toast (on Ugly Dining Table)

When most people inherit their once-bachelor husband's furniture, they get leather couches, basketball posters, and the ubiquitous bean bag. I inherited a hideous 6 person dining table with grandma print chairs and gold trim. I mean really, what bachelor has a dinner party with their neighborhood ladies bridge group to warrant such a table? When I asked the hubster about it, he said they used

Hipster Roasted Asparagus with Lemon and Toasted Almonds

I have an irrational fear of hipsters. It scares me when a man's pants are tighter than mine and his hair has a more natural tousled look than I could ever pull off. For the record, do you know how hard it is to get that tousled look? It involves a quarter-sized dollop of hair product that costs approximately what you'd pay for an opera-singing parrot, a diffuser that looks a bit like a medi

FoodBuzz Festival 2012

Dear FoodBuzz Festival, Like Betty White, you just keep getting better with age! In 2010, you introduced me to a Korean "taco" made with seaweed and kalbi short rib. In 2011, you made sure I could never enjoy grocery store ice cream again by introducing me to the marvel that is Three Twins Ice Cream. Okay, who am I kidding? I will still eat grocery store ice cream, ice cream truck ice cre

A Giveaway in Honor of National Coffee Day!

*Giveaway is now closed. The winner of the fantastic coffee prize pack is Susie Anderson of We Are Not Martha!* Did you know there's a National Coffee Day?!? It's like finding out there's a day set aside just for you. Oh wait, that'd be your birthday. But you get my point. A whole day set aside for my favorite drink, no, life juice. In honor of my new favoritest day ever (sorry birth

Take Me To Frittata Town

You wanna know what despair tastes like? Try eating four Jolly Ranchers for breakfast. The sad thing is, I love breakfast. I dream about sitting on the patio in the sun, relaxedly eating a giant plate of pancakes that are slightly crispy around the edges from having been cooked in really good butter. I dream about mornings spent poring over the newspaper with a plate of french toas

12 Tips for Making it Through the First 12 Months

Dear Friend, Congratulations on the news of your upcoming bundle of joy! You asked for some tips because you thought I was handling motherhood with such grace. My apologies for snorting and gracefully spraying coffee through my nose at you. You are such a kind soul and I really hate to burst your fuzzy "Yay, I'm pregnant and my life will look like the pages of a Pottery Barn Kids catalo

Intro

It's Jam'mer Time!

I am going to do you a huge favor. Not a "Let me do your laundry" kind of favor, or even an "I'm running to the store. Do you need anything?" sort of favor. In fact, this is a favor truly deserving of my cheesy (and awesome!) reference to MC Hammer's "It's Hammer Time." I am going to introduce you to the Dessert Toast. Say what?! Dessert Toast. One part breakfast, one part dessert, all parts del

The Perfect Chicken Korma

I spend a lot of time planning for the perfect time. When it's the perfect summer day, I will wear my cute, floppy gardening hat and plant rose bushes on both sides of the walkway leading to my house. When I have the perfectly furnished and decorated house, I will host a fabulous dinner party. And when I have a perfectly free weekend, I will spend the day with my mom, drinking countless cups of

Fancy Pants Mediterranean Roasted Cauliflower

I did it. I sold out. I bought myself a pair of fancy-shmancy pants for no reason other than the fact that they made me look taller and thinner. And when you're 5'1 and have just had a baby, you will not think twice about handing over your credit card for the opportunity to look taller and thinner. Heck, you'll pretty much give your right arm to appear taller and thinner. In my defense, I wa

The Just Because Cookies 'n Cream No-bake Cheesecake

My name is Azmina and I am a dessert martyr. I am one of those people that only makes dessert for special occasions. I'm the kind of person that spends hours piping ganache or creating cupcake animals for someone else. I have an uncontrollable desire to blurt, "I'll bring a dessert!" whenever someone invites me somewhere, I go on erratic Pin'ing sprees of elaborate desserts, and I have a c

Chili and Cornbread

Last week was a long week. Not a standard TGIF kinda long but an if-this-week-doesn't-end-soon-I-will-die kinda long. Yes, I have a flair for the melodramatic. And yes, it is completely justified after the week I had. First, I got sick. It started with a minor cold (because it always does) and I soon found myself deep in stuffynose-phlegmville. Of course, I popped cold medicine like nobod

Bakerella's Wedding Cake Bites

Oh Bakerella! Just when I thought I was out, you pull me back in. You convince me that the adorable Disney character, baby animal, and/or other precariously perched cake blob on a stick is perfectly simple to make and will come out well, perfectly. And I, being the consistent fool that I am, fall for it every single time. Be it birthday, baby shower, or this time, a bridal shower, I tel

A Cookie Giveaway and a Fancy Food Show 2012 Recap

*Giveaway is now closed. The lucky winner is Lys of Liz Lemon Nights!* I love trying new food items and want that to be my full time job. I thought I made that clear when I put out my call for work as a full-time food show attendee after attending last year's NASFT Fancy Food Show. Looks like the food show gods weren't listening. So until I get my full-time food show attendee job, I

Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie and a New Laptop

The same week that the hooptie died, so did my laptop. One second, I was reading about the latest poll on the Republican candidates (okay, I was reading about Kim Kardashian's divorce) and the next second, I was staring at blank screen. The machine I'd relied on to keep me up to date with the latest in celebrity drama, the one with the glued on J key and the cookie crumbs in the keyboard, h

A Tribute to Hooptie with Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies

Remember our hooptie? It was a bit of an (okay, a huge) eyesore but it did what we needed it to do.  That is, get us from point A to point B.  Albeit slowly.  And while making strange noises along the way.  Oh, and winning us strange looks from onlookers.  But bottom line, the hooptie served its purpose. We deluded ourselves into thinking this would always be

FoodBuzz Festival 2011

Another year, another fabulous FoodBuzz Festival.  I learned some important lessons during FoodBuzz Festival 2010 and this year was no different.  Without further ado, here's Lawyer Loves Lunch's Top Ten list: 10) Did you know that in addition to making chocolate, Godiva also makes coffee?  And not just coffee but a fabulous Chocolate Truffle Coffee? 

Baby 'Boo is Here!

We interrupt the not so regularly scheduled blog posts to thank you for your kind emails and texts.  Yes, Baby 'Boo arrived.  Yes, we are both doing well.  Yes, I am operating on three hours of sleep.   Life has taken on a strangely Groundhog Day quality.  Feed, burp, change.  Rinse and repeat.  Every two hours.  Including in the mid

How To Make Macarons

Nothing stirs fear into the hearts of bakers everywhere like the French Macaron.  Perfectly smooth with that ideal crackle, that decadent ganache, and oh those ever elusive "feet."  A slight miscalculation in the beating of your egg whites and the entire batch'll come out flat as a pancake.  Problems regulating oven temperature?  Say goodbye to those darn "feet."  Oh

I'm Back... Bigger and Better than Ever!

I owe you an apology for the disappearing act.*  But that's the thing about growing a human.  It kinda takes up all your free time.  Even when you're not actually doing anything, you're too busy staring at your stomach and marveling at the random movements that for once, are not caused by eating too much Taco Bell.  And what solid movements they are.  I'm convinced I

Pebble Beach Food and Wine Grand Tasting

There is nothing I'd rather do than spend an afternoon wandering around, eating, spotting celebrity chefs, and people watching.  The only thing that'd make it more perfect would be if I were being fanned by palm fronds while sitting on some type of throne.  But since I don't forsee that happening anytime soon, I'll have to settle for eating and ogling celebrity chefs. Enter, the

Pebble Beach Food and Wine Grand Tasting

There is nothing I'd rather do than spend an afternoon wandering around, eating, spotting celebrity chefs, and people watching.  The only thing that'd make it more perfect would be if I were being fanned by palm fronds while sitting on some type of throne.  But since I don't forsee that happening anytime soon, I'll have to settle for eating and ogling celebrity chefs. Enter, the 4th

Pebble Beach Food and Wine Grand Tasting

There is nothing I'd rather do than spend an afternoon wandering around, eating, spotting celebrity chefs, and people watching.  The only thing that'd make it more perfect would be if I were being fanned by palm fronds while sitting on some type of throne.  But since I don't forsee that happening anytime soon, I'll have to settle for eating and ogling celebrity chefs. Enter, the 4th Annual Pe

Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Cake

I was hanging out with a friend this weekend and she commented, "Well, you wouldn't understand because you always make these perfect looking meals and you serve them in those perfect looking plates."  And at that exact moment, I realized I was wearing two different socks.  Not different like two black socks and one had a subtle striped pattern embedded into the fabric and the other was plain bla

Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Cake

I was hanging out with a friend this weekend and she commented, "Well, you wouldn't understand because you always make these perfect looking meals and you serve them in those perfect looking plates."  And at that exact moment, I realized I was wearing two different socks.  Not different like two black socks and one had a subtle striped pattern em

Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Cake

I was hanging out with a friend this weekend and she commented, "Well, you wouldn't understand because you always make these perfect looking meals and you serve them in those perfect looking plates."  And at that exact moment, I realized I was wearing two different socks.  Not different like two black socks and one had a subtle striped patter

Wasabi Fried Shrimp with Avocado-Wasabi Sauce

It was time for Round 4 of the Marx Food Ridiculously Delicious Challenge.  The remaining ten contestants were going to be shipped a highly secret and highly perishable ingredient that we were supposed to use in a highly awesome recipe.  Needless to say, it was all highly nerve wracking.  My Twitter friends Joanne, Brian, and I spent many tweets (unsuccessfully) gue

Wasabi Fried Shrimp with Avocado-Wasabi Sauce

It was time for Round 4 of the Marx Food Ridiculously Delicious Challenge.  The remaining ten contestants were going to be shipped a highly secret and highly perishable ingredient that we were supposed to use in a highly awesome recipe.  Needless to say, it was all highly nerve wracking.  My Twitter friends Joanne, Brian, and I spent many tweets (unsuccessfully) guessing at the secret ingredient

Wasabi Fried Shrimp with Avocado-Wasabi Sauce

It was time for Round 4 of the Marx Food Ridiculously Delicious Challenge.  The remaining ten contestants were going to be shipped a highly secret and highly perishable ingredient that we were supposed to use in a highly awesome recipe.  Needless to say, it was all highly nerve wracking.  My Twitter friends Joanne, Brian, and I spent many tweets (unsuccessfully)

Cheddar and Dill Scones

This is my entry for Stage 3 of MarxFood's Ridiculously Delicious Challenge. There are some people who are morning people.  I am not one of them.  Normally, this makes me rather proud but lately, I've been trying to throw caution to the wind and be an early riser.  It's not working all that well.  Especially because the hubster is a particularly chirpy early bird.  Most mornings, I will do or

Cheddar and Dill Scones

This is my entry for Stage 3 of MarxFood's Ridiculously Delicious Challenge. There are some people who are morning people.  I am not one of them.  Normally, this makes me rather proud but lately, I've been trying to throw caution to the wind and be an early riser.  It's not working all that well.  Especially because the hubster is a particularly ch

Cheddar and Dill Scones

This is my entry for Stage 3 of MarxFood's Ridiculously Delicious Challenge. There are some people who are morning people.  I am not one of them.  Normally, this makes me rather proud but lately, I've been trying to throw caution to the wind and be an early riser.  It's not working all that well.  Especially because the hubster is a particularl

Bakerella's Flower Cake Pops

It always starts out simple enough.  I offer to make a dessert for a friend's party.  I imagine something quick and delicious.  Something that looks flawless and tastes perfectly decadent.  Something I whip up in no time.  Next thing I know, it's 3 a.m. and I'm molding tiny Minnie Mouse hair bows out of sugar paste..  This time, I promised myself it w

Bakerella's Flower Cake Pops

It always starts out simple enough.  I offer to make a dessert for a friend's party.  I imagine something quick and delicious.  Something that looks flawless and tastes perfectly decadent.  Something I whip up in no time.  Next thing I know, it's 3 a.m. and I'm molding tiny Minnie Mouse hair bows out of sugar paste..  This time, I promised myself it wasn't going to go down like that.  I was goin