Over the weekend I managed to walk 12 miles, learned make macaroons (french ones, not the coconut gobs of yore), procured a breakfast burrito and accompanying beverage, and watched some friends voluntarily throw their faces in freshly-iced cake.
Following a dinner party for 10 (I’m pleased to say I was a guest and not the host!), [...]

The beets and rainbow chard are growing well since I planted them about a week ago. The beets seem as if they’ll do especially well.
Over the weekend I purchased the last of the plants I intend to grow in the coming months and managed to pot everything. Now it’s a learning curve of what each [...]

Epic! Bringer of many delights, apple of the world’s eye, greatest feat which mankind has eaten…the cheesecake. Those are chocolate chips my friend, consider it a bonus.

Saikyo Yaki & Konnyaku to Ninjin no Shira ae

I’ve had a fabulous traditional Japanese cookbook for some years now, never really venturing into it. I was interested in it because an old friend used to cook, by nature, a lot of fusion food, and I loved the yuzu citrus so much that I”d go to [...]

A few weeks ago I celebrated a birthday. I invited only a small group of people, two of whom happen to be married. One ended up being legitimately exhausted, and she sent in her stead an amazing little backup cake. K works at a bakery, and does work on cakes, so this was quite an [...]

The original plan was to throw my stuff in storage while evacuating a home of disbanding roommates, to buy the bare essentials from ikea, from east bay restaurant supply, from the dollar store–make do in the studio together for a couple of months, save some money, move out and back into the world of roommates.
But [...]

A good friend of mine and his wife celebrated his anniversary recently, and welcomed a houseful of friends with this wonderful appetizer. He has an interesting history and a lot of experience with Indian food, being that he had years of involvement at a restaurant in a small town in India.

Here’s the secret recipe:
Urad dal [...]

Roast Vegetable Ragout
2 large heirloom tomatoes, preferably green/purple variety or other rich color
2 large carrots, peeled & trimmed
1/2 medium onion
6+ garlic cloves, peeled & trimmed
1/2 red bell pepper
Cut all vegetables into chunks; carrots diagonally. Put into baking dish, toss with 1/4-1/3 C olive oil, pleanty of sea salt & cracked pepper. Cook for 45-90min until [...]

On a budget of $120 for four people, a good friend and “astro-twin” who claims herself as a vegetarian but eats seafood and strangely, bacon, asked me to make a belated birthday dinner for her friend (my acquaintance). Because of the graces the bay area allows us in grocery shopping, and with many thanks to [...]

We’ve enjoyed dinner with my friend Peter before, but about two weeks ago I worked hard (read: begged) for another home cooked meal in the city.
Friend and I headed from Berkeley to the city for pre-show dinner at Peter’s (we were to catch the MF Doom/Pigeon John performance at the Independent, but when we arrived [...]