We’re supposed to be stewing and braising and roasting everything now. But Mother Nature is having a hot flash, and it’s 81 degrees F. In mid-October. So, we’ll save the apples and pumpkins and gingerbread for another day. A day when it’s chilly enough to wear something with sleeves. In the meantime, we’re taking advantage of this perfect grilling weather.

Jeff had to work late on his birthday, so we postponed his birthday dinner, which became more elaborate with each passing day. Not just baked potatoes but Loaded Baked Potatoes. Not just steak but a nice, prime cut. No, Surf and Turf! And not just any “Surf,” but Barbecued Mahi-mahi with Yellow Pepper-Cilantro Pesto.

It was time to MAKE this meal before it got any more Caligulicious. Read More…

I can’t believe I halved this recipe.

Jeff was working late. I was about to watch the presidential debate. And Barefoot Contessa recipes usually make enough to fill a trough. What did I need with a trough of Butternut Squash Risotto?

I NEED a trough of Butternut Squash Risotto.

First, there are the sweet, peppery cubes of roasted butternut squash. Delicious on their own. But then you start simmering a little pot of chicken stock and sautéeing the pancetta and minced shallots in melted butter, and the smells mingling in the kitchen are nothing short of intoxicating. After about 10 minutes, you add the Arborio rice and a little champagne. (The recipe calls for dry white wine, but we are rich in champagne – one of the many benefits of getting married on New Year’s Eve.) And then you ask yourself, “What would Ina do?,” and pour yourself a glass.

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Yep, that meringue is blue.

With most cooking groups, the goal is imitation. But with You Want Pies With That?, the challenge is to create a one-of-a-kind pie representing that month’s theme. Since the idea for the group was inspired by Keri Russell’s pie-making character in “Waitress,” the inaugural theme was “I Love That Movie!” Pick a movie–”Casablanca,” “When Harry Met Sally,” “Purple Rain”–and create a pie inspired it.

I chose “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”

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This is Dorie Greenspan’s Caramel-Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake, this week’s recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie. It should come with a warning. Something like, “WARNING: Eating caramel-peanut topping pulled from cake may result in muffin-top and/or spontaneous appearance of third buttock.”

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I tasted my first beignet in New Orleans. One minute, I was puffy-faced and bleary-eyed from breaking up with my first boyfriend; the next minute, I was on a road trip. My father’s idea. I thought he’d lost his mind, that I would spend the whole time crying and making the world miserable with my misery. But there wasn’t time. He signed us up for every tour in New Orleans: a French Quarter walking tour, Garden District trolley tour, historic tours, bus tours, voodoo tours, riverboat tours. I was so busy that I forgot to be miserable. Our last morning there, we stopped at Cafe Du Monde and ordered breakfast: Cafe Au Lait with a basketful of beignets. Deep-fried squares of dough baptized in powdered sugar. A transcendent indulgence beyond the tyranny of grams and calories and Points.

I came to New Orleans heartbroken and empty. I left happy. And very, very full.

What I learned was the importance of celebrating in advance. Not just having faith that bad times won’t last but celebrating the good times on the way. That’s why I made these Apple Cider Beignets with Butter-Rum Caramel Sauce. Freshly sliced apple rings dipped into a sparkling apple cider batter, fried and dusted with confectioner’s sugar. Oh, and the sauce … The perfect accompaniment to times we know will get better. And the perfect representation of all four food groups: butter, sugar, liquor and fried. I mean fruit.

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Creme Brulée, this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie pick, is the officially sanctioned birthday dessert of my grandmother (aka Mommaw). She discovered it when she was in her early 80s, along with Titans football, French bulldogs, William Shatner and profanity. Our portions come in dainty little ramekins; hers is served up in a large gratin dish. The morning after her birthday, she has Creme Brulée for breakfast. Probably with slab bacon.

If you’ve never tried Créme Brulée, literally “burnt cream,” it’s a very rich, cold vanilla custard topped with a layer of caramelized sugar. The entire experience of this dessert is all about the moment you break through that brittle shell and taste the first spoonful of creamy custard and crackly sugar crust. That experience also dupes people into thinking they couldn’t possibly make this dessert at home, but you probably have the ingredients: heavy cream, whole milk, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla. For the restaurant price of this dessert, you could make many, many ramekins of Creme Brulée at home.

So, what scares people away from making their own? The tempering and the torch.

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You should be seeing a delicious Dimply Plum Cake here, since that is today’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, but I’m in the midst of a food-related allergic reaction that has turned my bottom lip into something that could be entered in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. So, I will not be introducing anything semi-unusual into my diet until The Lip leaves the building. Seriously, how does Angelina Jolie drink coffee with these things?

Anyway, a few weeks ago, I made Peter Reinhart’s Cinnamon Buns. Once upon a time, I made cinnamon rolls for a living, so when I saw that the Daring Bakers had tried this recipe, I wanted to give it a go. Plus, the day we got married, I promised Jeff I would always make him cinnamon rolls, just like the ones I brought him every weekend from the bakery. Almost nine months later, it was time to make good.

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Salmon is the perfect gateway fish for people who think they hate fish. People who avoid it completely, fry it beyond recognition or drown each bite in tartar sauce, ketchup or malt vinegar. Oh, I was once one of you. The thought of eating a wet, limp, UNBREADED piece of fish? Repulsive.

Then I discovered salmon. A fish that’s easy to prepare, quick to cook, nutritious and can handle big flavors: teriyaki glaze, red pepper, butter and lime, sun-dried tomato pesto. Jeff and I eat salmon every other week, so we are ALWAYS on the lookout for a new salmon recipe. This Peppery Brown Sugar Salmon comes from Recipezaar. Jeff found it online a few weeks ago, and we’ve already made it twice.

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I meant to post Ina Garten’s Apple Turnovers with the rest of the Barefoot Bloggers, but Henry the Wonderdog had to make an unscheduled visit to the vet.

One day, his right eye is watering. The next morning, it’s red and gray. The vet sends us to a veterinary ophthalmologist, who says Henry has a cyst in his eye – a cut – and it’s deep. Deep enough that he needs surgery to save his eye. So, she leaves to check the surgical schedule, and I’m studying the certificates on the wall, trying not to lose it, because I may not carry my dog in a purse, but HE OWNS ME.

Thank God, they were able to take Henry in for surgery right away. I called Jeff at work, and then I called my mom. Both my parents drove an hour during a gas shortage to wait with me. I was afraid Henry would come out of surgery with a patch and an accusatory one-eyed glare, shouting at me like Stewie in “Family Guy”: “DAMN YOU, VILE WOMAN! The outrages I have suffered today will not soon be forgotten!” But when the nurse finally brought Henry out, he was pleasantly dazed and seemed to be hearing the beginning chords of “Inagaddadavida.” Such a relief.

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One of the best things about living in a new city is the anonymity. In my hometown, I can’t make it through a trip to Wal-Mart without seeing someone I know. During my last gynecological exam, my doctor called in her assistant, who happened to be (surprise!) one of my high school classmates. If you thought bumping into your former boss barefaced with bedhead was bad, try making small talk with someone bringing up all your wasted high school potential as they stare at your va-jay-jay.

Too familiar.

Familiarity is a double-edged sword. It can breed contempt or comfort, boredom or nostalgia. Especially when it comes to comfort food. I wouldn’t change a thing about my mom’s homemade chocolate pudding, but apple pie … Apple pie begs for experimentation.

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