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My mother used to send us Harry and David's Royal Riviera Pears a few weeks before Christmas every year. She's gone, but my sister sends me generous gift certificates for Whole Foods (I live 2 minutes from the one in Union Square, Manhattan), and I really know how to make that gift last!

My mother also used to give us her home-made mincemeat (divine!) and home-canned dilly beans and sweet red pepper relish. Nothing improves a burger more than that relish! I wish she'd written down her recipe.

As for giving, I make a MEAN spice rub for pork and chicken, and I give bottles of that to various family members and friends. I used to give home-made honey mustard, but I got to worrying about egg issues (some of my friends aren't very scrupulous about refrigerating foods), so I stopped that.

East Village Cheese is at 40 Third Avenue, between 9th and 10th Streets. They're open 7 days a week from 8:30-6:30. I live around the corner, and over the last three decades, I'm sure they've saved me many thousands of dollars. The trick is to enjoy the cheeses soon after you buy them. The reason they're so cheap is that they're often quite ready to eat. But they have a lot more than cheese! Definitely worth a detour.

Tiramisù.

Don't forget beets, dried beans, cabbage, squash, and carrots. The market also has its year-round specialties, like Martin's pretzels, various cheese purveyors, Quattro farms, wonderful seafood, the turkey farmer, and more.

Every season in NYC gives home cooks and food enthusiasts something to be thankful for.

Winter = making lots of stews and dishes that roast for hours. I love being in my nice warm kitchen when the snow flies.

Spring = those wonderful and ephemeral first vegetables--ramps, fiddlehead ferns, glorious asparagus, mesclun, rhubarb, spinach, scallions, and more.

Summer = the best fruit, and pretty much everything, especially in late summer.

Fall = wonderful apples, peppers, pumpkins, Brussels sprouts (which signal summer's end), and the best potatoes of the year.

I came up with this recipe about 15 years ago, and there isn't a single Brussels sprout left over whenever I make this:

Brussels Sprouts Moutarde

This dish is a life-saver at Thanksgiving because it can be prepared entirely in a microwave oven. If you need to double this, there’ll be time to microwave it in two batches, especially if you’re serving buffet-style.

5 strips of thickly sliced bacon
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons smooth Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons dry tarragon (or thyme, if you don’t like tarragon)
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
3 good splashes of dry white vermouth
2 lbs. Brussels sprouts, rinsed, trimmed, and halved lengthwise

Place the bacon strips on paper towels on a large plate, cover with more paper towels, and microwave on full power until medium-crisp, 3-4 minutes, depending on your oven’s wattage. Roughly chop the bacon.

Place the butter in a large microwave-proof casserole and cover with a not-too-tight-fitting lid. Microwave on full power for 1 minute, or until the butter is melted. Stir in everything else, adding bacon and sprouts last. Mix well.

Microwave on full power for 4-9 minutes, depending on your wattage and your preference for al dente brussels sprouts. Start testing and stirring at 4 minutes, anyway.

Yield: 4-6 servings

My father was perhaps the only real cheese-head in Toledo, Ohio, in the 1950s while I was growing up. He would send all over the country--and sometimes, the world--to get great cheeses. The only cheeses sold in Toledo at the time--that we knew of--were Longhorn (cheddar), blue, American, and Swiss. Once in a while you'd find gouda encased in red wax.

Anyway, one Christmas, he sent away for a wheel of brie. I'll never forget the first time I tasted that, melty at room temperature. I was in heaven.

That's one of many, many memories. I grew up with real food-loving parents. My siblings were nowhere NEAR my passions.

I love Anne! She brims with personality, has a hilarious food vocabulary, and I've tried her recipes and they really work. I wrote to the Food Network after her first or second telecast, and praised her to the skies. I'm glad so many of you agree.

Practically every cut of beef has a different name regionally. Eg. New York Steak = Strip Steak; butcher's tenderloin = hanger steak; and on and on. There's an entire little book dedicated to sorting out the names: THE MEAT BOARD MEAT BOOK, by Barbara Bloch. It was written in 1977, and surprisingly nothing much has changed!

Skate wing with lobster rice (Better Than Bouillon makes lobster bouillon)

Tacos (cheap cut of meat marinated in lime and flavorings; soft corn tortillas; grated cheese)

Pesto Pizza with goat cheese (Boboli crust)

Negamaki (inexpensive thinly sliced beef wrapped around scallions and braised in beef stock)

Spicy Fried Squid wiht rice

Spaghetti Carbonara

Fondue

Pork Vindaloo

Chicken-Fried Steak

Meatballs

Me! I won a copy of the 25th Anniversary SILVER PALATE COOKBOOK two years ago.

Okay, as requested:

Penne alla Vodka Martini,
With Tomatoes, Sausages, Bacon, and Cream

I always thought penne alla vodka needed the buttery, slightly herbal lilt of vermouth, benefiting by the way it works in a nice, velvety martini. This incredibly rich, voluptuous pasta creation loves to be practically covered with vegetable-peeler curls of Parmigiano-Reggiano, so keep that happily in mind. The choice of bacon or pancetta at the outset is completely up to you: Bacon lends a light smoky flavor; pancetta is more, well, Italian: lots of body with nice rich insinuations.

As for the crushed plum tomatoes, try to find a brand that doesn’t pack them in tomato purée—it can make the sauce too thick. If the order of the list of ingredients on the can begins with tomato purée, keep looking. Muir Glen crushed tomatoes are very good, but if you can find real imported San Marzano tomatoes, lunge. And you can always “crush your own’’ right in the can with a trusty fork.

It takes a certain vigilance to stir and reduce the sauce for the last 10 minutes over spittingly high heat, but it’s worth it, believe me. But if you haven’t got a splatter screen, then God bless you.

The pasta-to-sauce ratio would make Marcella Hazan (among many others) wince. Too bad.

1/4 lb. slab bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
or 1/4 lb. pancetta, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 large onion, well chopped
1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1 28-oz. can crushed plum tomatoes, with juice included
About 2 lb. sweet Italian sausage, the best you can get; fennel-free, if possible
3/4 cup vodka
1/2 cup French dry vermouth
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup heavy cream
1 lb. good dried penne rigate
Plenty of Parmigiano-Reggiano,
freshly grated and shaved with a vegetable peeler
Oregano, fresh chopped or dried
More dried red pepper flakes, if desired

In a good, deep, heavy-duty sauté pan, cook the bacon/pancetta over moderate heat until most of the fat is rendered. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons (if you wish) and add the onion and red pepper flakes, and cook just until onions are soft and translucent. Add the tomatoes, lower the heat, and simmer for a half-hour, stirring every 5-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts of water to the boil in a large saucepan. Prick the sausages with a pin every inch or so and toss them into the water. Bring them to the simmer and let them bubble away for 10 minutes. Drain the sausages and cool them in a colander. And meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the penne, which will probably need no more than about 10-12 minutes to cook, so don’t add it to the boiling water until the final phase.

Add the vodka, vermouth, and tomato paste to the tomato mixture. Simmer for 15 minutes. Cut the cooled sausages into bite-sized pieces and toss them into the sauce.

Just when you’re ready to add the penne to the boiling water, turn the heat under the sauce to high, add the cream, and, using a splatter screen as needed, and, stirring often, boil the sauce vigorously for 10 minutes, about the amount of time the pasta needs to cook. The sauce will, of course, thicken considerably.

You can blend the cooked penne with the sauce, stirring in the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, oregano, and optional additional red pepper flakes, and serve that with curled peelings of Parm-Regg, OR:

Heat the broiler. Drain the pasta and, without rinsing, transfer it to a 2 1/2-quart (or larger) gratin. Add the sauce and stir in (to taste) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, the oregano, and the optional additional red pepper flakes. Run the gratin watchfully under the broiler until the penne poking out of the top of the gratin begin to singe and crisp and the sauce sizzles, 2-4 minutes. Serve under curled peelings of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Yield: 4 large servings, but it’s great for 2, because the leftovers are particularly succulent.

Steak Tartare: 1 pound of cubed sirloin buzzed in the food processor, blended with minced onion, worcestershire, soy, and Tabasco sauces, 4 super-fresh egg yolks, minced parsley, a little olive oil, a good squeeze of lemon, and salt and pepper. Spread on toasted and buttered pumpernickel, and you've got a fast and fantastic weeknight dish.

I need to get rid of 10+ years of cooking magazines. Any takers?