We have had two big developments of our summer so far. One is that I went back to work (and we can skip discussing that) but the other is much more exciting: We moved! Somehow some people in the world thought that it was okay for this pair of silly babies to actually, honest-to-goodness own a home. Now that we're done screaming in terror over the ...
spring
buttercream roses and rose buttercream
Believe it or not, these pretty little buttercream roses were piped by yours truly. For someone who is all thumbs and, at best, has a passing knowledge of how to decorate a cake, this is a feat indeed--and it's all thanks to a dynamo of a friend and her marvelous book, Coco Cake Land, which is coming out today! I truly cannot be more excited. ...
red cabbage slaw with peanuts and dukkah
We have lately entered the phase that I assume is a rite of passage for all parents, where at least part of our dinner a couple times a week is "whatever our toddler didn't eat." (This is especially because one of his favorite new phrases is "No-no," which he uses often and with delight.) All things considered, it's actually a fortunate turn of ...
more bits and bats
Today is the very last day of B2's trip to Korea! For the last week, B2 has been taking depositions in Seoul and we odd-numbered bowls have been fending for ourselves in a papa-less wilderness. For me this has meant subsisting solely on the weird-but-maybe-balanced diet of roasted Brassicas (of which B2 is not fond), ramen, and gigantic M&M ...
pho noodle salad
We are in the midst of a thoroughly January state of affairs: We got home on New Year's Eve from our trip to see B2's parents in Honolulu, where I was lazier, more relaxed, and more rested than a parent with a toddler has any right to be (God bless grandmas), and in the midst of our post-Hawaii gloom, were all promptly felled by the Great ...
crab fried sticky rice with jalapeño aioli
My commute here in LA is almost the same as it was in New York, 40 minutes give or take. The only difference is that I sit my butt in a little Corolla instead of the blue-benched 4/5, and so I can no longer do either of the two things I used to do on my commutes in New York -- sleep, or read, but mostly sleep -- because I would die. For exactly 3 ...
crispy goat cheese rounds with shallot vinaigrette
With work picking up again after a slow start coming back from maternity leave, this project, and our ever-growing obsession, I haven't had nearly as much time as I would like to make or share recipes from the wealth of stellar cookbooks that have come out this spring. There are so many! But I'll get there. For now, I'm starting with an impossibly ...
potatoes with sugar snaps, pickled shallots, & dill
Judging from the calendar, we are in the thick of picnic season, or for me, toss-everything-with-mayonnaise-and-maybe-eat-it-at-a-picnic-but-probably-just-straight-from-the-fridge season. My last post notwithstanding, I almost didn't realize it; after years in New York, where I spent the first third-to-half of each year in an intense and unceasing ...
creamy broccoli salad with almonds & raisins
Last weekend we took our first big trip with B3 in tow, up to Berkeley for my brother's graduation. It wasn't until we were on our way back, winding our way through the mountains on the last stretch of the I-5, that I realized how much Los Angeles has started to feel like home. This little ham can probably take most of the credit for that (isn't ...
spring pea pasta with lemon & shiso
As of a couple of weeks ago, I'm officially back at work. Unlike his mama, B3 thought the transition was a total breeze -- he sees me off to work every morning with such blasé cheerfulness that I'm wondering whether I shouldn't be at least a teensy offended. (He is, however, in a war of attrition with his Public Enemy No. 1, The Bottle, so there is ...
