January 27 is National Chocolate Cake Day in the United States. To be honest, I thought every day was chocolate cake day. This warm (and flourless) chocolate lava cake is delicious enough to declare a national celebration. But to help keep us all focused, there are several national food day lists floating around like this one to make sure all kinds of decadent delights get their day.

I’m a little curious, though, how National Pie Day, National Peanut Butter Day, and National Chocolate Cake Day all fall in the same week. I have a sneaking suspicion that the final week of January is right about the time that most folks have felt pretty good about the three weeks of intense dieting and exercise they have done after the holidays. Admit it. Your thinking has probably come close to this at some point: “I’ve been to the gym twice this week. Of course I deserve pie/peanut butter/chocolate cake!”

Molten lava cakes are the perfect little cakes to celebrate National Chocolate Cake Day. They require relatively little effort and bake in less than 15 minutes. Even if the cakes collapse into a quivering pool of warm chocolate, I promise you that your guests will not complain. Cover them with enough ice cream and in one, two, three, swoops of their spoons the cake will be gone.

But if you do want to impress a loved one, you might want a practice run or two to figure out the best results with your oven. If you underbake it, you will end up with a puddle of chocolate (there are worse things). If you overbake, by even a minute, no molten center – and you’ll end up with more of a brownie cake (again, not a travesty).

Now get celebrating. And keep this recipe handy for Valentine’s Day.

Molten Lava Cake
Adapted from Bon Appétit
Serves 4

6-1/2 ounces bittersweet or unsweetened chocolate, chopped (Note: good-quality chocolate chips are an easy shortcut)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Pinch of salt

4 large egg yolks
4 tablespoons sugar, separated
2 large egg whites

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Butter four 3/4 cup custard cups. Dust with flour, shaking out excess, and set aside.

In a double boiler over simmering water, combine chocolate, butter, and salt and heat. Stir until chocolate and butter have melted and mixture is smooth. Remove upper pot from water and let cool 10 minutes.

Beat egg yolks and 3 tablespoons sugar in large bowl until thick and light, about 2 minutes. Fold in chocolate mixture. In a separate bowl beat egg whites and 1 tablespoon sugar using electric mixer with clean, dry beaters, until whites are stiff but not dry. Gently fold whites into chocolate mixture in 3 additions. Divide batter among prepared cups.

Place custard cups on a baking sheet. Bake until cakes are puffed but still soft in center, about 11 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to rack; cool cakes 1 minute.

Using a small knife, cut around sides of cakes to loosen. Place plates on top of cups. Using an oven mitt or tea towel (the cups will be hot) invert cakes onto plates; remove cups. Serve immediately with a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Related posts: Chocolate Fondue, Fair Trade Brownies, Taza Chocolate Tour

I have a wooden Swedish star light on my windowsill that is timed to click on each evening and turn off as I get settled in between flannel sheets. It’s the only Christmas ornament that I allow to overstay the holiday season. I still need a bright spot to look forward to long after the festival of lights has ended.

That’s why cheddar corn chowder is the perfect bright! and sunny! soup for a cold and dark winter twilight. I had spotted a recipe for it on The Food Channel (not the Food Network, The Food Channel is a great Web-based cooking resource with lots of ideas and how-to videos). I adapted their recipe for cheddar corn chowder quite a lot. Theirs fed 10 (!), I eliminated some of the fats (oil and butter?), and added garlic, sweet orange pepper, and fresh cilantro for flavor and color.

I was in a huge rush after work to make dinner and head and off to a meeting, but I still had time to chop up the vegetables and let it all simmer so this chowder is a really fast and hearty weeknight meal. I also wanted some warm biscuits. In the interest of time I whipped up some Bisquick biscuits and added fresh rosemary. While the rosemary added a lovely fragrant flavor to the biscuits, there was an aftertaste that reminded me the mix was from a box. Bummer. As a scone snob, I should know better.

Cheerful Cheddar Corn Chowder
Serves 4 to 6 

4 slices of bacon, cut into pieces (about 6-8 per slice)
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup sweet orange pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, diced
4 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 cups chicken stock
3 small to medium potatoes, skins on, washed and diced
1 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 cup half and half
1 15-ounce bag frozen corn
Fresh cilantro or parsley, for garnish

In a large stockpot on medium-high heat, cook the bacon until it is crisp. Remove and set on a paper towel and save for garnish.

Reduce heat a bit and add onion to bacon drippings and cook, stirring until translucent. Add garlic and sweet pepper and cook another minute or two.

Stir in flour, tumeric, salt, and pepper and cook for several minutes.

Add chicken stock and diced potatoes, bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender when poked with a fork.

Add the corn, half-and-half, and cheddar cheese, cook and stir until cheese is melted and soup is heated through. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Serve in bowls and garnish with cilantro or parsley, bacon, and a crack of pepper.

Notes: You could easily make this a vegetarian chowder by eliminating the bacon and cooking the onion in a tablespoon of olive oil or 2 tablespoons of butter, and using vegetable instead of chicken stock. If you are using vegetable stock, you may want to add more salt. Also, do not use pre-shredded cheese. While highly convenient, packaged shredded-cheese is coated with cornstarch as a preservative measure, doesn’t melt as well, and simply doesn’t taste as delicious as the block cheese you grate yourself.

Related posts: Celery Pear Soup, Blue Cheese and Bacon Tartine, Apple Cheddar Savory Scones

When I was trying to make this decision a few years ago, I came across this website, “Save the Pink Bathrooms.” It made me think that if I just held out long enough I would soon have something rare, and as the woman in this post says, “‘when we were house-hunting, the pink bathroom (and other original 50′s features) is what sold us on this particular home!”

I even had a friend make this shower curtain to complement my tiles.

Shadi, my friend who stitched the curtain without a pattern (she’s that good), is Iranian. “Shadi” means “happiness.” We use to train together on the track and she would tell me stories of seeing bomber jets flying so low during the revolution that she could see the fighter pilots in their cockpits as she walked home from school in 1979.

When I see the curtain, I think of her – even though our paths haven’t crossed in years.

But the potential of being cool to retro hipsters, or simply remembering a sweet friend, probably shouldn’t be enough to stop me from updating my bathroom.

So earlier this week I invited my friend Marshall, who is a contractor, over after swim practice to give me some ideas. Now I face endless decisions about tiles and fixtures. It makes my head spin.

But mushroom stroganoff is simple, which is what I made for Marshall that night. It’s a good, hearty warm meal to enjoy after getting out of the pool on a winter’s night. And there is a good chance you’ll have most of these ingredients in your cabinets or ‘fridge. I used a combination of yogurt and sour cream, just to lighten the dish up a bit.

Mushroom stroganoff
Adapted from ‘One World Vegetarian Cookbook‘ by Troth Wells 

Serves 2, and a bit

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
2-3 gloves garlic, diced
8 ounces (about 1 cup) of mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup white cooking wine (or 1/2 cup broth of your choice)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinaigrette
1 tablespoon sour cream
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
Cilantro, to garnish

Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan and sautée the onions until translucent. Add garlic and cook another minute. Add mushrooms, paprika, and nutmeg and stir until coated.

Cook mushrooms over medium high heat until mushrooms are soft, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Add cooking wine (or broth) and balsamic vinaigrette and simmer over low heat until sauce thickens a bit.

Add sour cream and yogurt and cilantro. Mix until heated through. Serve over mashed potatoes, egg noodles or rice. Garnish with a spring of fresh cilantro.

Related posts: Pink and Red Currant Pie, Stuffed Spaghetti Squash, Mushroom Broccoli Risotto

When I finally stretched out in a chair Cricket climbed into my lap and started purring loudly as if to say, “Stay here for awhile.”

Faster than a wink of an eye, Rebecca handed me a mug of peppermint tea and a plate of warm cherry blinks. She changed things up a bit from the traditional recipe, using pecans and dried dates. Crunchy and sweet with their festive cherries, these would make a delicious addition to any Christmas cookie platter.

Cherry Blinks

1-3/4  cups cereal (Wheaties, Special K, or cornflakes)
1/2  cup sugar
1/3  cup shortening
1  tablespoon plus 1-1/2 teaspoons milk
1  teaspoon vanilla
1  egg
1  cup all-purpose flour
1/2  teaspoon baking powder
1/4  teaspoon baking soda
1/4  teaspoon salt
1/2  cup dried dates, chopped
1/2  cup chopped pecans
About 36 candied or maraschino cherries (red and green)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Crush cereal; set aside.

In large bowl, mix sugar, shortening, milk, vanilla and egg. Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in dates and pecans.

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls into crushed cereal; roll gently until completely coated. Place cookies about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Press cherry into each cookie.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or just until set. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Related posts  Gingerbread cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting, Thanksgiving oatmeal cookies, Jam sandwich cookies, Ginger pumpkin ice cream sandwiches

If the essence of Christmas was boiled down into flavors they would be, for me, gingerbread and peppermint. I don’t eat much peppermint any other time of the year, with the exception of the hard candies you can scoop up on your way out of some restaurants. In a word: ordinary. But at Christmas time peppermint becomes whimsical architectural features on gingerbread houses and swings gaily from the boughs of evergreens as striped canes.

The same goes for gingerbread, as an everyday cake it helps digestion. But as a house! Or an army of Men! It is magical. Gingerbread fits with this time of year, too. Eating a gingerbread man in July would feel the same as twisting a woolen scarf around your neck and belting out a few verses of “Deck the Halls” on a summer’s day. You just don’t do that in July.

In our family, we have a tradition of Gingerbread People on Christmas morning. This is one tradition that my mom holds onto very tightly, even as scenes shift and people come and go from Christmas morning over the years. The Gingerbread People are always there, a comforting, slightly lumpy, presence.

Every Christmas morning, usually following lots of clattering very early in the kitchen, we are each handed our very own Person, a mug of hot chocolate towering with an unreasonable amount of whipped cream, and a peeled orange. “Frothy” is the best way to describe Christmas morning in our family.

My brother and I have nicknamed the cookies “Mutants” for their uniqueness. Mom is no stickler for uniformity, she eschews cookie cutters and prefers to shape by hand. Mom’s Gingerbread Mutant People are really more like soft sculptures – doughy with mismatched limbs and sorrowful red-hot eyes above enormous raisin grins.

(This skill for creating menacing-looking cute food may be genetic. Check out my attempt last year to create adorable Snowmen Cupcakes.)

You’ll have to use your imagination to picture the Gingerbread People Mutants because it has never occurred to me take a picture of one of them. They don’t hang around long, usually gone within the hour as we indulge in this once-a-year, oh-my-I-am-eating-a-giant-mutant-delicious-warm-cookie-for-breakfast, decadence.

For some reason this year I wanted to “deconstruct” the flavors of a gingerbread house into a cupcake. I didn’t want anything too heavy, and I found just what I needed in a 1964 volume of the “American Heritage Cookbook.” Not too spicey, not too sweet, and a great intro quote from Founding Father John Adams who declared molasses (a necessary ingredient in gingerbread) as an essential ingredient for American freedom: “I know not why we should blush to confess that molasses was an essential ingredient in American independence. Many great events have proceeded from much smaller causes.”

A freedom-crying cupcake! Perfect.

If you must know, colonial New Englanders really liked their rum, which needs molasses. And it was the British tax on molasses, not tea, that first got everyone’s knickers in a twist and eventually lead to the Boston Tea Party and a full-fledged Revolution. Hanging revolutionary origins on tea rather than rum, though, is much more civilized don’t you think?

Anyway, back to the flavors of Christmas. I briefly thought about making a gingerbread cupcake with a peppermint cream cheese frosting but in the end I went with the more traditional lemon frosting and used the peppermint to top off some chocolate cupcakes. I added some freshly grated ginger to the cupcake cake batter, just to boost the flavors a bit.

I will persist in my effort to make a cute cupcake. For now, these are tasty if not a little bit lovable in their own freedom-declaring, hope-filled way.

Gingerbread cupcakes

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup molasses
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin tin or line with paper cups.

Sift together flour, salt, ground ginger, and baking soda. Set aside. Separate egg whites and yolks into two separate bowls.

In a large bowl, cream butter until soft. Add sugar, a little at a time, beating until smooth. Beat egg yolks and stir into butter-sugar mixture.

Combine sour cream, molasses, and grated ginger and add to mixture, alternating with the flour combination. Beat egg whites stiffly, fold into mixture.

Fill each cupcake holder 3/4 full. Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool a few minutes in the cupcake pan before removing and transferring to a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate fudge cupcakes
I simply used the recipe off the canister for Ghiradelli unsweetened cocoa, and reduced the milk. But you might want to try Ghiradelli’s cupcake recipe here. 

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups Ghiradelli Unsweetened Cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1-3/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a cupcake tin or line with paper cups.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add vanilla and eggs one at a time.

Alternatively add flour and milk (starting and ending with the flour mixture) and mix on low speed. Mix until smooth.

Fill cupcake holders 3/4 full. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool a few minutes in the cupcake tin before removing to a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.

Cream cheese frosting
The amount of sugar varies from recipe to recipe, I always go for less sugar. You don’t need it. 

1 8-ounce package of cream cheese
1/2 stick butter, softened
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar

For lemon frosting:
Zest of one lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For peppermint frosting:
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
6 hard peppermint candies, chopped fine

Beat cream cheese, butter, and sugar until smooth. Evenly divide into two separate bowls.

For the lemon frosting: stir in lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. If the icing looks runny, add a bit more powdered sugar until it stiffens up. Chill about 20 minutes before frosting.

For the peppermint frosting: add the peppermint extract and blend. Chill about 20 minutes before frosting. Sprinkle finely chopped peppermint candies on top of each frosted cupcake.

Related posts: Proper English Scones,  Snowman Cupcakes only a child could love, Three kinds of fondue, Green bean casserole, Civil War recipes: Hardtack crackers and Confederate Johnny Cake

For some reason Brussels sprouts is a vegetable capable of releasing passion. Like this:

I love Brussels sprouts!

or

I hate Brussels sprouts!

Very rarely do you hear, “Brussels sprouts? Meh. I could take them or leave them.”

It’s sad really, because in the much-loved, much-hated division we are all overlooking an important point: Brussels sprouts are cute.

It took me a long, long time to learn to love Brussels sprouts. I wasn’t buying the cute thing. I wasn’t fooled, those were mini cabbages – an entire bitter cabbage with every mouthful. This attitude persisted far into my adulthood.

But then I had Brussels sprouts tossed in olive oil and seasoned with plenty of salt and pepper and roasted until their delicate edges showed a hint of brown. The roasting had drawn out their inner sweetness (who knew?) and banished memories of the soggy, boiled Brussels sprouts, the only kind I had ever met.

Admitting that I eat Brussels sprouts makes me feel sophisticated, as in I can eat my veggies and like it.

And now I spend some effort trying to win over the I hate Brussels sprouts! crowd.

At a potluck party the other weekend, someone arrived with Brussels sprouts roasted with grapes. These were good but I suddenly wanted to try my own version with figs. I think I was divinely inspired because I’ve never even bought a dried fig (I’m not counting Fig Newtons).

The following weekend was Warm-Up Thanksgiving at Jenna’s house so I confidently signed up to bring Brussels sprouts on a shared Google doc.

I think it was less than three hours later that I received a post on my Facebook wall: “really kendra? brussel sprouts?!”

Game on! I was going to win over this nay-sayer.

After some research, I decided to make a kind of sauce dressing of figs and maple syrup and pour it over Brussels sprouts roasted with walnuts seasoned with Parmesan cheese.

I had a friend with me when I made the trip to the store to buy my Brussels sprouts. I held up a 1 lb. bag and asked, “Do you think this will be enough?”

There were about 40 people expected at the party.

Without missing a beat he said, “That’s plenty.”

Suppressing my faltering confidence I proceeded with my plan and presented my sweet, cute Brussels sprouts at the party. There was only one problem. Word of the Brussels sprouts challenge had spread and everyone wanted in on the judging. They were gone within minutes.

The winning verdict: We all love Brussels sprouts!

Roasted Brussels sprouts with walnuts and figs
This recipe easily doubles. Take care not to overwhelm the sprouts with too much of the sauce.
Serves 6 to 8

1 lb. (4 cups) Brussles sprouts, trimmed, halved or quartered
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup dried figs, diced
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup maple syrup 
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper.

Toss halved Brussels sprouts with olive oil, salt, pepper, and walnuts. Spread into baking pan and roast for about 20 minutes until tender and edges just begin to brown. 

Meanwhile, combine figs and broth on the stovetop and bring to a boil. Simmer until reduced. Add maple syrup and reduce again until mixture thickens.

Pour over roasted Brussels sprouts. Add Parmesan cheese and combine well. Serve immediately.

Related posts: Peas and Pearl Onions, Cape Cod Cranberry Orange Relish, Pumpkin Curry Soup, Wild Rice and Fruit Salad, Thanksgiving Oatmeal Cookies

Every Thanksgiving I brace myself for the inevitable: green bean casserole.

Green bean casserole, invented by Campbell’s Soup in 1955, is adored by literally millions of Americans. I am not in this group. Our family, lead by mother’s disdain for opening a can of creamed mushroom soup and dumping it on vegetables, ate peas and pearl onions instead.

Usually I allow myself an air of historic superiority as I dismiss green bean casserole when it is offered – surely the original Thanksgiving did not include a dish from a can.

But this year I may soften my stance a bit. I’ve been reading an informative and insightful cookbook, “Giving Thanks: Thanksgiving Recipes and History, from Pilgrims to Pumpkin Pie” by Kathleen Curtin, Sandra L. Oliver, and Plimoth Plantation.

You are probably well aware that no one knows for certain what was exactly shared and consumed at that first day of thanksgiving in 1621 sometime between Sept. 21 and Nov. 9 among the native Wampanoag People of Cape Cod and the settling English. The only eye-witness account of that day, written by colonist Edward Wilson to a friend back home refers to “fowl” and “deer.” And it wasn’t even really Thanksgiving. It was an annual harvest party.

The authors of “Giving Thanks” go on to explain how this harvest party evolved into the full-blown American tradition it is today. It is a fascinating read and will arm you with plenty of trivia to impress your friends and relatives around the dinner table, too stuffed to escape your self-indulgent soliloquy of facts they could care less about.

For instance, Abraham Lincoln may have declared the last Thursday of November as the annual date for our national holiday, but did you know this was largely because of the hard campaigning of the “Godey’s Lady’s Book” editor, Sarah Josepha Buell Hale? Ms. Hale was relentless in her pursuit to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday and annually wrote letters for 16 years to the White House, all state governors, and each member of Congress extolling the virtues of a meal that brought people together to express gratitude. When Lincoln finally relented with his proclamation in 1863, Southerners refused to acknowledge the “Yankee” holiday.

But the Southerners eventually changed and perhaps I will, too, about green bean casserole. Here’s why: At the back of “Giving Thanks” is an incredibly eclectic array of “traditional” Thanksgiving dishes. There is everything from “Oyster Stuffing” to “Chinese American Rice Dressing” to “Finnish Turnip Casserole” to “Puerto Rican Roast Pork Shoulder.” And there is even a recipe for “Green Bean Casserole.”

Thanksgiving dishes have evolved and mixed and borrowed just like the unique peoples who have come together and adapted in their efforts to build a free democracy.

So, if a glob of canned soup in a Thanksgiving dish is really a nod to the convenient foods that temporarily freed mid-20th century American women everywhere so they could devote their thoughts and energies beyond the kitchen – for better or worse – then I concede. Green bean casserole has its proper place in the history of American Thanksgiving.

But I’ll need to change the recipe’s name – just to satisfy my preference for historical context. Please pass me the peas and pearl onions.

Feminist Green Bean Casserole
Adapted from “Giving Thanks”

Serves 8

1 10-3/4-ounce can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 16-ounce cans French-cut green beans, drained or 2 16-ounce packages frozen French-cut green beans, cooked and drained
1 2.8-ounce can French’s Fried Onions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, whisk the condensed soup, milk, soy sauce, and pepper until smooth. Stir in the beans and half of the onions.

Pour mixture into a 1-1/2 quart casserole dish. Bake for 25 minutes, uncovered until the mixture is hot and bubbling.

Stir well, top with the remaining onions, and bake for 5 minutes more, or until the onion topping is nicely browned.

Related posts: Peas and Pearl Onions, Cape Cod Cranberry Orange Relish, Pumpkin Curry Soup, Wild Rice and Fruit Salad, Thanksgiving Oatmeal Cookies

The pumpkin usually appears bearing a recipe printed on orange paper rolled up in a scroll and rubber banded to its stem. This year Miss Pumpkin even had a little Halloween bling. Fancy, Miss Pumpkin!

I decided I wanted to try making my own Miss Pumpkin purée for this year’s recipe: Pumpkin and Raisin Muffins. (Warning: Look away if you must. Miss Pumpkin guts ahead.)

My first batch of pumpkin raisin muffins was a little underwhelming in flavor. Maybe it’s because I had softened the pumpkin in the microwave like I have done for spaghetti squash in order to purée it. I still had half of Miss Pumpkin left. So for the second batch I tried roasting the pumpkin, based on the instructions I found on The Gourmand Mom.

I also thought a nutty flavor would add an interesting secondary note to an otherwise ordinary muffin. I didn’t have quite enough walnuts so I combined toasted walnuts and hazelnuts and then grated them until fine in my mini food processor.

The end result was delicious! Plump raisins in a pumpkin-y muffin with just a hint of toasted nuts.

Making your own pumpkin purée is a cinch, and I noticed the new (controversial) Whole Foods in Hyde Square has a whole mound of sugar pumpkins just waiting to be roasted.

Pumpkin Raisin Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup firmly backed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup toasted and chopped walnuts or hazelnuts
1 cup pumpkin purée*
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a muffin tin.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a large bowl. Stir in the raisins, set aside.

Toast the walnuts and hazelnuts in a pan on the stove top stirring frequently just a few minutes. Be careful not to burn the nuts. If using hazelnuts, rub toasted nuts in a tea towel to remove skins. Blend in a food processor until fine. Whisk into flour mixture.

In a separate bowl, beat together the pumpkin purée, eggs, milk, and butter. Fold into flour mixture until combined.

Divide among 12 muffin cups, filling each tin about 2/3 full. You may have enough for an additional muffin or two. Or just make giant muffins.

Bake for 25-30 minutes in the center of the oven until well risen and golden, and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Leave in muffin tin for 1 to 2 minutes then transfer to a wire rack.

*Pumpkin purée

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut the pumpkin in half, remove stem, seeds and pulp. Turn the pumpkin face down in about 1/4 inch of water. Bake for 90 minutes. Scoop out the softened flesh and pass through a blender to purée.

I just learned a great squash trick. You can soften a squash in 8 minutes in the microwave. Yes. Just halve it, scoop out the seeds, cover it in plastic wrap and nuke for 8 minutes. You’ll want to let it rest a bit so you don’t scald your fingers when you remove the plastic wrap.

I know. Something about “plastic wrap” and “nuke” doesn’t seem quite right. You can always pop the squash into the oven for about  an hour at 375 degrees F. face down on a rimmed baking sheet with a bit of water. Up to you. I rarely have the patience to wait an hour for my dinner by time I get home, especially if it is a night after swim practice.

I introduced spaghetti squash to my friend Summer the other night, who has just moved to New England from Southern California. He was handy for wrestling open the squash and when he had scraped his dinner clean I told him that sometimes people wear the skin as a hat.

If Summer looks particularly reverent in this photo, it is not because of my cooking. If you look carefully, you’ll see that the face of Jesus appears in the burn marks of the squash!

This photo has not been altered in any way. If we had our wits about us, we would have sold it on eBay. Unfortunately, the Spaghetti Squash Jesus Hat sits somewhere in a Boston landfill.

A few days ago, I spotted a 2 lb. spaghetti squash at the corner market, a perfect size when cooking for one. So when I had just a half hour for dinner on Wednesday before I needed to be out the door I knew it was a good night for stuffed spaghetti squash.

The other culinary quick step I’ve been enjoying lately is Italian sausage. It’s an easy-to-cook menu item that adds flavor and can be portioned without a lot of fuss.

While the squash was spinning around in the microwave I cooked up onions, garlic, zucchini, summer squash, apples, and an Italian sausage on the stove top with some dried sage and marinara sauce. Then I added the squash, put the whole thing back into the squash skin, covered in it freshly grated cheese and popped it in the oven.

About 15 minutes later, dinner was ready.

It was delicious, warm, and had all the best flavors of fall. You can substitute whatever meat and vegetables you have on hand, ground beef for instance, or green bell peppers.

(I did not wear the empty skin as a hat, because if you do stuff like that alone with only your cat as a witness it is really not a good sign, no matter whose face is burned on the bottom.)

Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
Serves 1

1 tablespoon butter
1/4 onion, chopped
1 or 2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Italian sausage, chopped into 1/2-inch rounds
1/2 cup zucchini and summer squash, sliced into half moons
1 small apple (about 1/2 cup), cored, peeled, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 lb. spaghetti squash, softened
1/4 cup marinara sauce
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Halve 2 lb. spaghetti squash, scoop out the seeds, cover in plastic wrap. Cook on high for 8 minutes. Let cool.

Meanwhile, in a pan on the stovetop, heat butter and cook onions and garlic until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add sausage and cook. As the sausage begins to brown add zucchini, summer squash, apples, and sage. Stir until well heated.

Scoop out the softened spaghetti squash and add to pan. Add marinara sauce. Stir until heated through.

Place contents of pan into the now-empty squash skin. Cover with grated cheese and cook about 15 minutes until cheese is melted.

Serve immediately with apple cider.

Related posts: Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, Butternut Squash and Hazelnut Lasagna, Butternut Squash on Pasta

So here is an autumn Valentine for you instead.

It’s almost as good, right?

I felt like I had gotten a Valentine the night my friends came over to eat risotto in heaping bowlfuls. My friends are all single urbanites, charging in a million different directions. I wan’t sure who would show up at the dinner table. In the end, there were five of us – just kind of “coming home” together after a week of hectic schedules, new jobs, and surviving the ordinary.

I had never made risotto before. I’ve heard how easy it is, except for the part where you have to stand over the stove stirring for awhile. Fortunately for me, my apartment is so small I could stir at the stove and still be a part of the conversation that was happening in the living room three steps away.

The risotto was inspired because I had gotten an e-mail from a Grana Padano rep in New York asking if I wanted to try Grana Padano. “Sure,” I replied back, “why don’t you send me a sample?”

A few days later I got a cardboard box with a hunk of cheese wrapped in plastic wrap and plain white butcher paper (no worries, we’re all fine).

What is Grana Padano? It’s a mild form of Parmesan cheese, and in some cases less expensive. But it still has a delicious flavor and I’ve been adding it to my pastas and salads all week. Note: If you have a green cylinder of grated Parmesan cheese in your ‘fridge, do yourself a favor and throw it away. You are not experiencing real Parmesan flavor. Freshly grated cheese is always best, no exceptions.

Anyway, the reason why Grana Padano cheese is no longer considered Parmesan cheese has to do with EC rules: Parmesan cheese has to come from within a recognized Parmesan area. You can read more about that here. But essentially, “To bear the Parmigiano label, Parmesan cheese must be made from cow’s milk between May and November in Modena, Parma, Reggio Emilia, or parts of Bologna and Mantova,” according to the WannaBeTVChef.

Fair enough. Grana Padano is from the area of the Po Valley in northern Italy and is aged for at least 12 months, thus its quality and depth of flavor.

Along with the cheese sample came a booklet of recipes, which is where I found “Risotto with Vegetables & Grana Padano” by New York chef Lidia Bastianich. This isn’t exactly her recipe. She has you do more fancy things like purée the broccoli stems and add lima beans. I just went for simpler, and made mine vegetarian. And added mushrooms. Love mushrooms!

In any case, it was lovely. I served it with a baby spinach salad with cucumbers, sun dried tomatoes and toasted almonds. I found a blog with a great trick for dressing: Juice of 1/2 lemon, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar in the bottom of your salad bowl. Settle the greens on top and when you are ready to serve, toss! We also had roasted spicy Italian sausage in onions and green peppers because even though risotto is filling, it didn’t quite feel like a main dish.

It was a beautiful autumn evening, and would have been even more perfect if it hadn’t been 70 degrees. Hello #weirdweather.

Mushroom broccoli risotto
Serves 6 

1/2 lb. broccoli
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
6-1/2 cups hot vegetable broth
1/2 cup minced scallions, green included (about 5)
1 tablespoon, or 1 small, shallot
3 tablespoons olive oil
2-1/2 cups Arborio or Carnaroli rice
1/2 cup dry white wine, or cooking wine
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits
1/2 cup Grana Padano cheese, freshly grated
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Prepare the broccoli florets, keeping them small, and the scallions, shallot, and mushrooms. Peel broccoli stems and slice into 2-inch pieces.

In a saucepan, heat the vegetable broth.

In a 3- to 4-quart casserole or pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the scallion, shallot, and mushrooms and sauté until shallots are translucent, about 4 minutes, stirring often.

Add the rice and stir to coat with oil. Toast rice until the edges become translucent, 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the wine and stir until well evaporated. Add 1/2 cup of the hot stock and the salt. Cook, stirring constantly until the stock has been absorbed. Continue to add stock in small batches and cook until absorbed. After about 12 minutes add the broccoli. Stir constantly until the rice mixture is creamy but al dente. This will take about 18 minutes.

Remove casserole from heat. Whip in butter until melted, then add the Grana Padano. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.