Autumnal Appetite (Winter squash hummus, Baharat)

I love slipping into autumn for a number of reasons. On the culinary side, Fall brings the warmth of richer, heartier flavors. It's a joy to roast and stew things, again, and the amount of butter and baked goods also spikes, precipitously. With the oncoming onslaught of holidays, it can at times be a bit much to each so much heavy food.  That's why it's important to find autumnal foods that are full on flavor (and fill you up) but be on the lighter side. Julia Child is absolutely right that more butter can solve almost anything, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, especially if one is predisposed to counting calories. As such, I present to you "winter squash hummus", which makes an appealing snack or appetizer that's pleasingly sentimental in its embrace of fall flavors while pleasantly lighter than most holiday fare.

Snack happy

Asparagus in Ambush (Asparagus-prosciutto twists, lemon béchamel)

Spring is always deserving of celebration. Especially after that cruel trick where winter swept in to freeze the first buds off the trees, it's nice to see everything sprouting up, again. In honor of those sprouts, I wanted to do something with asparagus, one of my favorite spring vegetables. I settled on an adaptation of "asparagus in ambush," an old favorite from the Flying Rhino restaurant in Worcester, Massachusetts. There, asparagus and prosciutto are wrapped in a flour tortilla and drizzled with lobster sherry cream. I made some adjustments, trading crisp twists of puff pastry for the tortilla to make a prettier presentation and swapping out the lobster cream sauce for a lighter, lemony béchamel with a little kick.

Roll for initiative

Thanks for the "no, thank you" (Saffron Chicken Tenders)

As a child, I was a relatively finicky eater, much to the chagrin of my mother (who regularly handed out "no, thank you portions" in an attempt to broaden my palate). As it turns out, it was more a matter of time and maturity, and with age I've come to taste and experience wonderful new flavors and dishes that I'm absolutely certain 8-year-old me would never have dreamed of trying.

Would you say "no" to this?

Mixed Feelings (Lollipop Lamb Chops)

This post is also available as an article in the 11/28/2012 Williamsport Sun Gazette.

My sister Kelly and her husband, Jonathan, have excellent taste in cookbooks, so it was exciting to get a new one for my birthday: Barefoot Contessa Foolproof. Reading through it, I was intrigued by what I thought was an unusually high proportion of lamb dishes. I suppose it makes sense, though, as lamb is pretty foolproof.

Foolproof!

A Lifelong Love Affair (Pimiento Cheese)

First things first, it's important to establish that I love cheese. Cheese and I go way back, as far back as I can recall. This means I've known cheese for about as long as anyone else in my entire life, save for a few family members. So cheese is not going anywhere anytime soon, the key for me is moderation, which can sometimes be difficult (refer to first sentence).

A delicate treat

Friendship is Magic (Apple, Stilton, Walnut Puffs)

Hello, ladies & gents!

I'm excited to kick off another weekend, not that last's was unenjoyable, by any means, but it was something of a whirlwind. We chose to celebrate my birthday by going to visit our friends Laura and Geoff up in Rochester, MA. Laura and I went to high school together and I'm to be her "Man of Honor," as it were, when she and Geoff are married next spring. I can tell you that Laura is an excellent designer, slowly updating their house room-by-room, that she can slap harder than any woman I know, and that when we made hollandaise on Sunday morning, she taught me I could really trust in recipes again, even when Alton Brown makes them sound scary.

Don't let cooking personalities intimidate you