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When I decided to write a column about summer cocktail hour dips, I had to make three so I could use the gilded tripartite serving piece that I remember from all the dinner parties my parents used to host when I was a child! No one was unhappy with that decision when I served them recently, having made them for the photo I took for publication. Last week’s Berkshire Eagle column can be found here, or below.

Even though it was a dreadful winter and the spring has had more chilly days than not, we are looking forward to summer and the Tanglewood picnic season. As I was working on the one-pan Thai-inspired noodle dish that I wrote about for this week’s Berkshire Eagle, I found it works well both hot or at room temperature, making it a great option for a picnic on the lawn at Tanglewood, easy to eat with just a fork.

Sure, meatloaf feels a bit like a utilitarian food, in that adding eggs and bread crumbs has historically been used to stretch a small amount of an expensive protein to feed more mouths. But with so many ground proteins available, the possibilities are endless, and the lamb meatloaf with Mediterranean flavors from this week’s Berkshire Eagle is a great example of the versatility of the “genre!”

I am still smiling from the wonderful food writers’ retreat I attended in the Poconos last month! Not only did I meet and immediately bond with an incredible group of food writers, I also got to eat amazing food! The “recipe” from this week’s Berkshire Eagle column comes from that weekend, although I put the word recipe in quotes because it’s more a set of guidelines and suggestions than a formally-written recipe.

When I made the recipe for this past week’s Berkshire Eagle column, there was no way Hank and I could eat it all in one sitting! Of course the leftovers went in the fridge, and I have to admit, it got better and better every day, and did not suffer from being reheated. It’s a great dish to assemble when things are (relatively) quiet, and then enjoy over several days when you’re too busy to make anything too involved.

In the time since I wrote the Berkshire Eagle column below, we visited the kids in Grand Rapids where I made two more chicken pot pies for my son and daughter-in-law. I had such fun with my two-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter who helped roll out the puff pastry and brush the beaten egg on top before wrapping them for the freezer!

I love finding creative ways to make variations on a recipe, and it’s important to practice that skill so as to accommodate different dietary needs. Often when I do so, I come up with a winner, as with this week’s Berkshire Eagle column!

As I wrote in the column that appeared this past Wednesday in the Berkshire Eagle, we aren’t going out to dinner for Valentine’s Day this evening. Instead, we are staying home, enjoying this recipe, along with asparagus, mushrooms, and some homemade ravioli with ricotta and ramps that I have in the freezer from last spring. Whether you make this recipe for Valentine’s Day or another occasion, it will make your dinner something special!

Although I have no song as wonderful as Carole King singing Maurice Sendak’s Chicken Soup with Rice (nor is this recipe even a soup), my variation on the traditional paella, offered below, avoids shellfish due to my husband’s allergy. And it’s fabulous nonetheless, using Spanish flavors in the dish! But if you want to experiment with adding or subbing some shellfish, just be sure to check on cooking times for safety.

I always have plenty of homemade soup in the freezer, and – no surprise – it comes out especially often in the winter months. In this past week’s Berkshire Eagle column, soup and its frequent lunch partner, grilled cheese, come together in a cider-onion soup topped with a slice of hearty bread with melted cheddar. Stay warm and cozy!

I have to confess the first time I made this it was with honeynut squash – the ones that look like little butternut squash – as a side dish for a meat meal, but honeynut squash are not so easy to find, and butternut squash would be too big. So I revised it using sweet potatoes because they are always available, and offered it as a plant-based main course in this week’s Berkshire Eagle column, if that’s part of your New Year’s resolution.

While it does take some time to cut up the fennel for this recipe, it is still pretty quick and easy to toss everything on a sheet pan in this offering from my Berkshire Eagle column this past week!

It’s not really a tale, but if you make this recipe from this past week’s Berkshire Eagle for a party, everyone will think it was a big effort, but it is quick and easy!

Having offered lots of options for a holiday feast, whether Thanksgiving or one of the other typically full-house holidays, I then turned my thoughts to an easy way to feed a group of guests in the morning. The recipe from this past Wednesday’s Berkshire Eagle column fits the bill, and, as an added bonus, any extra warms nicely in the microwave another day!

Last week was an “off” week for my column, but I offered to do a longer piece about choices for Thanksgiving sides: something traditional, a variation on something traditional, and something simpler and less rich. As mentioned below, it joins various other Thanksgiving columns I’ve written!

In my Berkshire Eagle column this past week I share a recipe for a blueberry crumb cake that I have on one of a number of treasured recipe cards written in my grandmother’s handwriting.

Sometimes even turning up the heat in the house isn’t enough to make you feel warm and toasty. That’s when it’s time to bake something in the oven! This past week’s baked pasta recipe in the Berkshire Eagle fits the bill on those raw chilly days when the warmth and the aroma coming from the oven make you feel cozy. This recipe makes a lot, and so if you make it on the weekend, it works well to reheat for dinners during a busy week.