Comfort Foods and Indulgences

Most people would call them muffins, or maybe cupcakes. But, that sounds so ordinary. You know. Just the same old, same old. Not that I don't make muffins or cupcakes. But when I do, and when I put them on a plate with a sauce and a topping, they become babycakes. And suddenly, they become extraordinary.

This is exactly what happened when I mixed a second bowl full of Maple-Walnut Cake batter that I made for my All About Food newspaper column this week. I greased some glass custard cups, spooned some of the batter into them, filling them almost to the top. They took only about 20 to 25 minutes to bake. Once I took them from the oven, I allowed them to cool in the cups for about 10 minutes, then nudged them out with a table knife and transferred them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

The baked cakes have the texture of moist banana bread. Loads of toasted walnuts give them great crunch, not to mention the health benefits they offer. If you're not a pumpkin pie-lover, I could see this cake, sauce and maple cream topping showing up when it's time for dessert on Thanksgiving.

We all have our own rituals for fall Sunday afternoons. Some guys sit around and watch football; for me it takes only about a quarter before I need a nap. Others feel inspired to take up household projects; the less said about my ability with a hammer the better.

Instead, I cook. Well, I cook all year round, but when the days start to cool and the light turns golden, I get more ambitious. Rather than 30 minutes at the grill, I throw myself into hours-long kitchen projects. This year, it's been lasagna.

It started in late September. I had just gotten back from the farmers market when I heard that Marcella Hazan had died. I looked over everything that I had bought and in her honor immediately started making dough for fresh pasta. And peeling and seeding tomatoes and turning them into sauce. And making a Parmesan-enriched white sauce. And blanching, chopping and sauteing beet greens. And then putting it all together. All of a sudden it was dinner time.

There's nothing like lasagna from scratch to while away a lazy Sunday afternoon.

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I have been making this sandwich again and again over the past two weeks and decided it's probably time to share them with all of you. Heck, just look at them...what's not to love?

Just this morning I shoved one into the hands of my oldest son as he was running out the door. Turns out it's perfect school bus food too. Lucky him. The ingredients are simple and you probably already have most of them at home.

My main inspiration for this recipe were my beautiful California avocados. There is rarely a day that goes by that I don't enjoy an avocado with one of my meals or as a snack. They truly are nature's butter and require nothing to make them an amazing and healthy treat. Avocados are one of the few fruits that provide good fats in our diet (3 g of mono and 0.5 g polyunsaturated fat per 1-oz. serving) and are heart healthy.

And don't be afraid to buy extra avocados and keep them in your fridge. I store mine in the crisper drawer and they keep for weeks. This means I always have a ripe avocado to use when I'm ready...which is daily. After you scramble your eggs, place them on top of your toasted bagels and sprinkle with shredded cheese. It will melt nicely on top of the hot eggs.

Recently I had a tryst with an old flame. No, ‘old flame’ is not quite right. You see, I’ve mindlessly used him many times over the years--even recently--meeting him most often in dark movie houses. On rare, more daring occasions we met in my bedroom, on nights when I admit I much more anticipated my latest Netflix delivery or guilty-pleasure TV show. He was always a second thought; an accompaniment; a reliable, cheap snack I held back from enjoying fully, lest I spoil the more respectable dinner waiting for me at home.

But this night was different. I was alone. . .insatiable, yet I longed for something more substantial, more fulfilling. . .more memorable. Suddenly, and for the first time, I saw him in a new light. The idea seemed so silly given our past dealings, that I needed some kind of sanity check before making the call. I did what one does when faced with such a crisis. I grabbed my phone, and desperately tweeted:

No one did (talk me out of it), but when shortly thereafter I received an inquisitive tweet from none other than the brilliant Amy Ephron (“What does homemade mean?”, “Did you grow and dry the corn, or do you just mean ‘not microwaved’?”, “Recipe, please?”), I knew I was on to something, and that there was no turning back.