Summer Cooking

I have only one week and two days left at my internship, and because of that work has slowed a bit as I wait for answers to interrogatories and for my supervisor to review my work. When I am done wandering around the office socializing with my friends who work there, I occupy myself with the Internet, specifically researching new recipes for me to try. I have been afraid of baking and cooking too much for years because I did not want to gain weight from always having food around. However, this summer I  realized I could make food and either give it away or save it as leftovers for a few days. I then began trying at least one new recipe every week, and it turns out I'm pretty good at making things in the kitchen; maybe professional chef can be my "Plan B" if I get tired of being a lawyer one day.

This past semester, I must have made guacamole by request at least 10 times. I use a simple recipe from allrecipes.com, but maybe it's the fresh ingredients I get from Haymarket farmer's market in downtown Boston that cause it to be asked for again and again. It's really easy to make: just combine 3 peeled and mashed ripe avocados with the juice of 1 lime and 1 teaspoon of salt. Then add 2-3 chopped roma tomatoes, half a chopped onion, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, and a dash of cayenne pepper. Not only does this guacamole get requested over and over (prom, family parties, birthday parties), but I have had people, such as my dad, who hate guacamole and avocados, tell me it is the only guacamole they have ever liked.

Over the past week, I have expanded my cooking adventures to include homemade bagels and my mom's recipe of blueberry coffee cake. Although neither was perfect (the bagels were a little flat and the cake batter was difficult to spread before baking), I found myself looking forward to enjoying both. Therefore, I had to get rid of them both before I ate them all. My parents took a few bagels home after last week's concert, though I still had enough to enjoy them toasted with light chive cream cheese for breakfast.

I brought most of the coffee cake to work where it was almost demolished by the other interns.

I have found many more recipes that look easy and delicious on websites like food network, and am excited to try them before the summer is over. If everything goes well, maybe I can use cooking and baking to entice law students to attend National Security Law Society and International Law Society meetings by providing treats each time.