Comfort Foods and Indulgences

Panna cotta or "cooked cream" is a popular Italian dessert made from cooking milk, cream, sugar, and gelatin. It makes a luxurious dessert for Father's Day or any other special occasion. Be warned: panna cotta's silky texture and rich flavor will make even the manliest of men swoon. He may even say strange things like, "heavenly," "sublime," and "decadent."

This is normal. However, if this behavior continues for more than a few hours, don't panic. Turn your television on to the Speed Channel, gently lead your man to the sofa, and seat him there with a Slim Jim and a Coors Light. In a few hours he'll be making sense again.

There are myriad recipes for panna cotta, but I used Helen's (everyone's favorite tartelette). Helen claimed this panna cotta was "easy-peasy," and she wasn't kidding.

I’m a firm believer in the adage that a tiny plot can feed a whole lot! Granddaddy’s tomatoes keep rolling in and BLT’s, pies, sauce, and simply sliced dishes of tomatoes are abounding on our tables.

Mimi, as is her custom, has toast and tea every morning for breakfast..... as her grandmother did. Sourdough buttered and toasted and glazed with a seasonal spread is de rigueur. Taking the tone from the toast in the iron skillet and the tomatoes on the windowsill (Mimi and Granddaddy always have tomatoes on their windowsills May through October), the cultures of Italy and Deep Down Dixie merge for a delicious starter, meal or snack that we’ve thoroughly enjoyed this summer. The addition of an over easy egg gives a huevos rancheros nod to the dish and a dose of protein too. ¡Olé!'!

As a fan of breakfast for supper, this dish is at home to kick off the day or cap the day or really anytime in between. Taking literally a few minutes to prepare, you’ll love the way the egg yolk nods along with the tomato and basil sing-a-long. The crusty sourdough toast soaks up all it can and give you an excuse to use your hands to scrape the last bit with the crust. Leave off the egg for a traditional bruschetta that is nothing shy of divine.

My current comfort food of choice is chocolate.  It seems to sooth all muscle aches after a long day in the vineyard.  Don't worry if you've never attempted a souffle, this recipe is easy and foolproof and it doubles nicely if you want to serve it at a dinner party. The souffle rises very nicely, it was even higher than is shown but souffles do start to shrink if you don't serve them right away.

Anyway, as far as the cheating, in place of the traditional bechamel, a tricky sauce that requires constant stirring, sweetened condensed milk is used.  Baking spray is used to coat ramekins in a fraction of the time it takes to butter and sugar them.  Bittersweet chocolate chips eliminate the need for chopping and they melt quickly in the microwave (instead of slowly on the stove).

I have been craving my favorite spicy hot chocolate, but instead I turned on the oven and made these.

I have been on a late night baking kick. It seems like the perfect time to get into the kitchen and make some magic. Oh who am I kidding, I have no other time to do it. But I still like it!!

And these muffins. I love them. I mean really love them. I wanted spicy and chocolate-like, not to mention I was slightly motivated by the very ripe bananas sitting on my counter. They needed to be made into something or into the freezer they would go.

Now, let's get back to the spicy. Have you had chile and chocolate? You're missing out if you haven't. I used chile powder and cayenne to create the heat and flavor I wanted. The spicy taste lingers and heats up. It's perfect...PERFECT. You could even add a cream cheese frosting if you wanted to be fancy, but it doesn't really need it.