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Pumpkin bread pudding...amazing.

New Jersey--amazing tomatoes, gorgeous corn, great blueberries! And if I can divert a little into "prepared foods," we have The Bent Spoon, which makes the most mind-blowing gelato/ice cream/sorbet.

A ridiculously large bowl (I mean the size of a toddler's tricycle) of roasted brussels sprouts with freshly ground pepper and sea salt.

Biggest triumph--my husband's 40th birthday cake. I had never made a "celebration" layer cake and stupidly chose a cake everyone hailed as unforgettable, but really unforgiving for the poor soul making it as the cake is delicate and NEVER turned out of pans without crumbling a bit. I researched EVERY possibility for turning out complete cakes, evaluated the methods, and the cakes were picture perfect and insanely delicious.

Biggest flop--Five minutes after putting a cheesecake in the oven, noticing that all the sugar that was supposed to go into the cake was still sitting in a measuring cup on the counter. Oops.

A beautiful ciabatta spread with fresh sun-dried tomato hummus and then layered with roasted eggplant, portobello, red peppers, fresh basil, and oregano, topped with just a thin sliver of fresh mozzarella and placed under the broiler for a minute.

A French pastry shop about an hour away from my home makes the most incredible cheese pastry I have ever had...not sweet at all, substantial and flaky all at the same time.

Last year my husband was taking me to the pastry shop on the morning of my birthday to have one of these GLORIOUS pastries. I rarely indulge in this kind of treat, so I was hugely-bouncing-off-the-walls excited. About halfway there, some sort of cataclysmic event occurred in the car's engine and we were stranded on the side of the road near a small toll plaza. One of the toll takers wandered over to check things out and my husband mentioned that our situation was particularly sucky because it was my birthday, we were on our way to my favorite pastry shop, etc. The toll taker chuckled and said, "That sucks. You can take my bike if you want to."

Umm...okay.

I hopped on his bicycle in my skirt and sandals and rode 15 miles to the pastry shop on the hottest day in June. Given the unplanned workout, I felt totally justified in having one danish at the store and grabbing another to share with my husband when I finally made it back to the toll plaza...and it was totally worth it.

Irish soda bread has always been my favorite bread to bake--it's hugely fun to make and the result is one of the most delicious things in the world. In addition, it reminds me of baking with my grandfather when I was a child.

A few years ago I was at a local, swanky place called The Ryland Inn (now closed) and I was served a molten chocolate tart. It was so rich that most of the dessert was wasted, you could really only eat a few bites before you felt completely full of and enveloped in chocolate...but those few bites were bliss.

Vegetable minestrone soup with a hot, homemade baguette

Tasty crust is joy
Then moist, juicy happiness
The tang fills my heart

Biscuit BBQ in Brooklyn

Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Whoopie Pies were outstanding! In addition, I also used her turkey recipe that includes draping a turkey with a wine/butter-soaked cheesecloth and--although it was an intensive process--it produced amazing results.