I never really thought of this technique as worthy of being formally written into a post—it’s just what I like to do with leftover cooked grains—but when Evan requested that we “make those rice balls again!” I thought maybe it was worth writing down.

You can cook the rice fresh, then chill it and make the cakes, but the easiest thing to do is to just make a double batch of rice the next time you cook it for something else, and then make this the next day. I like to make these with a soft, melty cheese, but a creamy goat cheese would also be nice.

Serve these alone as an appetizer, or with sauteed greens as a light vegetarian main course.

I don’t really have time to be writing this post. I am sort of over-scheduled right now.

First of all, as you may know, I wrote a book. It wasn’t supposed to come out until May 8th, but the folks at Amazon decided to send it out a week early, so if you pre-ordered, you should already have it in your hands, which is equal parts thrilling and anxiety-producing for me, feedback junkie that I am.

As such, I’m throwing a party at Green Apple Books on Clement Street in San Francisco, getting ready for a big signing party up in Santa Rosa at my parents’ house, preparing for a demo at The Olive Press, and planning a trip to to Los Angeles and then Chicago, to speak at both cities’ Google locations and a variety of other fun spots, shortly thereafter.

Also, I am writing a second book, about pizza dough (go figure). My manuscript was due 2 days ago. It is not finished (I’m close though, I swear).

Funny as it may sound given what I do for a living, when I work for hours on end, I often forget to eat…even if I’m cooking. I’ll have coffee, then more coffee, then a glass of water, after realizing how dehydrated the coffee has made me, then suddenly it is 3 PM and I am starving. This pizza was this afternoon’s much-needed diversion/sustenance. And it was awesome.

Now excuse me, I have stuff to do!

There are two conversations which my parents (who have been married for 31 years and have one of the best relationships I know of) have with enough regularity that I can usually mouth along with them.

The first happens every Passover, while we are preparing for Seder at their house. My mother pulls out the Seder plate we've been using for the past million or so years and attempts to arrange the Passover symbols in their proper places. This involves reading Hebrew--something my mother doesn't know how to do.

So, she summons my dad, who does read Hebrew, to join her in the kitchen and help. He happily agrees and they set about trying to figure it out. The scene that follows is always the same and always hilarious to witness: inevitably, my father can't figure out one of the spots, and my mother insists she knows what it is, which, of course she does not (though, neither does he). "You don't read Hebrew!" my dad insists. "I've been doing this for 31 years!" my mother retorts. Eventually they figure out what needs to go where by process of elimination, while my brother and I snicker, because it isn't Passover until this happens.

The second scenario happens with a bit more frequency: the subject of vegetables comes up--either because we are eating them or because we are talking about food (which we are pretty much always doing). My father professes to like vegetables. Like clockwork, my mother laughs and says, "yeah, if they're covered with enough cheese sauce!" He denies this, she rolls her eyes. We all laugh.

I happen to love vegetables, even without cheese sauce. But I gotta tell you, this cheese sauce could convert even pickiest of supposed vegetable haters.

Passover begins Friday, which means it is also time for brisket! This easy and irresistibly delicious version yields meltingly tender beef in a flavorful, slightly sweet sauce.

If you can’t find Kosher for Passover canned tomatoes, just use an equal amount of halved Roma tomatoes.