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Last week my husband and I were watching Iron Chef America, where the theme ingredient was ground beef. Of course, one of the chefs decided to make a spiffed-up burger for one of their dishes -- and wouldn't you know it, they used bacon. (I have long maintained that bacon makes everything better.) But that was not where I started drooling -- that happened when the chef cooked the bacon and added it to the ground beef before cooking the burgers!

This was something I immediately wanted to experiment with. So Thursday night, with my husband and a friend from work as guinea pigs, I set about creating a new hamburger recipe. (Iron Chef, while a wonderful show, does not provide recipes for their dishes.)

Welcome Zha K of the Rock Creek Township to the blogosphere. Her blog, A Fine Dish, is already a great addition to the growing list of food blogs out there, and her first post was just in late September. A lot of her posts are just great reads, but she already has one recipe up that I'm going to make at some point.

Thanks to Laurie for the tip.

What else is there to say? You can get yours at this site.

That rose, my friends, is made entirely of chocolate. When I saw this site, my breath was taken away. Some of the creations on this site are nothing short of miraculous in my eyes.

Of course, miracles carry a hefty price tag -- full-size roses are $250. It costs nothing, of course, to look.

Want to keep your spoon from sliding into your pot or pan when cooking? Simply clip a clothespin near the top of your spoon where it rests on the pot.

Thinking about trying out my barbecue bacon burger recipe? Mike Fuchs has posted a great deal on beef and bacon over at the Bargain Blog. Check it out!

This post was inspired by the theme of the next Tar Heel Tavern, "Special Days". I immediately thought about my wedding day, which brings up a recent ... discussion ... I had with my mother.

When I first started blogging for the News & Record, I sent a link to my mother, of course. I figured she might enjoy reading it, considering the fact that I get my cooking abilities from her.

It seems, however, that this was a mistake. In one of my earlier posts, I mentioned that I would post a recipe for a wonderful German potato salad at some point in the future. The next thing I know, I get a call from my mother, upset that I might be posting her German potato salad recipe. I tried to explain to her that I had taken her recipe and changed it up a bit, as I am wont to do, so it wouldn't really be her recipe I was posting.

Not good.

A couple of my girlfriends came down from the D.C. area to visit this weekend, and they were not adverse to my cooking for them while here. One of them happens to be a vegetarian/seafood-eater, so I had to veer from my normal menus I serve to company.

One of my favorite recipes to come out of this weekend was a modified version of Giada De Laurentis' Verdure al Forno. It's now known in my house as "zucchini bake."

La Dolce Vita is sponsoring a blogging event this weekend called In The Pink, which she is hoping will raise breast cancer awareness. I know several people who have have had breast cancer, including a close aunt, so I decided to take part in this event. If you'd like more information about breast cancer, go to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation's Web site.

This was another dish I put together for my friends from D.C. Salmon is something I don't get very often because my husband doesn't eat fish, so I jumped at the chance to cook with it. Not to mention it's pink, so it worked this weekend on a couple levels. (I made a couple of marinated chicken breasts in the oven for him.)

Want to prank your friends the next time they come over for movie night? This popcorn print bowl is just the thing.

The new Tar Heel Tavern is up, and the theme this week is special days. How appropriate for this blog -- special days are nearly always associated with food.

Cakes have their own traditions at birthdays and weddings, whether it's blowing out the candles or deciding whether to smash the cake in your new spouse's face.

When you go to a funeral, you bring food for the family afterward. I googled "funeral food" and found a great poem about the subject.

Thanksgiving and Christmas and Passover and other holidays usually revolve around big meals. Every year, thousands of new (and old) cooks probably worry about not drying out the turkey or getting the traditions right for the Seder.

Children hunt Easter eggs and gorge themselves on candy at Halloween.

Your anniversary and New Year's is usually spent out at a nice dinner, followed by other activities if you're lucky.

When we celebrate, we typically do it with food. Perhaps it's linked to some primal urge inside of us -- or perhaps it's a cultural reason for why Americans are so overweight. Celebrations = food. It's something to chew on.

A couple years ago, when I think my husband and I were still just dating, I got it into my head that I really wanted to carve a pumpkin. It was only a day or two before Halloween, so I was sure it wouldn't be any trouble to just go out and buy a pumpkin. Heh. Many stores and a few hours later, we gave up the search. It seems there was a run on pumpkins that year, and I never got to carve my pumpkin. I was broken-hearted.

So this year, as we were walking through the grocery store today, we jumped at getting a beautiful pumpkin for only $3.99. I thought I would look around for some tips to share before we started cutting.

Well, if you plan to carve a pumpkin this year, as I talked about in my last post, you're going to end up with some pumpkin seeds. Don't throw them out!! They make a wonderful snack with just a little bit of work.

The recipe is pretty simple. Once you've scooped your seeds out of the pumpkin, clean all the orange goop off of them and rinse them well in warm water. Mix them in a bowl with some olive or vegetable oil, along with some salt and whatever seasonings float your boat -- garlic, cayenne or seasoning salt would all work well. Spread them on a cookie sheet and put them in a 300 degree oven for anywhere from 20-45 minutes, depending on how well-done you like them. Be sure to stir them every 5-10 minutes so they toast evenly. Store any leftovers in a sealed container for as long as a month.

You can also make them in the microwave or skillet if you like. I've never tried it, but there's no reason it couldn't work.

This weekend, my friend was moving to a different apartment, so I made up some chili to feed the people good enough to help her move. I ended up making one pot of meat chili and one pot of veggie chili. I enjoyed both, but I want to experiment more with the meat chili before I bother posting about it. For now, here's the vegetarian chili recipe.

Veggie chili recipe
Makes about a gallon

1.5 cups fresh diced tomatoes (1.5 cups)
1.5 cups fresh diced green peppers (1.5 cups)
1.5 cups diced onions (1.5 cups)
3/4 pound canned diced tomatos
1.5 pounds canned chili beans (pinto beans with spices)
1.5 pounds canned kidney beans in brine
23 oz tomato sauce
small can tomato paste
1/2 tbsp cumin
1/2 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp garlic
2 tbsp chili powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspon allspice
1 tbsp olive oil

Heat oil on medium in a pot big enough to hold a gallon of chili. Add onion, garlic and green peppers and cook for 5-10 minutes. Drain kidney beans and chili beans. Add, along with the other ingredients, to the pot and mix well. Once it starts bubbling, turn heat down, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or more, stirring occasionally.

Keep in mind that the amounts of the ingredients, especially the spices, can be changed on the spot. I usually taste-test and add a bit more of this and bit more of that, depending on my mood and what strikes my fancy.

By the way, check out this week's helping of the Big Link.

How remiss have I been? It's been National Dessert Month for nearly three weeks now, and I haven't acknowledged it! Not that I needed to do much -- you're usually much more likely to see dessert recipes on here. In honor of the month, here's one I know you'll enjoy: Cinnamon Pound Cake with Stewed Peaches. And it's so much easier than it sounds.

Every week, a couple of friends from work come over on Wednesdays when we get off to watch "Lost" and talk about its conspiracies. Usually they are the willing guinea pigs for something new I've made as well. This last week, it was pound cake and peaches.

I got the original recipe from Emeril, who I hate to watch but love to steal recipes from.

Even though I've been blogging for a few years now, sometimes it still amazes me. It's mind-boggling that people from all over the world can get together in one place to read about food. Without the Internet, it is extremely unlikely that some in Japan or Australia would ever read something that I write, and vice versa, unless we happened to be famous published authors. The sheer access to everything will always amaze me, I think.

I just thought I'd post a list of some of the places that my last hundred visitors have been from, seeing as how they inspired this post:

Shin-yoshidacho, Kanagawa, Japan
Taejon, Cholla-namdo, Republic of Korea
Nokia, Western Finland
Crdoba, Cordoba, Argentina
Toronto, Ontario
Haifa, Hefa, Israel
Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
Tiffin, Iowa
Philadelphia
Sheffield, United Kingdom
Seattle
Denver
Fort Monroe, Virginia (where I got married!)
Oatman, Arizona
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Guadamur, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
Dobroyd Point, New South Wales, Australia
San Antonio, Texas
Honolulu, Hawaii
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Caracas, Distrito Federal, Venezuela

In addition, a shout-out to all the readers in North Carolina who stop by to hang out for a bit. Thanks to everyone for reading and replying!

I grew up with very Southern cooking. There was never a lack of black-eyed peas, grits or different foods cooked with a ham hock (even when my brother and me wished there would be). Fried chicken with mashed potatoes, corn on the cob and homemade biscuits was a favorite meal of the family, and we spent many Sundays gathered at my grandparents' house stuffing ourselves with it, followed by a game of Canasta or Back Alley, with the Braves on in the background.

When we had time to gather for breakfast on the weekends, the meal was just as big and varied. The steaming homemade biscuits made another appearance, along with fried eggs, bacon, slabs of ham, and bowls of sausage gravy.

Laurie over at ...slowly she turned is hosting the Tar Heel Tavern this week at her place, and it's an oldie but a goodie.

And while you're surfing around, check out the Big Link.

The other day I got an e-mail in response to my request for Halloween traditions, and I really like this one! Read on from an anonymous contributor:

"Our family tradition was to have an "Orange Dinner" on Halloween before the children went out. Each child could invite a friend or two. This was a way of getting them to eat more nutrious foods and not be soo tempted by so many sweets. It also lessened the last minute dressing hastle and provided many wonderful memories. All of the children are grown and gone now. This picture is from the past."

"We had things like cheeseburgers in a bun, fish sandwiches in a bun, peaches, apricots, oranges, sweet potatoes, carrots, broccoli or other vegetables with cheddar cheese sauce, orange or apricot juice, carrot cake."

The other day I found what looked like a delicious recipe for a pumpkin apple cake over at The Amateur Gourmet. And I was right -- it turned out to taste as good as it looked! As he puts it:

"If fall were bundled up and baked in a loaf, it would look (taste, and smell) like this."

Instead of using two 9x5 bread pans, I used three 8x4 pans (the cheap kind you can get in the baking aisle). I doubled the topping recipe to cover all three loafs because, really, you can never have enough sugary cinnamon topping.

It's a good thing I made three loaves -- I brought two in to work (one for the day side and one for the night side -- we have to think about those things around here), and I left one at home for my husband and me. This was a really easy recipe to do, and I don't think it would take much to increase the recipe if you wanted to make multiple small cakes to give out as gifts or something like that.

ETA: In case the link doesn't work (and apparently that's been happening, here's a copy of the recipe from his site:

Billy the Blogging Poet has decided that I'm worth writing about, but I think he's way too nice. Judge for yourself over at Blogsboro.com. Billy has a fun Web site to just hang out at and read, so be sure to cruise around while you're there.

I'm hosting the Tar Heel Tavern this week, and I urge you to participate, even if you've never done it before. Check out last week's for an idea of what it's all about.

Since this weekend is so close to Halloween, I want to hear your scary food stories. Send your posts and/or photos my way by this Saturday at 8 p.m.

Mark Morford has written a wonderfully funny and true column about cookware that calls out to him in the night. Not for the faint of heart.

"I have a thing for Calphalon One. The dark aluminum, the deadly serious matte finish, the simple, cream-colored, Zen-like cardboard packaging, the heft and the handle and the sex and the heat and the mystery. This, I think, is what God cooks with. Or rather, Shiva. I want them. I want them all."

Read it. Then go out to the nearest cookware store and drool.

I found this Firefox extension while surfing tonight, and I have to say I can't wait to get home and try it. (We can't have the Firefox browser on our office computers, or so I've been told.) The GLG, or Grocery List Generator, stores your recipe ingredients and other groceries you need regularly, according to the site.

"Features: * Easy to maintain database with all your favourite dishes, and other items you often need. * Items are all grouped by supermarket aisle. * Sort your list to your own supermarket's shopping route. * Directly print your list, or export it to disk/pda."

When I have a chance to play with it at home, I'll post a review. And if you don't use Firefox, check out the Web site and give it a shot. It will change your life forever.

ETA: This is the e-mail I got from my husband tonight:

"I downloaded and installed the extension, and, to make the story short, it's too buggy. Firefox would barely run, and you would have been annoyed at how slow it was."

From Roto-Rooter: Don't try to dump pumpkin guts down the sink or toilet; they make an excellent clog. Dump 'em in the garbage or compost them, instead.

Thanks, Lex.

Harry Potter fans know that Halloween is never a good time in Rowling's world -- trolls show up in the dungeon, basilisks attack and mangey dogs break in -- a scary time for all. So it only seemed natural to incorporate Harry Potter into my Halloween celebration this year. That, and I'm passionate enough about the books to actually spend several hours on this project. I got the pattern over at The Pumpkin Wizard and used several of the tips in my carving post.

This week's Big Link is one of my favorite local blogs -- be sure to check it out and give Laurie lots of love.

I got an e-mail from a reader recently passing along this gem of a recipe. Here's what he or she had to say:

"A friend in college gave me her family recipe. The Parmesan cheese in the meatballs, along with the sugar and hot pepper in the sauce, make this unique. Feel free to add more garlic. ;) Enjoy and share!"

Today at the Tar Heel Tavern, we're going to be whipping up a Halloween recipe, and we've got seven different cooks in the kitchen to help us out.

Erin over at Poetic Acceptance gets us in the mood with a scary food story, warning us that baking while pregnant can go oh so wrong.

"It was mid summer, in the 90's, the oven's been on, there's no A/C, I'm pregnant, stressed out, pissed off and cussing... Oh yes, there was much cussing that day."

We all quickly sympathize because who hasn't had something go wrong in the kitchen?

At this point, Bora at Science and Politics reminds us that it's not just our own kitchens that can be a scary place. And thoroughly grosses me out in the process with his tales of fish eyes.

"The fish, alive and flapping, was looking up at my brother. The waiter produced a knife and a fork and watched with amusement and apprehension."

Laurie at ... slowly she turned lightens the mood up a bit as she pulls some pictures of costumes past out of her wallet. She asks us to decide: Scary, or funny? Her husband is a very good-natured man.

"Men in drag are funny. They just are. From Milton Berle to Tootsie, from Monty Python to the Kids in the Hall. My apologies to you male cross-dressers out there, but you have got to be PRETTY good at make-up not to be funny in drag. Heck, I look pretty funny in make-up and women's clothes myself."

Meanwhile, over in the corner, Lilburne from words fitly spoken and Screwy Hoolie from Scrutiny Hooligans talk politics, a scary subject sometimes to be sure. Lilburne weaves a Halloween tale, complete with ghosts of our past. And Screwy Hoolie brings us a nearly-NSFW picture that is now burned into my retinas -- readers beware.

Ron over at 2sides2ron quickly changes the subject and offers to tell us some spine-tingling family tales.

"It is time to start sharing the stories that I have been holding back, the ones that make the flesh crawl just a bit. As a Southerner exported from the British Isles, I come from a family with a rich tradition of ghost stories.

With the hairs on our necks and arms standing at attention, we look around and realize that one cook has yet to contribute to the pot. Mandie steps forward with a captivating glint in her eye and offers us a luscious image with which to cleanse our minds.

"The cheesecake was TO. DIE. FOR. *insert evil laugh* Really."

It's especially fitting, since the photo is taken at the site where Darth Tater first made an appearance.

With our tummies full and our scariness quotient met, we say our goodbyes and depart the Tar Heel Tavern, agreeing that this has indeed been a Halloween treat.