Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

A single anchovy atop a fresh deviled egg is one of life's simple pleasures.

For my Algebra II/Trig class in high school I decided to make pie for everyone on Pi day (3/14). As a sophomore in high school I wouldn't say that I was without friends, but I was always looking for ways to please the ones I had and maybe make new ones (plus everyone always said the way to a man's heart is through his stomach and my high school crush was in that class) so I went all out. I took orders from people of their favorite kinds of pie and offered individual sized pies in one of the top three flavors: Apple, french silk and pecan. I spent about 4 hours that night making pie crust, filling and garnishes (a crumb sprinkle for the apple pie, chocolate shavings for french silk and real whipped cream for all three). I loaded everything up the next day and served them up after lunch to my class and everyone loved them!!! I had made extras of everything, but they disappeared pretty quickly. Even though they went over very well, the biggest reward for me was in the actual baking of the pies and then watching everyone enjoy my work-talk about the joy of cooking!

I like to make a pizza with pesto, onions, zucchini, figs and a fresh goat cheese. Sometimes I'll add chicken or tuna just for some kind of protein, but the mix of the sweet figs and onions with the tart cheese and the pesto is perfect. I also like to make a little fig jam to keep for winter months.