In 2005, I got it into my head that I wanted to keep bees. (And not let them get away! Yes, yes.) Of course, beekeeping was illegal in NYC at the time. What to do? I found a fellow to give me some hands-on experience with his hives, did my due diligence and research, and set about working to change the law. When beekeeping was finally legalized in New York in 2010, I promptly went out and ordered three pounds of bees.

I used to be the resident beekeeper on the roof of the East Midwood Jewish Center, but am currently between hives until I move somewhere more convenient again.

I make pottery at home, and I take a sketchbook, pens, and watercolors everywhere I go. I volunteered as Art Director and did all the illustration for the 2012 MIT Mystery Hunt.

I've long since stopped maintaining my old food blog, Habeas Brûlée. Some old recipes also remain up at the archives of the recipe column I used to write for Gothamist.

In 2008-9, my partner and I were chefs/owners of Jack: an occasional restaurant, a monthly restaurant night where we served 5-8 course tasting meals once/month over at the Brooklyn Lyceum. (You can read reviews of the restaurant here. Jack was also mentioned in Edible Brooklyn and in Tribes by Seth Godin.)

I used to occasionally catered events, with past clients including the Fresh Fruit Festival and SalonCon. I've taught private cooking lessons, and I won Best Savory Pie at 1st Annual Brooklyn Pie Bake-Off. The closest I've come to baking a wedding cake was making 300 wedding cupcakes for a friend, but hey, you never know.

Over the years I've cured pancetta in my windowsill, smoked bacon in the backyard, and fermented my back porch garden harvests into a bunch of hot sauce and kimchi.

Back when I used to practice law, criminal defense was the part I loved. This mention no longer constitutes attorney advertising, because although I ran my own firm for about 5 years after leaving my Criminal Court clerkship, I'm no longer actively practicing law or taking on clients. And since moving out of the neighborhood, I even finally resigned from the Hearing Officer committee at the Park Slope Food Co-op.

Some organizations I felt good about volunteering with at various points include: LeGaL, the Mass Defense Committee of the National Lawyers Guild, InMotion, the Family Center, East Midwood Jewish Center, the Bowery Mission, and St. Joseph's Soup Kitchen. All great experiences, and I can't recommend jumping in and helping them out strongly enough!

My brother and I curated a one-day art gallery of my mother's works for her birthday in 2010.

I provided the tiny vials of honey and wrote the introduction for Amal El-Mohtar's The Honey Month.

I also spin fire.